I have memories of Will Smith battling Steady B in a radio studio LIVE. And Will won. I saw LL Cool J perform I need love on a maroon couch while standing next to my Dad who was trying to ignore the weed smokers who were standing next to us. This was 19 years ago. These experiences injected my body with such a love of music I was high when I turned up the radio. These experiences were the reason that I chose to write about music and culture.
I came into the music business as an idealistic journalist. I thought the majority of the people that I would run into would be music lovers. I thought the people that I would come across would be living to uplift the culture. But the reality of the music business is so much different. People are drawn to the celebrities, people are drawn to the money, people are drawn to the spotlight, they forget about the music and the culture. Their only concern is getting paid or being in the spotlight.
The music industry needs people that genuinely care about the industry. Like a car needs a mechanic to make sure its running properly, the music industry needs people, who are not trying to be bought, to make sure that the industry isnt becoming wack! And Im not saying that these people cant make money, Im saying care about some good music. Allow the industry to move forward. I dont see anyone raising their hands to be the mechanic, so Im going to raise my pen in the air.
Right now we need a mechanic to tell some of the fellas to stop glamorizing strippers in every song. I mean lets be real: strippers dont have the best life and yet every other song on the radio is talking about the stripper. Reality check: The stripper is really struggling. More than likely, she hates her job, got some cash flow problems, and possibly a guy whos dogging her out. And if it wasnt for the money that some of the funny-faced guys were giving her, she wouldnt be smiling at dudes pretending to be happy. Is she really happy?
Every stripper Ive never met wished she lived in some posh palace, a nice Allen Iverson type dude to take care of her, a phat ride with some Funk Master Flexxx rims, and knot in her $3,000 couture purse. The stripper doesnt bend over for fun. She bends over because its the best way that she feels that she can make a living. Folks who are rapping about strippers, need to rap the realness about that lifestyle. Talk to a stripper and get a clue. Right now the music industry is producing so many stripper songs that its making girls who have good jobs wonder if they should be wrapping their legs around a steel pole. Come on now, mechanic check. If the girl with the good job quits and becomes a stripper, what job is the stripper gonna have?
Again, I love the music and the culture, but if you need some suggestions for stripper songs lets talk about how the man is going to help her so that she doesnt have to strip anymore. Lets call it, My Girl Dont Strip.
If you want to know how I really feel about music and culture, check out my hip hop novels- EXCLUSIVE and PRIVACY. Theyre everywhere, just like TI.
www.yasminshiraz.net
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3 comments:
I know this comment is late and all, but I just had to say "Ditto".
I have a teenage son and I'm constantly explaining the reality to some rap song that leaves in clueless. Especially the songs that glorify strippers and anything associated with a negative overtone.
So I say AMEN to this one. I feel you right here; "Is there a hip-hop healer in the house???"
Thanks for the good read :)
Hey Yasmin,
I agree with what you are saying, but I have to say that the only ones to blame are us.
How come we, the hip hop buyers, didnt condemn the NWA's and the 2 Live Crew's and all their followers when they all came out.
Lets be real, PE and all the hip hop press supported NWA and their filthy, explicit lyrics. We all stood behind the 2 Live Crew when they faced censorship.
The artists, the press and the hip hop buyers said nothing against these groups. We who love the music so much have to look in the mirror, because we are partially responsible for what hip hop has become.
Hip Hop is in need of a mechanic and the engine may need a tune-up and the oil might be a little dirty but there are some good things going on Hip Hop! Have you ever seen how Funkmaster Flex restores those old cars? Hip Hop can be restored to the same condition as it was in the mid to late 80's which to me was one of the best times in the history of Hip Hop music. (I wish the "Fresh Fest" could be revived).
Lupe Fiasco is a new artist that I really like. His subject matter is fresh and his latest single like Jill Scott which will bring fans that many other Hip Hop artists can't touch at all. I liked the first single "Kick Push" about skateboarding because it was so different! How many Hip Hop songs talk about something as innocent as skateboarding?
I am 49 years old and I have been hooked on hip hop since about 1979! I even liked "The Last Poets" when I was a teenager so you KNOW I am a loyal fan of P.E., Dead Prez, M1, The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, BDP, KRS-One. . . If we always just focus on the bad apple on the tree, we miss all of the good ones that are there. We lose our focus because of the media that pushes those bad apples in front of us 24-7 until we all are tricked into believing that is all that we can bite into!! You feel me on this? All of the groups I mentioned don't get a lot of play on the radio or TV around my way. All I see kids wanting to listen to is crunk music or someone talking about material things like money, jewelry (chains), cars (whips), etc. We have been getting chains and whips in America for centuries. This is just my opinion. I love your blog Yasmine. Thanks for keeping Hip Hop Alive!! Feel me? Go grab Yasmin's books. She is the real deal!
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