Racist Rap Videos
September 17, 2007 8:05 AM Subscribe
Socially conscious rap and hip hop may be making a comeback, but it seems to be doing so at the expense of stereotyping and bigotry. Videos like Read a Book (hilarious) and Serve Below Zero may be intended to send a “good” message to the black community, but it’s hard to ignore blatant racist undertones (or overtones) in the lyrics and images.
Bomani Armah (aka D’mite and notarapper), who wrote and performs "Read a Book," maintains that it is not racism, but satire. Jesse Jackson and CNN feel otherwise.
Kinda makes me pine for the simpler days of Fantastic Voyage...
Warning: YouTube linkfest.
Bomani Armah (aka D’mite and notarapper), who wrote and performs "Read a Book," maintains that it is not racism, but satire. Jesse Jackson and CNN feel otherwise.
Kinda makes me pine for the simpler days of Fantastic Voyage...
Warning: YouTube linkfest.
NIT ALERT
...it seems to be doing so at the expense of stereotyping and bigotry.
"at the expense of" means that those things would be losing out, which would be good news. You mean "at the price of", which would mean we would have to endure those things to get the good part (social consciousness), which would be ambivalent news.
The "read a book" part of Read A Book is pretty good, but brush your teeth? Wear deodorant? I don't get what this is supposed to be satirizing.
posted by DU at 8:20 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
...it seems to be doing so at the expense of stereotyping and bigotry.
"at the expense of" means that those things would be losing out, which would be good news. You mean "at the price of", which would mean we would have to endure those things to get the good part (social consciousness), which would be ambivalent news.
The "read a book" part of Read A Book is pretty good, but brush your teeth? Wear deodorant? I don't get what this is supposed to be satirizing.
posted by DU at 8:20 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
Because The Coup just isnt very good. I would say that Mos Def, Talib Quali, and Common are all fairly socially positive without being self righteous. You also have Blackalicious, and J-Five on top of them.
Also I am saying this with the caveat that I am a white male, so I am an outsider and maybe my opinion is unwelcome, but why are certain elements of the black community so sensitive about this sort of self criticism while they silent watch the glorification of negative images from other entertainers?
posted by BobbyDigital at 8:21 AM on September 17, 2007
Also I am saying this with the caveat that I am a white male, so I am an outsider and maybe my opinion is unwelcome, but why are certain elements of the black community so sensitive about this sort of self criticism while they silent watch the glorification of negative images from other entertainers?
posted by BobbyDigital at 8:21 AM on September 17, 2007
There's plenty of non-gimmicky (or at least, less gimmicky) stuff out there, but it's also less interesting: Common, Kanye, Mos Def, whether or not he likes the label.
posted by FeldBum at 8:21 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by FeldBum at 8:21 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
I like how Armah's satire is controversial, but the numerous, tired motifs in the average hiphop video since — Jesus, since 1996 at least, if not before — are okay.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:28 AM on September 17, 2007
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:28 AM on September 17, 2007
I'm guessing that Jesse objected to the bit that goes 'Raise your kids, raise your kids, raise your goddam kids...'
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:31 AM on September 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:31 AM on September 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
Hey, you got preachy self-righteous bullshit in my Hip-Hop! Hey, you got Hip-Hop in my preachy self-righteous bullshit!
Two tastes that taste absolutely fucking horrid together.
posted by basicchannel at 8:31 AM on September 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
Two tastes that taste absolutely fucking horrid together.
posted by basicchannel at 8:31 AM on September 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
I think the "brush your teeth" and "wear deodorant" was a recommendation towards general good physical health, like "drink some water". He might also be attacking the, um, tendency for substance abusers to not take good care of themselves outside their need for their substance. This is pretty unfair--lack of personal hygiene due to a serious addiction to crack is symptom of the disease and not a moral failing (not to mention it's pretty ubiquitous among addicts no matter their race).
Also, you know what, among very poor urban areas--and this is the case whether they're majority black or not, though statistically they tend to be--there is a serious misplacing of priorities. Cries of "racism" or whatever isn't going to change that. Yes, those issues arise from deep-seated racist causes, but that doesn't change the fact they exist and need to be addressed from within the community. Greater America has a shitload of work to do in terms of reducing the discrepancies between the availability of opportunities for white and black Americans, but you know, that doesn't give you license to go out clubbing instead of taking care of your kids.
If someone makes a video addressed directly towards white people admonishing them to quit doing so much meth or crap like that, I wouldn't feel someone was attacking me--it is epidemic among Midwestern, mostly white communities and saying that it's racist to say that doesn't change the fact it is true.
posted by Anonymous at 8:37 AM on September 17, 2007
Also, you know what, among very poor urban areas--and this is the case whether they're majority black or not, though statistically they tend to be--there is a serious misplacing of priorities. Cries of "racism" or whatever isn't going to change that. Yes, those issues arise from deep-seated racist causes, but that doesn't change the fact they exist and need to be addressed from within the community. Greater America has a shitload of work to do in terms of reducing the discrepancies between the availability of opportunities for white and black Americans, but you know, that doesn't give you license to go out clubbing instead of taking care of your kids.
