Nick Cannon, a successful rap singer/songwriter, producer and movie actor (Garfield, Men in Black II and Drumline), is promoting a culture of life through his new music video "Can I Live?" The video has been consistently voted in the top ten at BET's music-video rating site for weeks, recently reaching the #2 spot on the BET countdown. The video which also recently premiered on MTV, portrays Nick's mom as a teenager, lying in an abortion clinic as the spirit of Nick pleads for her not to take his life. Cannon, who also produced the video, captures the trauma of post-abortion grief as he sings: "What you want, morning sickness or the sickness of mourning?" In the end, his mother jumps off the table and runs out of the clinic, with Nick thanking her for the gift of life. To watch the video go to http://www.nickcannonmusic.com/index_main.html (Click on "watch the video.")
The closing scene of the video has a host of young kids, all wearing a "Can I Live?" t-shirts, singing "Can I live? Can I live? I will always be a part of you. Trust your soul; know his heart is true." The powerful message of this video is representative of the trend of the younger generation (not necessarily from conservative families) to be more pro-life. It should be noted that Nick Cannon's pro-life message on this song does not mean that his broader body of work (at least up to this point) reflect traditional values (e.g., an earlier album is "Gigolo"). The unabashedly pro-life message in "Can I Live," is getting attention from those within the rap/hip-hop world as well as observers in the culture at large.
Let us all cheer this rare postitve message from the world of Rap music and pop culture.
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