Back in late March, rappers Spinabenz, Whoppa Wit Da Choppa, Yungeen Ace, and FastMoney Goon teamed up on a track called “Who I Smoke,” which samples Vanessa Carlton’s classic “A Thousand Miles.” The track is full of violent lyrics, which apparently upset some of Carlton’s fans. Now Carlton has responded with a co-sign of the track and some points about race.
Carlton tweeted recently, “To the white folks that have expressed anger/shock over my approval of A Thousand Miles’ usage in the Spinabenz, Whoppa Wit Da Choppa, Yungeen Ace, & FastMoney Goon song Who I Smoke, I invite you to ask yourself why you feel this way & then read this.” The tweet includes a link to a 2016 academic paper titled “Share Cropping Blackness: White Supremacy and the Hyper-Consumption of Black Popular Culture.”
In a follow-up tweet, she continued, “Popular songs accompanied by white violence or tales of white violence aren’t questioned. It’s considered visceral or cinematic. Here we have [‘Stuck In The Middle With You’] playing while a guy gets his ear cut off. Reservoir Dogs”
Popular songs accompanied by white violence or tales of white violence aren’t questioned. It’s considered visceral or cinematic. Here we have Stuck in the Middle of you playing while a guy gets his ear cut off. Reservoir Dogs pic.twitter.com/2qv3M2xLN6
— 𝕍 𝕒 𝕟 𝕖 𝕤 𝕤 𝕒 ℂ 𝕒 𝕣 𝕝 𝕥 𝕠 𝕟 (@VanessaCarlton) May 24, 2021
As some commenters have pointed out, however, there’s a significant difference between Reservoir Dogs and “Who I Smoke,” as the latter names a number of rappers and other individuals who were actually killed. As one user put it, “The difference is one is Hollywood, and one is real life. I mean don’t get me wrong, the song is gas! But also remember, there’s multiple dead kids being dissed on in that song and I bet their parents are haunted with this beat.”