If someone makes a video addressed directly towards white people admonishing them to quit doing so much meth or crap like that, I wouldn't feel someone was attacking me--it is epidemic among Midwestern, mostly white communities and saying that it's racist to say that doesn't change the fact it is true.
posted by Anonymous at 8:37 AM on September 17, 2007
I think the main difference is that now there is at least one rapper, Kanye who not only isn't into the whole gangster thing but is actually popular, getting airplay, etc.
But honestly, it's almost impossible for me to tell what's "popular" any more. I used to watch MTV, but the only rap videos, hell, the only music videos I see are on youtube. (there's a views count, but usually popular stuff gets duplicated over and over again)
So I really have no idea what's getting "airplay" on MTV or on pop radio or whatever.
But another thing I've noticed, over the years Rap has moved from "gangster" to "bling", so moving from a celebration of violence and criminality, to simply a celebration of amassing wealth and living in luxury. I mean that's what it looked like to me, based on MTV or whatever.
But who knows, Like I said, I really have no way to tell what's popular these days.
posted by delmoi at 8:38 AM on September 17, 2007
But honestly, it's almost impossible for me to tell what's "popular" any more. I used to watch MTV, but the only rap videos, hell, the only music videos I see are on youtube. (there's a views count, but usually popular stuff gets duplicated over and over again)
So I really have no idea what's getting "airplay" on MTV or on pop radio or whatever.
But another thing I've noticed, over the years Rap has moved from "gangster" to "bling", so moving from a celebration of violence and criminality, to simply a celebration of amassing wealth and living in luxury. I mean that's what it looked like to me, based on MTV or whatever.
But who knows, Like I said, I really have no way to tell what's popular these days.
posted by delmoi at 8:38 AM on September 17, 2007
I think the "brush your teeth" and "wear deodorant" was a recommendation towards general good physical health, like "drink some water".
That's pretty clear. But what's the satirical part? I guess the target of this satire is rap songs/videos that give instructions on how to do bad stuff? And it's funny because this is good advice. But it doesn't quite work, because the good advice is based on stereotypes.
</anotherwhiteperson'sopinion>
posted by DU at 8:50 AM on September 17, 2007
That's pretty clear. But what's the satirical part? I guess the target of this satire is rap songs/videos that give instructions on how to do bad stuff? And it's funny because this is good advice. But it doesn't quite work, because the good advice is based on stereotypes.
</anotherwhiteperson'sopinion>
posted by DU at 8:50 AM on September 17, 2007
the numerous, tired motifs in the average hiphop video since — Jesus, since 1996 at least, if not before — are okay
It's like having a shameful vice. My name's Peter, and I loves me some tired hiphop motifs.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:55 AM on September 17, 2007
It's like having a shameful vice. My name's Peter, and I loves me some tired hiphop motifs.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:55 AM on September 17, 2007
Is it racist that in 2005, offending rates for blacks were more than 7 times higher than the rates for whites? Is it bigotry to point out that in 2005, blacks committed more murders than whites or hispanics, yet only comprise 14% of the population? Maybe it's not polite to point out that the HIV rate in blacks is much higher than the rest of the country. Maybe one day, we'll be able to address the 52% high school graduation rate for blacks without the facts being labeled as poison.
There is a social collapse in progress and the more the facts are drowned out with cries of racism, the longer it will take to fix. Maybe there will be more hip hop like Dead Prez and more shows like The Wire to give a little light onto this tragedy happening in urban real time.
posted by four panels at 9:01 AM on September 17, 2007 [7 favorites]
There is a social collapse in progress and the more the facts are drowned out with cries of racism, the longer it will take to fix. Maybe there will be more hip hop like Dead Prez and more shows like The Wire to give a little light onto this tragedy happening in urban real time.
posted by four panels at 9:01 AM on September 17, 2007 [7 favorites]
There is a social collapse in progress and the more the facts are drowned out with cries of racism, the longer it will take to fix.
How can data from one year indicate a social collapse? collapse indicates that things are getting worse, but the charts you linked to show a decrease, especially during the 1990s. A black person today is less then half as likely to be the victim of a murder today then they were in 1990.
How can that possibly indicate a collapse.
Perhaps you out to take the advice from the video. Maybe read a dictionary or something and learn what words mean.
posted by delmoi at 9:21 AM on September 17, 2007
How can data from one year indicate a social collapse? collapse indicates that things are getting worse, but the charts you linked to show a decrease, especially during the 1990s. A black person today is less then half as likely to be the victim of a murder today then they were in 1990.
How can that possibly indicate a collapse.
Perhaps you out to take the advice from the video. Maybe read a dictionary or something and learn what words mean.
posted by delmoi at 9:21 AM on September 17, 2007
Because The Coup just isnt very good.
Oh come on, "Genocide and Juice" is awesome.
posted by cmonkey at 9:25 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
Oh come on, "Genocide and Juice" is awesome.
posted by cmonkey at 9:25 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
There are strong anti-intellectual elements in American culture, and this music speaks to them, not to the culture as a whole.
Ever see that Spike Lee movie Bamboozled? Overreaching as some of it may be, it's pretty spot on in indicting a subset of Black entertainment (BET, much?) as a minstrel show perpetrated by and for the people it ridicules.
Now, before anyone singles this out as a Black phenomenon, I'd point out that "Blue Collar Comedy" and "Larry the effing Cable Guy" are of this same species of entertainment. Poor, white, and willfully stupid? No, my friend, authentic. American. Keeping it real. Git 'er done. That'll be just 19.95 and your dignity, please.
