I had thought Wendi Thomas had put away this nattering-nag attitude for good after she returned from Baltimore, because she was so happy to be home.
However, just when you thought it was safe to pick up the CA again, she has started a campaign to force Memphis In May to remove our local Oscar winners, Three 6 Mafia, from the Beale Street Music Festival. What idiocy.
The greatest musical acts this town has ever seen were whackjobs, and we loved them for it, because, guess what? They were entertaining!!!!!!
These kids have busted their asses, old-school, Horatio Alger-style to get where they are, and we need to APPLAUD them, not scold them like hand-wringing old biddies. Yes, I said old biddies.
Arguably, they are the most successful local musical act since Al Green left the secular world, and all Aunt Esther II wants to do is shut them down. Fortunately, MIM is not taking this lying down, telling Wendi that the shows will go on.
The CA is suggesting that we boycott the BSMF if our local boys go on stage as planned. Here's MY answer: Boycott the CA AND their website if they are successful in knocking out Three Six Mafia.
Look, hip-hop isn't really my music, but that's not the issue. I won't be at BSMF, but not because of Three Six Mafia, but because I'm 48 and not enamored of crowds like I used to be. Why does Wendi Thomas have the right to be our moral guardian anymore than DJ Paul or Frayser Boy? She DOESN'T.
Look, people, they said in the 50s that Elvis would lead teenagers to moral degradation. We all know that was Jerry Lee's job, any way! (Just Kidding!) They said it about the Beatles, hell, they said it about Teddy Pendergrass in the 70s, and I'll bet anyone that Wendi has had her private moments with Teddy's music, so, she needs to back off and let kids be kids.
It's not our music, and, as Pete Townshend once said, it's not SUPPOSED to be.
36 comments:
Like the Aunt Esther touch--God knows I understand about age and crowds too.
You either love her or hate her, but she is right about their music.
To quote another blogger, “The same people that were applauding the Don Imus decision last week are the same ones crying foul now in regards to the Three Six Mafia being protested”. This is the other side of the coin. Everyone has the right to be offended, not just Blacks and women. Just like people who had never seen or even heard of Don Imus mobilized to get him fired. Expect the same thing to happen to Black entertainers”.
Oscar should have never glorified a song about a pimp. A monster was created when raunchy hip hop music with vulgar and dangerous lyrics were allowed to play over the airwaves. Every generation have issues about some sort of music or dance, but certain hip hop lyrics are very dangerous to our society for example lyrics about snitching, glorifying drugs, degrading women, killing cops, and the use of the “N” word.
One way to protest anything that is not to your liking is not to spend your money on it which is what many of us do. With 300 million people in our country there is a market for whatever suit you’re fancy and if one wants to try and make a difference that is what democracy is all about be it you agree or disagree with their position. On this particular issue Wendi is right about WHY she is protesting the appearance of the group and MIM organizers heard her loud and clear.
People need to compromise when they disagree otherwise we are creating another monster. After the Imus incident the debate on the lyrics of hip hop is in full swing. Three 6 Mafia did say their lyrics will be clean for this venue and that should be considered as some sort of victory. IMO, the major music companies that mainstreamed vulgar and dangerous lyrics are the true culprits, otherwise the unacceptable lyrics would have stayed underground where it belongs.
I'm no Three Six Mafia fan either but I'm not going to support they're being pulled off the BSMF because of Wendi.
She has every right to ask people to bow to her will but I hope she doesn't actually believe that everyone will.
Besides, 36M is not exactly the biggest act in the world, so I don't know what she's whining about. Perhaps it is simply because they are sort of one-hit wonders at this time that she feels big enough to take them on.
Has anyone in three six mafia had sex with a 14 year old like Jerry Lee and Elvis? Just pointing out that we had real degenerate music stars back in the day. (I guess R. Kelly would qualify today.)
Anyway, if Wendi Thomas get scare the sponsors of MIM than more power to her. But I'm guessing three six mafia's oscar trumps Wendi's CA column. As soon as Wendi wins a pulitzer I'll start paying more attention to her boycots.
