I used to think that Toddlers and Tiaras was all the evidence I needed that the world has gone mad, stark raving mad. How else to account for parents who hyper-objectify and hyper-sexualize their little girls, parading them around in front of “judges”, having them throw come-hither looks and strike poses that defy decency – all so they can win some crappy trophy and a few bucks. I’ve only watched this show a couple of times, but in one episode I saw, a father was coaching his three-year-old on how to wiggle her bum for the “judges.”
Then I read about local phenom Lil Poopy, a 9 year old gangsta rapper:
…who has already hit the stage with P. Diddy, hung out in nightclubs and been featured in music videos in which he sings about Louis Vuitton swag, driving a Lamborghini and making someone else’s girlfriend his groupie. Adult women drape themselves over Rivera and other prepubescent boys in his videos as the youngsters strike fierce poses, slap female fans’ bottoms and kiss stacks of cash. (Source: Brockton Enterprise.)
And if that’s not depraved enough for you, Lil Poopy – whose real name is Luie Rivera, Jr. – styles himself as the Cocaine Cowboy, and performs with a group called the Coke Boys.
All this talent is worth something: Lil Poopy makes about $7,500 a show, and has performed in Florida, California, New York, and Connecticut.
He’s also shooting an ad for Mountain Dew, where Lil Poopy will be working alongside a 12-year old professional skateboarder whose nom de skateboard is Baby Scumbag.
There’s no business like show business…
Yo, dawg!
The Rivera family is putting it out there the Lil Poopy is just a regular kid who goes to school, plays baseball, and wants to be a doctor or lawyer when he grows up. (Maybe he’ll be both. Then he can diagnose the dysfunction of his parents and others who collaborated to vilely exploit this kid, and sue them.)
They’ve also come up with a song explaining how “Coke Ain’t a Bad Word,” implying, I guess, that those of us who hear “Cocaine Cowboy” and “Coke Boys” immediately turn our sordid minds to thoughts of drugs.
But as Lil Poopy explains I his new ditty (diddy?):
“Coke ain’t a bad word, Coca-Cola. Coke ain’t a bad word. It’s only soda.”
Out of the mouths of babes! The sweet, wide-eyed innocence of youth…
The publicity that Lil Poopy’s been getting has a downside.
Police in Brockton, Mass., have asked state child welfare officials to investigate possible child abuse or neglect. (Source: Boston.com)
Lil Poopy’s father is making the Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver defense, claiming that
…his son is acting and not doing anything wrong...
“This is a terrific young kid and he has got a strict, loving, and supportive family,” said Joseph Krowski Jr., who said he had been the boy’s lawyer for some time. “He is just like any 9-year-old except that he has this exceptional talent.”
As a completely certifiable, “in my day” old tsk-tsking grouch, all I can say is strict families ain’t what they used to be.
And yet I don’t know that pimping out your child in this way rises to the level of criminal abuse and neglect.
What it is, of course, is a terrible lack of judgment, and a really crappy thing to do to your child/let your child do to himself by supporting him in this way.
What’s this kid going to grow up thinking?
That bling, swagger, and drugs are all that matter? That women are objects, possessions, who exist merely to be the girl on the arm (and elsewhere in, on, and about the male anatomy)?
This kid may be extremely clever and talented. So why not let him rap about things that are age-appropriate?
Acing a test in school. Winning the spelling bee. Taking his at bats at Little League games. Getting Tom Brady’s autograph. Sleeping over at a friend’s house. Hating his teacher. Fighting with his siblings. Playing Legos. Letting out a colossal fart. Having a crush on a girl. Going to McDonald’s. Saving up to buy a new bike.
There are certainly things in a kid’s life that he could rap about that would be appealing to other kids, aren’t there?
But that might not open up the magic door behind which stands $$$, P. Diddy, and an ad for Dew.
While I wouldn’t want it to happen to any of the kids I know, I don’t find it especially appalling that Lil Poopy’s family is letting him perform. They’re hardly the first family to exploit their child for a paycheck. (Shirley Temple, take a bow.) But it is completely appalling that they’re allowing him to use themes that are not just adult ones – kids always want to play grown up – but about themes that touch on what’s worst in our culture.
Who in their right mind wants their nine-year-old to grow up thinking that it’s really cool to glorify drugs, violence, materialism, and sexism? Bad enough if he wants to take this particular voyage of discovery as a teenager. Why put him on that track now?
Methinks that Lil Poopy’s folks have got shit for brains.
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