"Redneck" has always been parallel (though more socially acceptable) to "Nigger," and there's of late been a movement not to reclaim both words, but to have these words reclaim an audience. And they're succeeding, not because of anything implicitly evil in words themselves, but because of us - because it's easier to sell a standard to live down to.
posted by kid ichorous at 9:36 AM on September 17, 2007 [9 favorites]
Ever see that Spike Lee movie Bamboozled? Overreaching as some of it may be, it's pretty spot on in indicting a subset of Black entertainment (BET, much?) as a minstrel show perpetrated by and for the people it ridicules.
Now, before anyone singles this out as a Black phenomenon, I'd point out that "Blue Collar Comedy" and "Larry the effing Cable Guy" are of this same species of entertainment. Poor, white, and willfully stupid? No, my friend, authentic. American. Keeping it real. Git 'er done. That'll be just 19.95 and your dignity, please.
"Redneck" has always been parallel (though more socially acceptable) to "Nigger," and there's of late been a movement not to reclaim both words, but to have these words reclaim an audience. And they're succeeding, not because of anything implicitly evil in words themselves, but because of us - because it's easier to sell a standard to live down to.
posted by kid ichorous at 9:36 AM on September 17, 2007 [9 favorites]
Am I the only one who finds racism funny. Always.
posted by fatcatslimslim at 9:36 AM on September 17, 2007
posted by fatcatslimslim at 9:36 AM on September 17, 2007
Well, I don't know about racist, but that "Serve Below Zero" video was frickin' awful. If it takes labeling it "racist" to make it go away, I'm all for it.
posted by katillathehun at 9:38 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by katillathehun at 9:38 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
I like how Armah's satire is controversial, but the numerous, tired motifs in the average hiphop video...
You should have linked to the captioned version.
posted by pracowity at 9:39 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
You should have linked to the captioned version.
posted by pracowity at 9:39 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
schroedinger : saying that it's racist to say that doesn't change the fact it is true.
Bingo. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of folks around who are at least acting as if they believe the opposite -- namely that if they can keep anyone from talking about the facts, they'll just go away, or simply do not exist.
Mr. Jackson would be one.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:42 AM on September 17, 2007
Bingo. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of folks around who are at least acting as if they believe the opposite -- namely that if they can keep anyone from talking about the facts, they'll just go away, or simply do not exist.
Mr. Jackson would be one.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:42 AM on September 17, 2007
Well, I don't know about racist, but that "Serve Below Zero" video was frickin' awful.
Indeed. It was so shit I thought it had to be a self link.
posted by dobbs at 9:46 AM on September 17, 2007
Indeed. It was so shit I thought it had to be a self link.
posted by dobbs at 9:46 AM on September 17, 2007
That's pretty clear. But what's the satirical part? I guess the target of this satire is rap songs/videos that give instructions on how to do bad stuff?
I thought it was funny. Mindless Self Indulgence has a song "Backmask" that parodies the idea of backwards satanic messages in rock songs. Played forward, the song says stuff like "hate and devour the young and the weaker ones, and don't forget the guns, cause you're gonna need 'em to go kill yourself." Played backwards it says "Clean your room, do your homework, eat your vegetables" and so on. This sounded like the same sort of thing, except that the "evil" messages actually exist in bad corporate hip hop compared while the evil messages never really existed backwards in rock songs.
So the deodorant and drink water stuff was just some really banal and cliched "good messages" replacing some banal and cliched "evil messages" about hoes and bling and whatnot. And maybe the "read a book" stuff tries to actually get across a good message in with the parody.
I find it hilarious all these people including Jesse Jackson are mostly upset that it says motherfucker and nigga. Have they listened to anything it's parodying?
That "Serve Below Zero" was pretty boring/patronizing, though, about on the level of a D.A.R.E. song.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 9:47 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
I thought it was funny. Mindless Self Indulgence has a song "Backmask" that parodies the idea of backwards satanic messages in rock songs. Played forward, the song says stuff like "hate and devour the young and the weaker ones, and don't forget the guns, cause you're gonna need 'em to go kill yourself." Played backwards it says "Clean your room, do your homework, eat your vegetables" and so on. This sounded like the same sort of thing, except that the "evil" messages actually exist in bad corporate hip hop compared while the evil messages never really existed backwards in rock songs.
So the deodorant and drink water stuff was just some really banal and cliched "good messages" replacing some banal and cliched "evil messages" about hoes and bling and whatnot. And maybe the "read a book" stuff tries to actually get across a good message in with the parody.
I find it hilarious all these people including Jesse Jackson are mostly upset that it says motherfucker and nigga. Have they listened to anything it's parodying?
That "Serve Below Zero" was pretty boring/patronizing, though, about on the level of a D.A.R.E. song.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 9:47 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
kid ichorous, very well said.
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:49 AM on September 17, 2007
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:49 AM on September 17, 2007
I think it racist to not allow people to make fun of their own culture/heritage/background.
Have you ever seen Chris Rock do stand up? It's harsh but funny. But that's what he knows best.
Comedy relies on stereotypes. So does racism. Intelligence is being able to separate the two.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 9:50 AM on September 17, 2007
Have you ever seen Chris Rock do stand up? It's harsh but funny. But that's what he knows best.
