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Today's Rant
OK, today's rant is about rap. The two sides.
There are two very opposite and opposed sides to rap.
Side A are those who create and listen to rap. Those who speak and understand the lingo used in the majority of these songs (for this rant, I am distinguishing true rap from R&B. Rap disgusts me, whereas R&B (I'm thinking like Will Smith here) is sometimes listenable.
As I said, Rap disgusts me. All them "Bitchez" and "Hoz" and "Get your azz moving" and whatever is derogatory, for the most part, to women, jews, gays (Earth to the critics: Eminem wasn't the first and he won't be the last. In my experience, most REAL Rap is derogatory to someone. It started out as anger music. Angry against the cops, the "white man" that depressed the almost completely black community that raps out this crap, against authority.)
On the other side, equally disgusting, is Side B. Let's call them our parents. It's not so much the group of EVERYONE'S Parents, so much as a group of people about the age of our parents. They take a rap they don't understand and all start censoring and picketting. For the record, I am by and large against censorship. Because once you begin to censor, you ALWAYS go to far.
Perfect Example (and the reason for this rap). Has anyone heard Eminem's rap "Stan". Now, personally, I won't touch most of Eminem's stuff. I think it is terribly sexist and extremely homophobic. But I genuinely like Stan because I hear him not only rapping out this flight of fantasy he had over this near-stalker-like fan, but he's poking fun of himself. I hear the lyrics to "Stan" and I am more amused than upset.
So I'm surfing channels this morning and there.. on MTV is the video for Stan. Except they are bleeping out every other word. I understand bleeping out the obscenities and bleeping out, even, the bits about the woman with the unborn child being locked in the trunk. But then they were beeping out the "What's this shit about us needing to be together." and the whole why are you cutting your wrists? I'm just clowning when I talk about that.
WHY DO YOU NEED TO BLOCK THIS OUT?
Do you think you're going to stopped innocent children from hearing about things they haven't had to deal with yet? Cause... you won't. Chances are, if they've watched MTV, they're buying albums and going to web sites an whatever. THESE KIDS ARE NOT INNOCENT. Children delving into mainstream society: The World Wide Web, TV, Movies, are NO LONGER INNOCENT!
They know a whole lot more about how guns work, how sex works, and how abuse works than you parents and your parents did combined at their age.
I agree there's a big need for change in this country. So many things that are wrong and very very scary. But this IS NOT THE WAY. You can't try to protect them AFTER THE FACT. Censoring out parts of a song that they can just download off Napster or buy in a store AREN'T GOING TO WORK!
So.. yo, to all you nasty-ass rappers out there... you guys are guilty as charged. Your rap (I try not to call it music. It's not.) is nasty, it's sexist, homophobic and racist. Clean your act up, dogs.. because you're not helping anything. I'd say you're hurting the situation.. the same one you are so angry about.. with your "bitchez" and "hoz"
To all you censors out there... get a fucking clue... Censorship does NOT work. As anyone on a diet know, by trying to stop someone from doing something, it increases the cravings to do that thing immensely. You take all the swear words and bits you don't approve of out and someone will STILL here the song properly because YOU CAN'T STOP THEM.
Anyways, maybe I'll write a "what I've been up to" post later. My rant is over now, though.
Howard
There are two very opposite and opposed sides to rap.
Side A are those who create and listen to rap. Those who speak and understand the lingo used in the majority of these songs (for this rant, I am distinguishing true rap from R&B. Rap disgusts me, whereas R&B (I'm thinking like Will Smith here) is sometimes listenable.
As I said, Rap disgusts me. All them "Bitchez" and "Hoz" and "Get your azz moving" and whatever is derogatory, for the most part, to women, jews, gays (Earth to the critics: Eminem wasn't the first and he won't be the last. In my experience, most REAL Rap is derogatory to someone. It started out as anger music. Angry against the cops, the "white man" that depressed the almost completely black community that raps out this crap, against authority.)
On the other side, equally disgusting, is Side B. Let's call them our parents. It's not so much the group of EVERYONE'S Parents, so much as a group of people about the age of our parents. They take a rap they don't understand and all start censoring and picketting. For the record, I am by and large against censorship. Because once you begin to censor, you ALWAYS go to far.
Perfect Example (and the reason for this rap). Has anyone heard Eminem's rap "Stan". Now, personally, I won't touch most of Eminem's stuff. I think it is terribly sexist and extremely homophobic. But I genuinely like Stan because I hear him not only rapping out this flight of fantasy he had over this near-stalker-like fan, but he's poking fun of himself. I hear the lyrics to "Stan" and I am more amused than upset.
So I'm surfing channels this morning and there.. on MTV is the video for Stan. Except they are bleeping out every other word. I understand bleeping out the obscenities and bleeping out, even, the bits about the woman with the unborn child being locked in the trunk. But then they were beeping out the "What's this shit about us needing to be together." and the whole why are you cutting your wrists? I'm just clowning when I talk about that.
WHY DO YOU NEED TO BLOCK THIS OUT?
Do you think you're going to stopped innocent children from hearing about things they haven't had to deal with yet? Cause... you won't. Chances are, if they've watched MTV, they're buying albums and going to web sites an whatever. THESE KIDS ARE NOT INNOCENT. Children delving into mainstream society: The World Wide Web, TV, Movies, are NO LONGER INNOCENT!
They know a whole lot more about how guns work, how sex works, and how abuse works than you parents and your parents did combined at their age.
I agree there's a big need for change in this country. So many things that are wrong and very very scary. But this IS NOT THE WAY. You can't try to protect them AFTER THE FACT. Censoring out parts of a song that they can just download off Napster or buy in a store AREN'T GOING TO WORK!
So.. yo, to all you nasty-ass rappers out there... you guys are guilty as charged. Your rap (I try not to call it music. It's not.) is nasty, it's sexist, homophobic and racist. Clean your act up, dogs.. because you're not helping anything. I'd say you're hurting the situation.. the same one you are so angry about.. with your "bitchez" and "hoz"
To all you censors out there... get a fucking clue... Censorship does NOT work. As anyone on a diet know, by trying to stop someone from doing something, it increases the cravings to do that thing immensely. You take all the swear words and bits you don't approve of out and someone will STILL here the song properly because YOU CAN'T STOP THEM.
Anyways, maybe I'll write a "what I've been up to" post later. My rant is over now, though.
Howard
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