Reason First: Is Kodak Black Too Much for Hip Hop?

Though he has not been charged with a March 7 shooting in his hometown of Pompano Beach, Florida, rapper Kodak Black has certainly garnered negative attention for his alleged wicked ways. With fingerprints on an illicit firearm attached to the “ZEZE” rap artist, it seems as if the young man just can’t get right. Kodak Black has attracted bad press like a magnet draws iron filings.

In April, he stated some untidy words when talking about actress Lauren London. In an Instagram post, he said that he would essentially swoop in and court London after a year of her partner and her child’s father Nipsey Hussle’s death. Kodak Black seems to be poised to take his actual and alleged criminal activity and social improprieties to new levels.

For a hip hop artist to be so young and talented points to the fact that he may not have received the proper home training. The headlines that project yet another Kodak Black legal case or social network faux paux appear to mount. What this shows is that Kodak Black’s maturation may have stunted and way off, apparently.

For the Pompano Beach rapper to become embroiled in controversy after controversy is an omen of how dark and vicious the rap game can be. The lack of formal or even informal education seems to be a critical piece of the rambunctious puzzle. Kodak Black is crying for attention maybe to boost streaming numbers or to more often than not exhibit his thug-like mentality. In a crowded field of keyboard killers and mousepad mobsters, Kodak Black may feel that he has to demonstrate that he can be just as belligerent and unsavory as anyone else in this Internet Age.

Also known as Project Baby, the youthful rapper has certainly lived up to both sides of his adopted moniker. While it is permissible for one group in the projects and to be in the dilapidated neighborhood and not be of the mindset, Kodak Black embodies the negative aspects of that existence from which he came. At 21 years old, he may be officially a man but his mind is still stuck in the teens or preteens. His catalogue of music is deep and conveys a smarter and more thoughtful person than the man in the streets.

Or is he more like a baby? Is he groping at ideas trying to progress but is it his past that beckons him? One of Florida’s favorite sons has committed various crimes such as breaking and entering into houses around his way. Black’s impertinence regarding the law and in social circles has garnered him such as hip hop’s bad boy and a misanthrope.

His ability on the microphone should send him to places around the world instead of initiating acts that could land him in prison for a few years.

The only way that Kodak Black could have a chance is if he accepts his role as a grown man and stops with all of the criminal activity and online buffoonery. It is the fact that he can unwind his inner entanglements is to continue to produce. This is not merely in the sense of a music producer but to be a man of substance who chooses to create, work, make, and build.

Mystified like many other rappers, Black’s faith is the viciousness but he finds it to be something to lead him to say, “that [he’s] stuck in these streets feel like [his] life froze” on the faith tinged “Testimony.” His juxtaposition of the unknown and the unknowable with the clearly secular world of the hip hop genre is nothing new. Even Run became Rev Run. Could we see a Pastor Kodak Black in the making?

If he ever sees prison walls, he may convert to Islam and become an imam. Only his actions will keep him out of the clutches of the law. Kodak Black has the appeal and talent to fill stadiums and fill playlists with quality material. He has everything on the table set to work for him. He just has to get out of his own way. Kodak Black may just be a superstar in the rap realm. Whether that happens or not is squarely placed on his mind.