Crossing the Line

A line has been crossed in hip hop. The rapper Meek Mill has offended audiences. If you haven’t heard you might be wondering what could possibly offend hip hop fans. Rap lovers have been listening to lyrics depicting violence and disrespecting Black women for decades. Rappers have made music glorifying idolatry and every sin known to man. Hip hop artists are known for being brash and irreverent. That’s their brand.

Well, Meek Mill said something Vanessa Bryant didn’t like. Basketball widow Vanessa Bryant reacted to a line in a Meek Mill song that made reference to Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crash that took his life. And that ladies and gentlemen is the line you don’t cross with hip hop fans.

They don’t mind music that has degraded their culture and has poisoned the minds of young people globally for three generations now (myself included) but don’t you dare say anything to upset the princess of Black America, Vanessa Bryant.

That’s right. Instead of worrying about your own children and the influence that hip hop has on them, instead of worrying about the influence that hip hop has had on you, let’s worry about the woman that inherited $600 million and won’t give her in laws a dime and no longer wants to support her own mother. Let’s worry about the woman that is so notoriously mean that it was written about in the LA Times. Let’s worry about her.

Meek Mill’s song was definitely crass, insensitive and tasteless. But that’s what rappers do. That’s what’s made them billions. Why is Vanessa Bryant the one person on the planet that needs to be treated with kid gloves? I’m not defending Meek Mill. I don’t give a darn about him. But I don’t give a darn about Vanessa Bryant either.

My concern is how ridiculous Black people look rallying around this woman who doesn’t really acknowledge them. She doesn’t even acknowledge her Black in laws. Black people look very stupid putting this woman on a pedestal. I don’t know of anything that she or her husband ever did for Black people, LA or Kobe’s hometown of Philadelphia.

This is why Black people have a hard time being taken seriously or getting respect. Black people are happy to be subservient to Whiteness. It’s very sad to see. Had Kobe Bryant been married to a Black woman Black Americans never would have rallied around her in such a way. I promise you they would have had criticisms of her just like they criticize Kobe’s parents.

The only women Black Americans choose to protect and put on a pedestal are women with significant European ancestry. And that’s a huge factor or why Black people struggle so bad.

Anyway. I don’t care about either of these characters. I think Meek Mill has apologized. I guess that settles it for Vanessa. So in the eyes of Black America I guess it’s settled. Their princess has been satisfied. I hope a grain of this chivalry and grace will be applied to Black women by Black Americans one day.

More Feminist Confusion

The feminists are at it again. These people are harder to understand than calculus. Music producer Jermaine Dupri made a comment that most female rappers today make songs about the stripper life. Social media feminists got upset for some reason and somehow Jermaine Dupri has become a prudish hypocrite in their minds even though their response is a bit prudish. I thought feminists were in favor of “sexual liberation” and expression.

I don’t listen to much new rap music anymore. I’ve gotten too old. So if I have heard of you that means that you have become pretty darn popular. Cardi B is a hip hop pop star that has become difficult to escape. And I’ve gotten introduced to Megan Thee Stallion and City Girls. I don’t care for Cardi B. at all but I think that Megan Thee Stallion and City Girls are quite talented.

I’m a Bible thumper that believes that there is more power for women in modesty than there is in raw sexuality. I also believe that these talented young women would be better served by not flaunting their sexuality. The public will only tolerate that without mocking it while a woman is young but no one is young forever or even very long. You have to have something to sell and talk about other than sex. But I’m not the target market for the music industry and I’m in my middle forties. The City Girls and Megan didn’t ask for my opinion.

I like these girls because I can understand what they are saying. They aren’t mumble rappers that sound like they are coming out of a cold medicine induced haze. They are charismatic, energetic, young, brash and beautiful. They are urban or perhaps ratchet is the better word and make no apologies for it. Their music is fun. And yes, they are sexy and put forth a stripper like image. When I ran across their videos on You Tube they made me smile. I don’t know City Girls and Megan Thee Stallion’s backgrounds but Cardi B. was an actual stripper.

Hip hop has been filthy, blunt and telling tales of urban counter culture since the late 80s. That’s the draw and the charm. Hip hop has sold millions and probably billions because it sells a fantasy to those of us that are students, housewives and work cubicle jobs. They say and do things before an audience that most of us would never do even after a couple of shots of tequila. Feminism has done it’s job.

The City Girls parents probably hadn’t even met yet when tawdry rap music gained popularity and began to dominate the charts. Megan The Stallion and Cardi B. never really had a chance and most young women are never really given a different option to present themselves as something other than slutty. But hey, we’re talking about grown, career women and I respect their choices.