Comedy relies on stereotypes. So does racism. Intelligence is being able to separate the two.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 9:50 AM on September 17, 2007
In mixed schools in the UK, Black African and Black Carribbean students are targeted specifically with mentoring programs (Black Mentoring & Achievement Programs I think) to try to raise their achievement. This isn't racist - for whatever reason they are being failed by the educational system, so support is given. In the same way some of this video isn't racist - it's addressing problems that occur within the black community.
That isn't to say that these problems don't occur in other communities of course, but an alternative rock song would be more appropriate for the white kids.
"Wear deoderant' and 'clean your teeth' were just the artist running out of ideas though. Should've put a bit more effort into the lyrics!
posted by algreer at 9:52 AM on September 17, 2007
That isn't to say that these problems don't occur in other communities of course, but an alternative rock song would be more appropriate for the white kids.
"Wear deoderant' and 'clean your teeth' were just the artist running out of ideas though. Should've put a bit more effort into the lyrics!
posted by algreer at 9:52 AM on September 17, 2007
There are strong anti-intellectual elements in American culture, and this music speaks to them, not to the culture as a whole.
Right--and the beauty part of being a white person in America is that I'm not obligated to assure others around me that I am nothing like Larry the Cable Guy, et. al.. (It's so fun being in the majority, because you get to set the default for everything! e.g. Ted Bundy = Killer. John Gacy = Homosexual Killer.)
..And besides, who are the main con$umers of racist rap, anyway? Suburban white teenagers?
posted by applemeat at 9:57 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
Right--and the beauty part of being a white person in America is that I'm not obligated to assure others around me that I am nothing like Larry the Cable Guy, et. al.. (It's so fun being in the majority, because you get to set the default for everything! e.g. Ted Bundy = Killer. John Gacy = Homosexual Killer.)
..And besides, who are the main con$umers of racist rap, anyway? Suburban white teenagers?
posted by applemeat at 9:57 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
Just wait until we find out that "Read a Book" was viral marketing for the ABA, then there will be hell to pay.
posted by drezdn at 9:57 AM on September 17, 2007
posted by drezdn at 9:57 AM on September 17, 2007
I'm not a racist, that's what's so insane about this.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 10:12 AM on September 17, 2007
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 10:12 AM on September 17, 2007
and the beauty part of being a white person in America is that I'm not obligated to assure others around me that I am nothing like Larry the Cable Guy, et. al..
Actually, if you go into majority non-white communities you may very well be pinned exactly as that. And you will be related to every other white person in the non-white community, and everyone will think you and all the other white people look alike. At least that was my experience working in a black community for a year. It was a funny turnaround.
posted by Anonymous at 10:19 AM on September 17, 2007
Actually, if you go into majority non-white communities you may very well be pinned exactly as that. And you will be related to every other white person in the non-white community, and everyone will think you and all the other white people look alike. At least that was my experience working in a black community for a year. It was a funny turnaround.
posted by Anonymous at 10:19 AM on September 17, 2007
I for one am glad to see hip-hop returning to the image of the strong, larger-than-life african-american man as skilled and hard working as portrayed by hip-hop artists of the past.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:29 AM on September 17, 2007
posted by Pollomacho at 10:29 AM on September 17, 2007
There is a strong pseudo-intellectual movement in this country.
Racism isn't making fun of people in a particular racial subgroup. Making fun of people isn't racist. Denying them jobs, housing, or equal representation under the law is racism.
Freedom of speech is being trampled on these days by word haters and political correctness junkies. This leads me to conclude that the best test for racism among the pseudo-intellectual elite is those who don't enjoy a little race-based humor.
Read a book. Seriously. Not a website. Not news feed.
posted by ewkpates at 10:40 AM on September 17, 2007
Racism isn't making fun of people in a particular racial subgroup. Making fun of people isn't racist. Denying them jobs, housing, or equal representation under the law is racism.
Freedom of speech is being trampled on these days by word haters and political correctness junkies. This leads me to conclude that the best test for racism among the pseudo-intellectual elite is those who don't enjoy a little race-based humor.
Read a book. Seriously. Not a website. Not news feed.
posted by ewkpates at 10:40 AM on September 17, 2007
Fact: six-year olds of all races are faced with exposure to gansta rap and its images everywhere they turn (radio, tv, movies, magazines, etc. etc).
It's MESSING THEM UP! You know, kids are supposed to be our future - and we let them see and hear most of the top 40's CRAP that out there today? Are we mad (as in crazy?)??
The slime music producers who perpetuate this insult to humanity, and those who participate in it are themselves the ones who hypoctitically get in your face about people using the "N" word, when in fact, they ARE the "N" word, in all the worst connotations that one can come up about it.
They are poison in our culture, and they need to be diluted by decent art and music to the .000001% of airtime that they're getting today.
The white, black and other colored modeia whores who are perpetrating these images ALL OVER THE WORLD are the new criminals, puking up their sad insides and fouling everyone's living room.
Don't anyone even dare to tell me that some money mad producer - no matter his/her color, who perpetrates the images of gangsta rap, misogyny, and the rest and the rest is "just telling it like it is"
Those people are sick puppies who need to be isolated from the rest of us.
These are the money-grubbing GANGSTERS that are stealing our values, our culture, and our kid's minds with their beat-driven crap.
