In the world of crisis communication, we tell our clients to be sincere in their apologies and to get out in front to tell our side of the story.
It seems that hip-hop artist Akon has taken part of that advice in his new song, “Sorry, Blame It on Me.”
It's a catchy tune, and includes an apology to his “girl,” his mother mother and his fans.
Earlier this year Akon engaged in a lewd act onstage with a 15-year-old girl, causing a huge uproar and causing him to lose a key contract with Verizon.
I say that he has partly taken a crisis communication approach because the lyrics of the song/apology are a bit mixed. On one hand, he shows remorse for the victim of his act:
I'm sorry for the hand she was dealt
For the embarrassment that she felt
Just a little young girl trying to have fun
(but then he finishes with)
Her daddy shouldn't never let her out that young
The other suspect lyrics include
(with my thoughts in parenthesis):
So I wanted to take this time out to apologize
for the things I've done
And things that haven't occurred yet
(Say what? What does he plan to do next?)
And things that they don't want to take responsibility for
(So it is really their fault, not his)
…I'm sorry that it took so long to see
They were dead wrong to put the blame on me
I'm sorry that it took so long to speak
But I was on tour with Gwen Stefani
(Could we sound more self-absorbed here?)
…Why doesn't anyone wanna take blame?
Verizon backing out disgracing my name
I'm just a singer trying to entertain
Because I love my fans I'll take that blame
(Somehow, this rings a little hallow to me)
The chorus continues,
You can put the blame on me
But I am not sure that Akon blames himself at all.
What do you think?
tags: Akon, Blame+it+on+Me, Crisis+Communication, Public+Relations, PR
