Then it all starts to come together. Watch out because even though at the beginning of the song when I said I was completely richer than you will ever be, I have to be always strapped. While I'm hugging these chicks that love me for my money, that poke you feel is defintely not my microphone or how glad I am to see you.
Sigh, I'm not mad at Weezy and Baby. I'm old enough to be used to this crap we call music. I won't buy the CD, download or be attending the concert anytime soon. I'm not even mad at the people for listening it, because that's deeper concern that I can't address in this one post.
Who I am fed up with is the radio stations that play it. Rappers can make whatever music they want. This is not a rant against the artists, (haha, I'm sorry I thought it would be funny to say that) they put an explicit content label on it like they should and then it's on the parents to do their job of not allowing it to get in their kids' hands. This is also not a rant against the people who listen to it. Popular culture is pervasive and addictive; many people feel that they have to listen and buy into it because they don't want to feel left out of what everybody else wants to do.
But this is the flat out the wrong message for an urban radio station to be sending. The Washington, D.C. area is hit so many times per year by gun violence especially at bars and nightclubs by brothas who are 'always strapped'. What if that person mugged you and he wasn't strapped? Maybe you just throw a punch? Maybe you do nothing at all like you should. I have a buddy who talks about he wishes he had a gun because he could guarantee he wouldn't be robbed. I hate to tell you, but having a gun on you at all times is mostly an offensive measure because if somebody wants to shoot you with a handgun they probably will. Random gun battles aren't something you see everyday, because usually the other guy gets blasted before anything pops off. This is not the wild, wild west where it's ten paces then shoot.
Everytime someone gets shot who wasn't supposed to (and by that I mean ones not involved in drug related shootings like kids or random bystanders at the club) the local radio stations put on the serious tone. They start talking about stopping the violence, but they still play these songs that glorify it. I remember back in college when a little girl was killed by a stray bullet and the Russ Parr show is having some special to talk about it then they play the song "Don't Want No Drama". The chorus goes:
"Bust a nigga head, slap a hoe, shoot the club up"Be consistent, send the message every day and every minute. Play the songs that inspire positive behavior in your community. If you can't do that, then you need to play some kind of victory music when somebody gets shot because it has come to the point where they play more negative than positive music. Instead of playing 'Always Strapped', maybe you could find some songs that talk about things we should always be doing. Here's my top ten.
- Always wear a condom (there's the best kind of strapped, if not see number 5 or see a doctor)
- Always paying attention in class
- Always keeping my cool
- Always watching what I eat
- Always taking care of my kids
- Always using the right language in public
- Always coming to work on time
- Always saving money
- Always wearing clothes that fit
- Always respect our women
And if anything I said above made you mad, join the club because I get mad just looking at you. If your tired of hearing about people glorifying what we 'Always shouldn't do" feel free to add to my list.
5 comments:
haha, I like how when DJs have the balls to play "You don't want drama", they only play it for a few secs and then mix in another song. get the crowd hype, but not toooo hype
AMEN brotha. People have to start taking some responsibility for the state of the black community. Don't get me started on the stanky leg either!
The G-spot boyz..I can picture it now. Little kid: "Mom what is a G-spot?" Mom: "Ummm....it's a bar" Kid unsatisfied goes to internet and wikipedia's G-spot.
I feel like things were nasty but way more discreet when we were younger.
I did hold the radio stations at full responsibilty until a DJ said something a few days ago that reminded me of how the game is played. As he introduced "Stanky Leg" (I hate it too Strenth-n-Me) he exasperately said, "I tried to hold out on playing it as long as I could, but the people keep asking for it, so I gotta give the people what they want." Record spins are based on listener requests. The reason these songs are played in such heavy rotation is because the masses are calling in asking to hear them. :-/
Stef, I think that's true to a degree. The masses do request that stuff but I don't think it's strictly a situation of the masses leading the media, but the media not taking the responsibility especially as conscionable media to present a better image.
I honestly wouldn't care if the next day they wouldn't profess so much to caring about the community. If they said this was Gangsta radio, and played the part then it would make alot more sense to me.
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