Explicit lyrics, filth and racial slurs ahead.

I thought that feminists were in favor of women expressing themselves sexually and on their own terms. That’s what the City Girls and Megan Thee Stallion are doing. It’s what Nicki Minaj did before them. And it’s what Lil Kim and Foxy Brown did before her these girls’ parents even met. The young feminist response to Jermaine Dupri’s response should have been “So what if they rap about stripping. What’s wrong with stripping?” That would have made more sense to double down on their feminist values.

More trash ahead.

Instead they name off a bunch of other current female rappers that have a more wholesome or emo image. In order to say that all young female rappers aren’t stripper like. If feminists are truly supportive of these modest rappers why aren’t they more popular? Capitalism is it’s own form of Democracy and feminists get a vote.

Jermaine Dupri is absolutely right. Most popular young female rappers are selling sex. It’s the way of the world and you need to be a real rebel to make a different choice. There may be a Lauryn Hill or Missy Elliot equivalent for today but she doesn’t seem to be selling much music. Or at least she’s not selling enough downloads and getting enough buzz to become mainstream like Cardi B.

Jermaine Dupri isn’t young anymore. He’s forty six years old and it sounds like he’s gained some wisdom along the way. He understands that there is more power for women in modesty and using talent and intelligence. I hold the same opinion but I guess I’m enough of a feminist to respect an adult woman’s life choice. He’s just trying to let young women with aspirations in the music business that their longevity is not in blatant sex appeal.

After all, Lauryn Hill still sells out concerts even though her fans know she might show up two hours late. And we’ve never seen much of her body or heard much about her sexual experiences. She did it all with talent and hard work. Punctuality, not so much.

But feminists are interested in arguing and becoming outraged no matter what. That seems to be the goal. They aren’t even standing behind their cause of sexual liberation and expression. A man got them to rally around modest rappers today which is what he was supporting. Women stay losing.

90s Songs Based on Mental Illness and Depression: Volume II

I published a list of 90s pop songs based on mental illness and depression earlier today. I thought of a few more so I decided to make a second list. Please enjoy.

Offspring, Self Esteem

This is a song about a man that stays in an emotionally abusive relationship with a woman because he has low self esteem. During the bridge of the song he screams “The more I suffer, “The more you suffer means the more you really care, right?” I have to admit that I’ve been in that head space.

Cypress Hill, Insane in the Membrane

I don’t speak Spanish but thanks to Cypress Hill I know the Spanish word for crazy. Insane in the Membrane is their most recognizable hit. Their insanity is probably drug induced but insanity is a problem regardless of it’s cause.

Mary J. Blige, Not Gon’ Cry

Mary J. Blige had a lot of problems in the 90s. I was debating on whether she belonged on this list or not because a broken heart is not quite the same as a mental problem. But I love Mary and it’s my list so I decided to add her. I wonder if Mary has ever met the guy from Offspring. Perhaps they would get along.

Garbage, I’m Only Happy When it Rains

I remember this band and this song but it was never one of my favorites. This is a little gift from You Tube suggestions. But it’s perfect for this list and now that I’m listening to it I like it. As the kids would say it’s a bop. For the most part I’m a happy go lucky girl but I can identify with the sentiment of this song. I personally enjoy a bit of internal drama. It’s fun. And I do love rain.

Way back when there was a band called Lords of the Underground. I only remembered one song of their so I decided to do a bit of research on their song lyrics. With a name like that I figured they were a little off and they made music expressing that. I hit the jackpot. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, “Psycho”. No one has a video with lyrics uploaded to YT.

Bushwick Bill

I’m writing to pay my respects to Houston rapper Bushwick Bill. He was truly a unique and talented individual. None of us will ever see anything like him again. He was charming, eloquent and very short. He was a dwarf and didn’t stand four feet tall. Bill and his bandmates from the Geto Boys were one of my favorites from the 1990s rap scene. He died earlier this week after a long illness at age fifty two.

Their most popular song is “My Mind is Playing Tricks on Me”. It’s about an ongoing struggle with schizophrenic episodes. It’s a classic. Now that I think about it there were a few 90s hits across genres about mental illness. The Geto Boys music is dark, introspective, edgy and honest. It was filthy and gritty. They didn’t ask for sympathy or pity. They didn’t try to be heroes. They simply and artistically told their stories of Houston ghetto life with sharp wit and intelligence. I will always have an appreciation for the Geto Boys and artists like them.

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/10/731076691/bushwick-bill-of-houston-rap-group-geto-boys-dead-at-52