We knew THIS was coming, didn’t we?

You all know that I’m a die hard Busta Rhymes fan, but right now, my loyalty is being tested time and time again.

Did Busta Rhymes think that he could just record a seemingly innocent song and video called “Arab Money” and not expect to ruffle any feathers within the Muslim and/or Arab community? Yet he says he respects the Arab culture. Really? I’m trying to understand; does he respect the culture because of how they go about getting money? (Oh yeah, he is a Taurus you know, so they LOVE getting money.)

“I really only respect the Arab culture,” Busta Rhymes stated. “I ain’t really trying to pay no attention to, ya know, these little people in political positions and executive positions that ain’t Arab culture oriented people because a lot of the times, what are you really showing all of this concern for? Is it really concern for the people or concern for your job?”

I know, I know, it’s just a song, right? But we got all riled up when DJ Khaled (of Palestinian descent, he appears in the video, so I guess he’s not offended, huh?) uses the “N” word, or any other culture who uses the “N” word. Did Busta use any racial slurs in the song? No. But the mere idea of wanting to get money like Arabs and everyone gets offended. Like the writer who wrote to AHH:

“In ‘Arab Money Remix Part 1,’ in the chorus you used (‘Bismillah Ulrahman Ulrahim Alhamdullillah rab Ulalamen) which is a Quranic verse from the first Surah (chapter) in the Holy Quran,” a Muslim reader named Khalid wrote to AllHipHop.com.

“As an Arab and a Muslim it’s prohibited to sing or cite a Quranic verse in combination with music and most Muslims will find this disrespectful,” Khalid explained. “I’m afraid this misunderstanding will be interpreted as an offensive and disrespectful way by some people and I trust that you wouldn’t upset and disrespect your Muslim and Arab fans.”

I would like to touch on Raekwon’s “Incarcerated Scarfaces” for a minute. He talks about Arabs, Africans and Brazilians, all in his last verse. Did anyone raise a stink (no pun intended) when he said that the Africans underarms were musty or that the Arabs were “coolin’ like Kahluas on rocks”? I think not.

So what if someone of another culture or race were to say something like, “we’re getting drug dealer money” or “black athlete money”? Doesn’t sound so good now, does it?

We should be getting money, period. It shouldn’t matter if it’s Euros, Yen, Pounds or whatever. Money is money.

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