So what if Kanye fought back on tears on Jay Leno's new show last night? Whether or not he was truly apologetic about pissing on Taylor Swift's parade, Leno asked the dude WHAT HIS DEAD MOTHER WOULD SAY. What type of peanut butter and jelly ratings-starved ethically questionable type of bullshit is that? We're lucky Kanye was feeling emotionally vulnerable, otherwise today we'd all be talking about how Yeezy beat Leno all in his enormous chin with a well-placed black Timb.
The thing is, there's a long history of crying in rap, from Ghostface's verse on "Impossible" to DJ Yella shedding a tear when Eazy E announced he had AIDS, but consider this: The 2000s, more than any other time, has been a high point for lachrymose rappers. We don't know if it's that every concertgoer is armed with a flipcam, or that people are just that much more comfortable with their emotions, but we think overall it's a good thing. Besides, ain't nothing wrong with letting it run down your eye (ayo!), even if you're the hardest of the hardrocks (ayo!). We took a quick look through the past decade to find a few of your favorite rappers getting emotional like Carl Thomas...
EMINEM, "KIM"
MAINO BREAKING DOWN IN CONCERT
YEAR: 2009
REASON FOR THE TEARS: While the big homie was out on tour, his man 80 got shot in the back by the police and had been paralyzed ever since. Ten years in the bing, now that? Even if we didn't fuck with his music, we'd be cosigning Maino just off the strength of what he's been through.