I LOVE rhythm, like most folk, but when I see the magic of the beat put to work like these viollence-loving, misogeny-perpetrating, healthy-mid-hating slime whores have managed to do it over the last ten or so years, it makes me - and almost everyone I've spoken to about it - hopping mad.
I'm sick of my kids being exposed to this stuff; I'm sick of seeing kids of all colors think prison is cool; I'm sick of kids using the diction of uneducated people who can't spell; I'm sick of media moguls using the BEAT to sell crap.
Out with them - All!
posted by MetaMan at 11:05 AM on September 17, 2007
It's MESSING THEM UP! You know, kids are supposed to be our future - and we let them see and hear most of the top 40's CRAP that out there today? Are we mad (as in crazy?)??
The slime music producers who perpetuate this insult to humanity, and those who participate in it are themselves the ones who hypoctitically get in your face about people using the "N" word, when in fact, they ARE the "N" word, in all the worst connotations that one can come up about it.
They are poison in our culture, and they need to be diluted by decent art and music to the .000001% of airtime that they're getting today.
The white, black and other colored modeia whores who are perpetrating these images ALL OVER THE WORLD are the new criminals, puking up their sad insides and fouling everyone's living room.
Don't anyone even dare to tell me that some money mad producer - no matter his/her color, who perpetrates the images of gangsta rap, misogyny, and the rest and the rest is "just telling it like it is"
Those people are sick puppies who need to be isolated from the rest of us.
These are the money-grubbing GANGSTERS that are stealing our values, our culture, and our kid's minds with their beat-driven crap.
I LOVE rhythm, like most folk, but when I see the magic of the beat put to work like these viollence-loving, misogeny-perpetrating, healthy-mid-hating slime whores have managed to do it over the last ten or so years, it makes me - and almost everyone I've spoken to about it - hopping mad.
I'm sick of my kids being exposed to this stuff; I'm sick of seeing kids of all colors think prison is cool; I'm sick of kids using the diction of uneducated people who can't spell; I'm sick of media moguls using the BEAT to sell crap.
Out with them - All!
posted by MetaMan at 11:05 AM on September 17, 2007
I can't tell MetaMan, was that sarcastic or are you brimming with more righteous indignation than all of Metafilter combined?
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 11:18 AM on September 17, 2007
posted by PostIronyIsNotaMyth at 11:18 AM on September 17, 2007
kids are supposed to be our future
Yeah. Some crackhead chick said so.
posted by jonmc at 11:24 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
Yeah. Some crackhead chick said so.
posted by jonmc at 11:24 AM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
The slime music producers who perpetuate this insult to humanity posted by MetaMan at 2:05 PM on September 17 [+] [!]
I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little has changed
I'm the tool of the Government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I'm the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I'm the slime oozin' out
From your TV set
You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help . . . no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold
That's right, folks . . .
Don't touch that dial
Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin' along on your livin' room floor
I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go
I am the slime from your video
Oozin' along on your livin' room floor
I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go
posted by Frank Zappa in 1973 [+] [!]
posted by Pollomacho at 11:25 AM on September 17, 2007
I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed 'n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little has changed
I'm the tool of the Government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I'm the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I'm the slime oozin' out
From your TV set
You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help . . . no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold
That's right, folks . . .
Don't touch that dial
Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin' along on your livin' room floor
I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go
I am the slime from your video
Oozin' along on your livin' room floor
I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, lookit me go
posted by Frank Zappa in 1973 [+] [!]
posted by Pollomacho at 11:25 AM on September 17, 2007
How the hell isn't this a double?
Damn, I looked for "Read a Book" (40,000 results and I overlooked the most obvious one) and Bomani (spelled wrong in the other post, in my defense)...
posted by FeldBum at 11:26 AM on September 17, 2007
Damn, I looked for "Read a Book" (40,000 results and I overlooked the most obvious one) and Bomani (spelled wrong in the other post, in my defense)...
posted by FeldBum at 11:26 AM on September 17, 2007
It's MESSING THEM UP! You know, kids are supposed to be our future - and we let them see and hear most of the top 40's CRAP that out there today? Are we mad (as in crazy?)??
I completely agree. And while we're at it, can we ban the blues? I'm sick and tired of songs like Stagolee that glamourize gamblers and murderers, who'll kill another man over nothing more than a brand new Stetson hat. Why just the other day, I heard a couple of kids sitting listening to an Alan Lomax compilation, saying that if anyone tried to take *their* brand new Stetson hat, they'd shoot him down in cold blood, regardless of whether he had two young babies and a girlfriend at home.
We must be insane to let this situation continue. Ban all folk music, all rock music, all blues, all literature.. in fact, ban everything right now. For the sake of the children. Won't somebody think of the children?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:30 AM on September 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
I completely agree. And while we're at it, can we ban the blues? I'm sick and tired of songs like Stagolee that glamourize gamblers and murderers, who'll kill another man over nothing more than a brand new Stetson hat. Why just the other day, I heard a couple of kids sitting listening to an Alan Lomax compilation, saying that if anyone tried to take *their* brand new Stetson hat, they'd shoot him down in cold blood, regardless of whether he had two young babies and a girlfriend at home.