This is how a playa
Get and take a little slut to crystals
I be fuckin on they mama
Then I'm going for their sister
Treat them hoes like I'm they father
But you know a nigga outta
Make them hoes remain in check up
Whoop they ass like jerry lawler
Yes we 'posed to dick em dick em
Drop their drawers and take their lichen
When I'm on the yellow syrup
I like to fuck off in the kitchen
Got a bitch with one big holie
I call her one of my rolie rolies
Foolest girls is always down
When the party starts they rollin
Free bitch eat bitch
Everybody need this
Let her suck yo balls while all up
But don't kiss
Never last long
So enjoy it for the morning
Boostnies and line
Nigga come on let me bone it
Hit it from the back or the side
Hear her moaning
Knew it you a fly hitter
Have a nigga enjoyin it
I'ma in my verse
I'ma take it nice and simple
She'll suck yo dick til it's sharp like a pencil...
or,
I ran up in his spot, with the glock, his jaw dropped
he knew I came for money and the weight I heard he got
I cracked him in the middle of his face with the tome
tied his ass up and ransacked his home
I had to rep his bitch cause the hoe was stacked
I fucked her from the back, with my gun to her back.....
or,
The motherfuckin south is in the house foe the nine fo
Memphis niggaz, nigga and we killas who gon run the floor
One of you hoes step
One of you hoes gonna die bitch
Aint no thang
Civil and plain bang
In your eye bitch
Tricky type ass niggaz
Always wanna flex they nuts
But they gonna get fucked
With this nine
Stuck up they butt
Unload this whole damn clip up in your ass hoe
Naw, its to late to squash the shit
I'm gonna blast hoe
Fuck the five O
And the motherfuckin jumpin grass
Searching a real nigga in his draws
Like they ass a fag
Get yo god damn hands of a real one
Just before I make you feel the bullets from my steal some
Big ass cop think I'm playin
But I'm from tha hood
North Memphis hoe
Yeah rank it bitch Hollywood
Ready and prepared
That's the exit que to
With my tone
Whatcha gonna do
When my nine crones at your dome
Bitches
Three Six Mafia Lyrics
No, really this is just like "All Shook Up", really.....
As long as The CA continues to accept paid advertising from topless clubs, any criticism of the MIM Music Fest lineup rings pretty hollow.
And as long as the CA continues to accept paid advertisements for gun sales, any criticism of gun violence rings hollow?
"These kids have busted their asses, old-school, Horatio Alger-style to get where they are, and we need to APPLAUD them..."
Just because they are local doesn't mean we should applaud them. Not every song about M.E.M.P.H.I.S should make you proud.
Actually cranky old fart you are correct. Three six mafia's tv show on MTV does portray Memphis is a negative light. As does Craig Brewer's films. There isn't much cool about being from a poor, corrupt, and backwards town.
The movement is not about keeping them from making a living it is about changing the vulgarity and violence in their music. If the hip hop artists want to keep it as they say “REAL” then they need to keep it underground for the people who want to hear it. Too many impressionable young minds take their lyrics literally and it is a disservice to my race and society.
COF posting their lyrics prove my point about the vulgar and dangerous language of many hip hop artists. The Robert Brothers in St. Louis is just one of many media owners who will no longer give vulgar and dangerous lyrics of hip hop artist a platform.
http://www.clarionledger.com/assets/pdf/D070303418.PDF
The link was cut off on previous post.
Robert Brothers banning unacceptable lyrics by the hip hop community at their radio and tv stations
I think this is a good conversation, and I am enjoying it.
As I noted earlier, hip-hop is not my cup of tea, but nasty lyrics have been around longer than any of us. I remember hearing a bootleg of Jim Morrison at a concert belting out "I wanna fuck you in the assss" from the early 70s, which is hardly deferential to women.
The point is the music doesn't cause the culture, the culture causes the music.
Fix the culture, and you fix the music.
What the Roberts have done is fine with me, it's their stations, and they have every right to determine what goes out over their airways. I will be curious to see how it affect their ratings and their billing.
