Reason First: A Time to Snitch

Takeoff wasn’t some killer in the streets. He wasn’t a robber or rapist who deserved punishment. He had a family. A mother. He was a young musical artist who was simply doing what he thought was right, have a good time.

His death signifies a time for witnesses who whipped out their camera phones and caught footage of his murderer to be present for police. Of course the hip hop community maligns law enforcement, but when it comes to incidents like this, it is crucial that Takeoff’s attacker(s) be identified.

From police Sgt. Michael Arrington to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, the officials are pleading for at least one of the more than forty people who saw first hand how Takeoff fell due to gunshot wounds.

In a genre averse to telling, it is precisely moments like these where snitching should be at an all-time high. Rappers and singers and the supporters they listen to say “fuck the police” and “down with the pigs” when the very people they denigrate are the ones who aid in these cases. In fact, law enforcement is the only proper means of apprehending these shady persons.

The police and FBI, among other proper agencies, are in place to serve, protect, and safeguard the populace from criminals. They are the domestic version of the armed forces who shield the homeland. Law courts process claims and ensure that matters are handled rationally.

To try to skirt the authorities and know that this miscreant, this animal on two legs is walking around free is an affront to all smart working individuals in this country.

Yes, of course, there are bad actors in the police ranks. But aren’t there bad doctors, nurses, firemen, lawyers, and any other professional turned into a vicious figure? Why are there no rap songs saying fuck them?

What Takeoff’s family deserves is to experience justice. That term may seem well-worn nowadays, but the truth is that it holds power. Once applied to a situation such as this, it means the most. Of all the ways that people have chosen to go against cops, they are the same ones begging for closure when it’s their brother, sister, father, mother, cousin, uncle, aunt, or “friend” they just met ten minutes ago who was slain. The emotions change. Those ill feelings towards the police transform into teary eyes and mouths agape pleading for the cops to deliver the culprit(s) to the hands of the law system.

Hip hop needs a makeover. The complete disrespect for the boys and girls in blue is something that the genre will have to come to terms with in the future. Takeoff was too much of a good soul to just have his killer(s) be holed up in a compound somewhere on the way to Mexico to escape the federales. Rappers ought to find new ground in relation to building neighborhoods where the police are interwoven into any activities that warrant their attention. From thefts to murders, they should be a heavy presence and an esteemed lot. Their power ought to be against the baddies and to serve those locations depressed by crime.

In Takeoff’s case, he was an example of how to write his way out the ‘hood and rise up to make something of himself. His influence stretched across ages, colorlines, races, and ethnicities. For his family not to know justice in his untimely death would mean that a tragedy would turn into a calamity.

The late rapper should be exalted for his efforts and the law enforcement ought to be applauded for theirs as well. Any help is wanted. Now is a time to snitch.