As I’ve discussed before, I’m trying to get a better handle on some of the stuff I listen to. Too many of the defenses I give for misogyny ring hollow to me now. But I’m not going to pretend there isn’t a bunch of objectionable stuff that I still really like. In fact, there’s plenty. So, here are 25 or so cuts that I know damn well I shouldn’t dig but can’t help (yet) but to dig.
In no particular order.
Bitches Ain’t Shit – Dr. Dre. To point out one choice lyric in this is impossible, so I’ll just mention the hook–“bitches ain’t shit but hoes and tricks/like on the nuts and suck the dick/get the fuck on after you get done/then I hops in my shit and make a quick run.” But I’ve seen those drums make the most enlightened necks jerk.
Juvenile on Fire – Juvenile. This is one of those cuts that I find to be more problematic because of its language than its sentiment. Like Juve, I don’t think it’s cool for a man to go broke spending money on a woman that he wouldn’t spend on himself. There are a few things on here that just ain’t right, though.
I’m a Player – Too Short. This isn’t the worst of the Too Short records, but this is my favorite one. But ummmm, can’t cosign the following–“I made up my mind when I was seventeen/I aint with no marriage or a wedding ring/I’ll be a player for life/so where’s my wife?/prolly in the rehab stuffin the pipe/cuz she must be smokin/and I’m not jokin/too Short baby coming straight from Oakland/got way more bitches than I’ll ever need/I put that on a big fat bag of weed/cuz I would give you a bitch but wouldn’t roll you a joint/bitches ain’t shit and now I made my point.” Whoa.
D.E.E.P. – OutKast. Yeah, slurring white folks ain’t cool. It’s just not. The silly things people do when they’re seventeen, I guess. And, of course, the song’s dope as hell.
Sweet Child O Mine – Guns N Roses. Not because of this song itself. But acknowledging that a reprehensibly racist, homophobic sumbitch like Axl Rose did anything good is so hard for me to admit. But I must.
Fuck My Car – UGK. Never any telling where to start when it comes to misogynistic UGK records, but this isn’t a bad start. “Unless your pussy make $10,000 a week/the only way I’ll see you sittin in my passenger seat/ya bitch.” Umm, okay.
Brown Sugar – Rolling Stones. Gee Mick, just how should a black girl dance? Combine this with the line on “Some Girls” where he says that, “black girls just wanna get fucked all the time,” and you really gotta wonder about those guys. Oh yeah, and the time Keith said that all gangster rappers should be locked in a room together so they can just kill each other. Wonder if he’d say that about those violent bluesmen the Stones love so much.
Chillin With My Bitch – TI. The song is dope and almost sweet. There’s not that much wrong with it lyrically. But dude, does she really have to be your bitch?
Good Thing We’re Rapping – Digital Underground. The thing about htis cut is that it’s so creative, as would be expected from Shock G. But man, some of the pimp talk on here is disturbing.
Ain’t No Fun – Snoop Doggy Dogg. Pick a line, any line. And tell me this shit don’t get your ass shakin at the club. I dare you to look me in the eye and say that honestly.
Wildflower – Ghostface Killah. This nigga’s crazy. Period. No other way to say it. And he’s one of the greatest of all-time.
Hell Yeah – dead prez. Here’s my beef. As an act of rebellion, one of these cats talks about robbing a pizza man. Yeah, bang on the system by helping endanger the job of someone just as broke as you are. The corporation’s really gonna miss that fifty bucks. I’m convinced these two don’t think about the stuff they say, and anyone that sees the as a bastion of thought in the bleak pop landscape isn’t as smart as (s)he thinks. But this joint bangs.
Lay It Down – Eightball and MJG. Check MJG’s verse and simultaneously be amazed by the genius of its construction and the abhorrent subject matter.
I Got Love – Nate Dogg. The flutes on this are incredible, as is the groove. However, the idea of packing a weapon because an emotionally attached woman might run up on him on the street is absurd. In case you didn’t know, Nate hates women.
Get Your Roll On – Big Tymers. Sorry, you can’t say “slap that bitch, punch that ho” and think that’s cool. But ummm, you peeped that beat?
Jesse James – Scarface. I’m not even sure this is terribly objectionable, but it’s scary as fuck.
Get Down (Like a Pimp) – David Banner w/Lil’ Flip. It’s one of those cuts that’s screwed without being screwed, and it’s so catchy and dope. However, there’s so much misogyny on here that is good for little more than shock value. These cats know better.
Wait – Ying Yang Twinz. I have no problem with this being sexually graphic. I see nothing wrong with saying you really wanna have sex and saying so in a vulgar way. Vulgarity doesn’t equal personal disrespect to me. But just calling people bitches because it sounds cool just isn’t the way to go.
No Vaseline – Ice Cube. What a great diss record. However, you gotta wish there was a better way to do it than throwing around homosexuality as an insult. Gotta be.
Sophisticated Bitch – Public Enemy. Yeah, I don’t like people like the one in this cut too much, either. Again, calling someone a bitch just to do it just ain’t the way to go.
Gimme Dat – Webbie. “You know you want it girl/don’t act like you don’t want it/girl, you want it just as bad as I do/but look, you gon’ be wishin that you been gave me your money by the time I get through rumblin with you.” You mean like fighting? Serious? But the first part of that rhyme is dope as hell. I can’t deny that.
Scarred – Luke. This makes it for Trick Daddy just calling a chick a “pregnant bald-head bitch.” Huh? But I’ve had some great times jumping behind someone as soon as I heard “Cap’n Dick comin…”
(Stopping at 22. Got stuff to do. Add yours.)
February 10, 2006
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