We must be insane to let this situation continue. Ban all folk music, all rock music, all blues, all literature.. in fact, ban everything right now. For the sake of the children. Won't somebody think of the children?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:30 AM on September 17, 2007 [2 favorites]
I still think the superman dance is more awesome than anything Zappa coulda come up with.
posted by sleepy pete at 11:46 AM on September 17, 2007
posted by sleepy pete at 11:46 AM on September 17, 2007
Better ban country & western, too. The whole city of Reno is nervous.
posted by jonmc at 11:55 AM on September 17, 2007
posted by jonmc at 11:55 AM on September 17, 2007
I'd like to extend a warm MetaFilter welcome to Ed Anger!
(Sorry about the World Weekly News, man.)
posted by maryh at 11:56 AM on September 17, 2007
(Sorry about the World Weekly News, man.)
posted by maryh at 11:56 AM on September 17, 2007
Soulja Boy is even more of a crime for that general MIDI steel drum in the background. Makes me wonder if the next stupid-contagious hit is going to feature such forgotten classics as MIDI dog bark and MIDI helicopter. Stright to ringtone, y'all biscuitheads.
posted by kid ichorous at 12:04 PM on September 17, 2007
posted by kid ichorous at 12:04 PM on September 17, 2007
Better ban country & western, too. The whole city of Reno is nervous.
No can do. When it's white folks shooting someone, just to watch them die, that's obviously covered by the Second Amendment.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:10 PM on September 17, 2007
No can do. When it's white folks shooting someone, just to watch them die, that's obviously covered by the Second Amendment.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:10 PM on September 17, 2007
I don't like this trend. Am I going to have to start apologizing for Warrant videos?
posted by electroboy at 12:52 PM on September 17, 2007
posted by electroboy at 12:52 PM on September 17, 2007
This speaks volumes in a way that a thoughtfully typed out comment never could.
posted by hypocritical ross at 1:01 PM on September 17, 2007
posted by hypocritical ross at 1:01 PM on September 17, 2007
I'm guessing that Jesse objected to the bit that goes 'Raise your kids, raise your kids, raise your goddam kids...'
David Banner would agree...
posted by SweetJesus at 1:44 PM on September 17, 2007
David Banner would agree...
posted by SweetJesus at 1:44 PM on September 17, 2007
I am pretty surprised nobody has brought up crunk yet, wrt Read A Book being a pretty straight send-up of crunk and The Game...
posted by beefetish at 2:05 PM on September 17, 2007
posted by beefetish at 2:05 PM on September 17, 2007
OK people, how many of your kids are in elementary school, with their friends listwning to "slap it" lyrics by some hip-hop low life like AKON(NSFW) or about 200 others I can name.
Guess what fellas? Women won't be free until our sons are free of the misogynistic pap that passes for art these days.
btw, I'm FAR from any prude - almost as far as you can get, but when 5-year-olds think its cool to be in prison, or they come home mouthing the latest misogyistic, moronic, pathetic, future-mind-ruining lyrics that I've been living with for the last too many years - including gevery four letter word in the book, because they heard it on their little friend's iPod, it's time to say ENOUGH.
And, for the whimpy
argumentum ad absurdum comments about banning the blues, or other songs with harsh lyrics, I can only say this - some people miss the point (that's being kind).
In what other era have several media modalities existed all at once, that made it virtually impossible to keep young minds free of stuff that they're not ready to handle? Don't tell me that some four year old kid's mama should feel OK about having her son come home from kindergarden singing hisi latest four letter word, or a hip hop code description of what it's like to have sex. Anyone who thinks that that is OK is just plain ignorant, and not a potential contributor to a sustainable social future.
There isn't anything wrong with sex; and there's nothing wrong with four letter words, *if* they're done/used within appropriate social contexts.
Like I said, anyone who promotes this stuff is slime. They have a "right" to promote it, because this is America.
That said, I discern a move to putting the cabash on some of these people, and making them pay for screwing with our kid's mind's.
I don't let my kids watch or listen to that crap - not since I started listening to what was behind the beat, the sacred beat.
It's the BEAT that drives the music; that's the SOUL of music. To use the beat in the way that these slime use it is sacreligious.
You may not agree, but this stuff needs to be said.
btw, for those of you without kids, I want to see and hear what your reaction is when your one year old has been listening to the car radio before her first word is uttered, and then suddenly announces %*&$.
I want to see your face, then.
posted by MetaMan at 4:41 PM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
Guess what fellas? Women won't be free until our sons are free of the misogynistic pap that passes for art these days.
btw, I'm FAR from any prude - almost as far as you can get, but when 5-year-olds think its cool to be in prison, or they come home mouthing the latest misogyistic, moronic, pathetic, future-mind-ruining lyrics that I've been living with for the last too many years - including gevery four letter word in the book, because they heard it on their little friend's iPod, it's time to say ENOUGH.
And, for the whimpy
argumentum ad absurdum comments about banning the blues, or other songs with harsh lyrics, I can only say this - some people miss the point (that's being kind).
In what other era have several media modalities existed all at once, that made it virtually impossible to keep young minds free of stuff that they're not ready to handle? Don't tell me that some four year old kid's mama should feel OK about having her son come home from kindergarden singing hisi latest four letter word, or a hip hop code description of what it's like to have sex. Anyone who thinks that that is OK is just plain ignorant, and not a potential contributor to a sustainable social future.
There isn't anything wrong with sex; and there's nothing wrong with four letter words, *if* they're done/used within appropriate social contexts.
Like I said, anyone who promotes this stuff is slime. They have a "right" to promote it, because this is America.
