Hmmmm, so, this is super creepy. In a mind-bogglingly tasteless move, Rap Genius Co-Founder, Mahbod Moghadam, thought it would be a good idea to annotate the bizarre, 140-page manifesto of the UCSB shooter. I guess we forget that just because someone is part of an innovative start-up worth millions, it doesn’t mean they’re not a complete idiot.
The annotations have since been taken down, but were reposted online by Gawker, and as if the idea of annotating a killer’s manifesto isn’t tasteless enough, what he actually wrote is cringe-worthy. The point of Rap Genius is to post notes explaining the meaning of rap lyrics. Moghadam’s annotations did nothing to attempt to contribute to a larger discussion or shed light on anything, and instead, added bizarre things like “This is an artful sentence, beautifully written,” and “MY GUESS: his sister is smokin hot.”
His annotations read more like those of a gushing fanboy than someone trying to make sense of a heartbreaking tragedy. This is a good lesson for CEO’s everywhere, of which, I am sure there are thousands who read BroBible – just shut up. Seriously. Stick to your company and the development of that company. I promise that when it comes to a tragedy like this, nobody is thinking “what does Rap Genius’ Co-Founder think about all this?!” The same way that “nobody has ever been promoted because of something they drunkenly said at an office holiday party,” no company has ever gained more customers because of something they said in reaction to a tragedy.