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1 comments:
The whole issue of negative lyrics in rap music is indicative of the social environment rapper's live in. People should not criticize rappers for expressing what they see, in the way that people in their neighborhoods talk or identify with. Rappers do not make up these terms; the terms come from what they see in their lives. Rap music, and more specifically, the type of rap music that's criticized is a social commentary of real life; Life in the inner city, tuff neighborhood, or whatever.
More recently, rap music has sparked these types of conversations. You here the comments, people critical of rap will say. “We should not criticize women”, but what some people seem to forget is that some women do deserve or warrant the negative terms. Lets' face it; some women are hoes, bitches, or other terms rappers like to use. Also, sometimes a rapper might use the term bitch or hoe, and not even be talking about a women. The context of the lyric is important. Conversely, some men are dogs, not all men are MEN at all, abusive, or whatever other negative adjective you want to use to describe these types. Bottom line is, when you behave in a certain way, your behavior determines the way people look at you and define you. If you look at the videos, you see the women half naked, dancing for cash, etc. These videos "try" to depict the "life" of rappers, and in many ways it does. When you, as a rapper, see groupies constantly throwing themselves at you for, essentially for your money and fame, what other ways would you define these experiences or people? Let's face it, a person who steals is a thief, a person who kills is a murderer, and a women who throws herself at any man for money or fame is a HOE. Also, I do not reserve that statement for people outside of my family, which goes for my mother, wife, or daughter.
People who don't agree with what i'm saying might say, "Well, what about rock stars, you don't hear them calling women hoes or bitches!" My answer to that is, rock and rap are very different. Never before has there been a genre of music that can so creatively describe REAL LIFE. I listen to rap, but I'm not a person who buys every rap CD or is a fan of every rapper. But, I will also criticize any rapper who only writes music that degrades women. Why, because that would not or should not be an accurate depiction of all that they experience in their lives. However, my understanding of most rapper's, and their music, is that only a minority of their entire suite of work can be classified in these categories. I’m sure there are rappers/musicians that only degrade, these types I will not defend in the least.
My wife also listens to rap music, and when I ask her…. “does rap music offend you when a rapper says bitch or hoe”, her response is unequivocally NO. She does not view herself as a bitch or hoe, so they are not talking about her, and consequently it doesn’t offend her. Now, if a rapper said Mrs X. (my wife) is hoe or a bitch, that’s a different story all together. Now the rapper has made a personal attack without warrant e.g Don Imus.
Let me just summarize and say, I don’t necessarily agree or support all rap lyrics, but if people don’t want rappers to use derogatory words against women, they should focus on the social environment that rappers are trying to depict. Let’s get to the root of why some women have such a low self esteem that that feel it’s necessary to throw themselves at rappers or put themselves in situations that ANY person would perceive them as bitches or hoes. Don’t kill the messenger.
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