That said, I discern a move to putting the cabash on some of these people, and making them pay for screwing with our kid's mind's.
I don't let my kids watch or listen to that crap - not since I started listening to what was behind the beat, the sacred beat.
It's the BEAT that drives the music; that's the SOUL of music. To use the beat in the way that these slime use it is sacreligious.
You may not agree, but this stuff needs to be said.
btw, for those of you without kids, I want to see and hear what your reaction is when your one year old has been listening to the car radio before her first word is uttered, and then suddenly announces %*&$.
I want to see your face, then.
posted by MetaMan at 4:41 PM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
"I want to see your face, then."
Most likely, my face will be laughing like crazy.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 4:45 PM on September 17, 2007
That said, I discern a move to putting the cabash on some of these people, and making them pay for screwing with our kid's mind's.
You really need to learn what words mean before you use them.
posted by dhammond at 4:47 PM on September 17, 2007
You really need to learn what words mean before you use them.
posted by dhammond at 4:47 PM on September 17, 2007
Kids are like a sponge. If you take away this so-called filth, there will be something else. Your kids pick something negative up, you teach them that it's wrong. That's how it's always been.
I hate hip-hop AND the culture that goes with it, but that's just my personal taste. It's lazy to blame hip-hop for everything that's wrong with today's youth.
posted by katillathehun at 4:59 PM on September 17, 2007
I hate hip-hop AND the culture that goes with it, but that's just my personal taste. It's lazy to blame hip-hop for everything that's wrong with today's youth.
posted by katillathehun at 4:59 PM on September 17, 2007
MetaMan writes 'I want to see your face, then.'
My kids are now 27, 21 and 18. I felt no need whatsoever to shield them from the nasty words or ideas spread by hiphop, because they all had the intelligence to recognize that there's the difference between cultural product and real life.
But then, when they watched Tom and Jerry cartoons, they didn't believe that the cat really got hurt when the mouse whacked it with an iron either.
And yeah, I remember the first time they said 'fuck' out loud. A brief moment explaining to them that there were times and places that such language was socially appropriate, and times and places when it wasn't was all that it took to prevent it from any repetition.
So is that Jim Morrison still getting his dick out on stage, or what?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:21 PM on September 17, 2007
My kids are now 27, 21 and 18. I felt no need whatsoever to shield them from the nasty words or ideas spread by hiphop, because they all had the intelligence to recognize that there's the difference between cultural product and real life.
But then, when they watched Tom and Jerry cartoons, they didn't believe that the cat really got hurt when the mouse whacked it with an iron either.
And yeah, I remember the first time they said 'fuck' out loud. A brief moment explaining to them that there were times and places that such language was socially appropriate, and times and places when it wasn't was all that it took to prevent it from any repetition.
So is that Jim Morrison still getting his dick out on stage, or what?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:21 PM on September 17, 2007
Hip hop isn't to blame; lazy and irresponsible parents are.
Sure, we all work to teach our kids what's right, but multiple media modalities make that harder and harder.
Why should I sit by quietly while some slime-ball hip-hopper without a conscience infects my kid's mind (there are many hip hop arrtists that give a damn, but we don't hear them on the radio).
The former, poeple like '50 cent' and Akon are nothing like flies on a manure pile that's spkied with plutonium. they create memes that bore holes in social cohesion.
We can't ban them; this is America. I don't even WNAT to ban them.
What I want is more voices telling themm that their music sucks, and the messages they deliver are downersm and that what they think about the world is NOT how it is, so why not just go back to their bling-laden, overdone, oversouled homies and corrupt producers and distributors(white,black, yellow - I don't care) and implode right there, away from people who want a life.
posted by MetaMan at 5:23 PM on September 17, 2007
Sure, we all work to teach our kids what's right, but multiple media modalities make that harder and harder.
Why should I sit by quietly while some slime-ball hip-hopper without a conscience infects my kid's mind (there are many hip hop arrtists that give a damn, but we don't hear them on the radio).
The former, poeple like '50 cent' and Akon are nothing like flies on a manure pile that's spkied with plutonium. they create memes that bore holes in social cohesion.
We can't ban them; this is America. I don't even WNAT to ban them.
What I want is more voices telling themm that their music sucks, and the messages they deliver are downersm and that what they think about the world is NOT how it is, so why not just go back to their bling-laden, overdone, oversouled homies and corrupt producers and distributors(white,black, yellow - I don't care) and implode right there, away from people who want a life.
posted by MetaMan at 5:23 PM on September 17, 2007
McDermott, times change, try raising a kid now, with the kind of relativism that you value. It's far more difficult than it used to be. I've reaised two generations of kids, and see a huge difference.
There's a lot of good hip hop, but our kids don't hear it, because slime distributors and producers (and the lame artists they manufacture as "stars") are more interestred in bling and money than anything else.
"Hey, what up!" ....next applicant, please.
posted by MetaMan at 5:27 PM on September 17, 2007
There's a lot of good hip hop, but our kids don't hear it, because slime distributors and producers (and the lame artists they manufacture as "stars") are more interestred in bling and money than anything else.
"Hey, what up!" ....next applicant, please.
posted by MetaMan at 5:27 PM on September 17, 2007
As the father of two six-year olds, I managed to keep them from knowing what a television WAS until they were two, and they still know 0/7 of Carlin's Seven Words. And I live in media-saturated urban USA. So, it's possible.
