Yes, Trick Daddy was wrong for Alpha Kappa Alpha conference antics

The 73rd South Atlantic Regional Conference for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, happened in early April, and a video from the event went viral. Legendary Florida rapper Trick Daddy performed at the Step and Stroll competition on that Friday evening, and he said some incendiary things that the organization did not stand for. Several members walked out of the room when he said those things.

Ultimately, Alpha Kappa Alpha South Atlantic Regional Director Tiffany Moore Russell released a statement saying that Trick Daddy broke the terms of the agreed-upon parameters of his performance, which included a select list of songs, attire, language, and other requirements that Trick Daddy did not adhere to. Trick Daddy ultimately responded and did not like how he was being discussed in that moment.

Trick Daddy isn’t a victim

I can agree that Trick Daddy was an “interesting” choice. I can also submit a little bit of bias in that I’m not really the biggest fan of Trick Daddy—not his music, which I enjoy for what it is, but some of his antics over the past few years, such as what he said about Beyoncé or the way he carried himself on the radio in Florida. So, I have my own feelings when it comes to him. At face value, it does look crazy compared to what we expect the women of AKA to be about. But Trick Daddy is fifty-two years old. We say all the time that age and experience dictate a level of intelligence and awareness.

This was a Step and Stroll event; he wasn’t at a general body meeting. Have we heard the songs the AKAs stroll to? “Bad and Boujee,” “Wipe Me Down”—every song isn’t Strafe’s “Set It Off.” These are some obscene songs that they stroll to, and it is okay because it is a celebration of Black culture on college campuses. Trick Daddy was there as a celebration of that. As a business person myself, I’ve been invited to speak in different places, and I’ve had different expectations to manage. Trick Daddy went into that business transaction knowing these were the AKAs. In his video, he clearly knows who this organization is. He went up there wearing pink, so he clearly had some premeditation.

He then decides to say what he said and gets mad because “you can’t censor Trick Daddy.” My argument all over Twitter this weekend is that Trick Daddy is lying to you. He can censor himself because he has done it in other situations. He performed at the 2023 BET Awards alongside Trina and Luther Campbell and censored himself. There is even a video from the Source Awards in 2001, broadcast on UPN, where he once again censored himself. There are plenty of others as well.

People are defending this grown man who has been a professional and a famous rapper for so long, but you are supposed to carry yourself differently depending on where you are. Trick Daddy is old enough to understand that. I’m not saying he needs to perform the ABCs, but if you saw the video, the AKAs were doing their thing until he started to say wild stuff that was clearly outside the realm of the contract and disrespectful. He is the person who agreed to this. According to his comments, he said he gave a discount because there were AKA members he knew and supported. If you choose to give them a discount and perform in Orlando, that is on you.

Trick Daddy’s problem clearly wasn’t Luther Campbell’s problem

The conference also featured Luther Campbell as a performer. Campbell has matured quite a bit from his formative years; he is even running to represent Florida in the U.S. Congress. His adherence to the set guidelines makes sense because he followed the preapproved parameters. This isn’t foreign for conferences like the Seventy-third South Atlantic Regional Conference. There is often outside entertainment booked to break up the typical monotony of events.

Now. I do understand the aversion to bringing in Trick Daddy or Luther Campbell given the tone of their music and the way they have referred to women in it. But at the same time, the permission structure seems to be: “Let’s go after the AKAs for booking them because we know who Trick Daddy is.” Meanwhile, Trick Daddy knows who the AKAs are. We have evidence of him being a popular rapper who censored himself at award shows that weren’t nearly as prestigious as this conference. On top of that, he was on the radio with “Trick and Trina” in Florida for years. He wasn’t going on air just cussing and saying obscenities freely. He would’ve been fired if he did.

You change how you carry yourself based on the venue. That’s just human nature. He isn’t going to act like that in a business meeting with a label or on a suit-and-tie occasion. He censored himself at the BET Awards because otherwise, the audio would have been cut just like at the Alpha Kappa Alpha South Atlantic Regional Conference. If people are going to go after the AKAs for booking him, they should instead go after this fifty-two-year-old man for the way that he carried himself.

Trick Daddy deserves to take accountability for his actions most of all.

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