On the other hand, when they use language I do not care for, I tell them so and explain why, in age-appropriate terms. Seems to work just fine.
I'm with Bonami, who's main point seems to be, "It's satire, you idiot."
posted by Topkid at 6:17 PM on September 17, 2007
On the other hand, when they use language I do not care for, I tell them so and explain why, in age-appropriate terms. Seems to work just fine.
I'm with Bonami, who's main point seems to be, "It's satire, you idiot."
posted by Topkid at 6:17 PM on September 17, 2007
"I want to see your face, then."
"Most likely, my face will be laughing like crazy."
---------
And thus, another child is reinforced by the ignorance of his father.
posted by MetaMan at 6:59 PM on September 17, 2007
And thus, another child is reinforced by the ignorance of his father.
I think someone's got a case of the Mondays.
posted by katillathehun at 7:26 PM on September 17, 2007
I think someone's got a case of the Mondays.
posted by katillathehun at 7:26 PM on September 17, 2007
MetaMan, I'm confused. Are you bitching about the videos linked above, the wicked commercial shit they parodied, or stuff like Black Star and dead prez? Or are you just doing the general Won't Someone Think Of The Children two-step?
posted by beefetish at 7:47 PM on September 17, 2007
posted by beefetish at 7:47 PM on September 17, 2007
wicked above being a Bostonian modifier to commercial.
posted by beefetish at 7:51 PM on September 17, 2007
posted by beefetish at 7:51 PM on September 17, 2007
Are you bitching about the videos linked above, the wicked commercial shit they parodied, or stuff like Black Star and dead prez?
I'll bitch about Black Star! That stuff's about as socially conscious as a stoner armed with a copy of Loose Change. It's a shame, because Talib is pretty good when he's not yakking about politics. Kinda like Orson Scott Card.
posted by kid ichorous at 8:09 PM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
I'll bitch about Black Star! That stuff's about as socially conscious as a stoner armed with a copy of Loose Change. It's a shame, because Talib is pretty good when he's not yakking about politics. Kinda like Orson Scott Card.
posted by kid ichorous at 8:09 PM on September 17, 2007 [1 favorite]
href=" http://www.amazon.com/Know-What-Mean-Michael-Dyson/dp/0465017169">This says it all, as far as hip hop in our culture.
Dyson's on top of it. Hip hop IS relevant, but the commercial scene is sickening, and I don't like its influence on very young people.
I was talking with an elementary school principal the other day. She said that kids are presenting with social and sexual behaviors in the 4th and 5th grade that one didn't normally see until the 7th or 8th grade just 10 years ago.
She said this was largely due to the sexualization of media, as a manipulative tool. No conspiracy, just the market evolving to find new consumers.
This is a worold-wide phenomenon, and new territory. Maybe we'll adapt; maybe we won't - bit my kids aren't going to see the "wicked commercial s***" that one poster alluded to above. If they do, I take their skateboards away.
posted by MetaMan at 10:03 PM on September 17, 2007
Dyson's on top of it. Hip hop IS relevant, but the commercial scene is sickening, and I don't like its influence on very young people.
I was talking with an elementary school principal the other day. She said that kids are presenting with social and sexual behaviors in the 4th and 5th grade that one didn't normally see until the 7th or 8th grade just 10 years ago.
She said this was largely due to the sexualization of media, as a manipulative tool. No conspiracy, just the market evolving to find new consumers.
This is a worold-wide phenomenon, and new territory. Maybe we'll adapt; maybe we won't - bit my kids aren't going to see the "wicked commercial s***" that one poster alluded to above. If they do, I take their skateboards away.
posted by MetaMan at 10:03 PM on September 17, 2007
McDermott, times change, try raising a kid now, with the kind of relativism that you value. It's far more difficult than it used to be.
I'm pretty sure every generation has said that, and every one of them is wrong.
The former, poeple like '50 cent' and Akon are nothing like flies on a manure pile that's spkied with plutonium. they create memes that bore holes in social cohesion.
So...good for plants if properly composted, but also radioactive? But they're the flies....so that means....I don't know. What kind of flies? Is that important? Which flies bore holes in things? Botflies? Is the manure social cohesion? I'm having trouble with your awful analogy.
I LOVE rhythm, like most folk, but when I see the magic of the beat put to work like these viollence-loving, misogeny-perpetrating.......I'm sick of kids using the diction of uneducated people who can't spell;
Oh, the irony.
posted by electroboy at 7:48 AM on September 18, 2007
I'm pretty sure every generation has said that, and every one of them is wrong.
The former, poeple like '50 cent' and Akon are nothing like flies on a manure pile that's spkied with plutonium. they create memes that bore holes in social cohesion.
So...good for plants if properly composted, but also radioactive? But they're the flies....so that means....I don't know. What kind of flies? Is that important? Which flies bore holes in things? Botflies? Is the manure social cohesion? I'm having trouble with your awful analogy.
I LOVE rhythm, like most folk, but when I see the magic of the beat put to work like these viollence-loving, misogeny-perpetrating.......I'm sick of kids using the diction of uneducated people who can't spell;
Oh, the irony.
posted by electroboy at 7:48 AM on September 18, 2007
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posted by twjordan at 8:17 AM on September 17, 2007