As for the music itself, it took years to get radio play and the real fear should be that if it 's driven underground, it will be even MORE desirable for those who desire it.
As for T6M, they have said they will clean it up for MIM, and I suspect MIM will hold them to that.
Hey LWC, remember when Morrison was arrested for deliberately inciting a riot. Or how about when Guns n Roses started a riot when they refused to play after Metallica's front man burned his hand off. I think it trashed half of downtown Toronto. 36M has not cornered the market on f'd upness. I think a better look would be what institutions, or lack there of, have the most influence in African American communities. Social institutions and economic infrastructure were decimated years ago. Now what's left? Charismatic personalities and their personal organizations (preachers and churches), gangs, and big media. (I think Aaron Mcgruder does the best critiques of BET.)
The question is then-If you were a young guy in Memphis with not much economic opprotunity (which is pretty common) and had some musical talent, wouldn't you be writing and performing songs with screwed up lyrics because it seems that what the media outlets are looking for and marketing? It is no different than some white boys from Iowa forming Slipknot or other death metal bands.
"Fix the culture, and you fix the music"
How are you gonna do this when the most fucked up aspects of "the culture" are glorified, rewarded, and, as you suggest, to be applauded?
Polar,
Yes, we understand why the boys do what they do. Duh.
Good for them. But it's bad for Memphis, and for those they encourage to continue in self destructive behaviour.
Memphis is a city formally known for some great music. Elvis, B.B. King, Ingram Hill, Saliva (for bignamers), and you can "sort of" add Justin Timberlake to that list. I, personally, find it sad to see it now become a city represented by stuff such as Three 6 Mafia, Yo Gotti, 8 Ball & MJG, etc.
I guess the two main factors I can see, out of this, to defend the position of Wendi Thomas are the morality and the degradation of women & race, that Three 6 Mafia holds. While morality can simply be a self-defined issue, that I am sure many people posting here including Leftwing, would define it, it is also a standard upheld by society. It is evidently clear that there won't be much moral in a bunch of 18-23 yr old drunk college students "gettin crunk" at Music Fest, just like in one of Three 6 Mafia's concerts, but we must remember that Music Fest is a city-sponsored event, it is not private, by any means. Would it be necessary to scrutinize the city for attempting to uphold a standard that would give it a respectable and receptive reputation amongst the rest of the state and nation?
The other point was the degradation of women & race. It is blatantly clear that the lyrics of Three 6 Mafia contains much content that portray women in a sexually suggestive way (more unprofessional put: hoes & b*t*hes). It is not justifiable, or well-represented, to have a band of this magnitude perform for the citizens of Memphis with songs that speak in this tongue. It is degrading, and does nothing to move Memphis towards the national spotlight, as I see it.
Personally, although Leftwing made a good argument, I feel Three 6 Mafia should not perform in Music Fest.
I am one of the board members of Memphis in May that Wendi Thomas painted as too cowardly to take her moral challenge to boot 3 Six Mafia from Musicfest.
I completely agree with Blinders Off and Wendi about the misogynistic lyrics and degradation of women. I am a feminist and have a 15 year old son. I'm constantly drilling into his head that women are not to be treated as objects of sexual pleasure or exploited, and that's what I don't like about porn or Girls Gone Wild or Nellie and the credit card or the notion that he would get a blow job at the Paradiso from his girlfriend.
So I get it about the lyrics.
But if the crusade is to clean up the lyrics, and Memphis in May is (and has done so every year they've played) making it clear that we expect it to be a clean show, then isn't that what those calling for reform of the lyrics are pushing for?
Wendi's column took the board to task for not reneging on its contract with the band thusly:
"Said MIM board chairman Howard Robertson: "I personally (don't), nor does the board, condone any lyrics that promulgate violence or denigrate women."
Oh, I see. So the board hates the sin, but has no qualms about giving the sinners a stage, microphones and a paycheck."
I agree with Brassmask - just as soon as Wendi writes a column demanding that her employer quit running ads for the Gold Club and its ilk - which run every single day in the Sports section - I will respect her disdain for our alleged lack of courage. Last time I checked, strip clubs were degrading and exploitative of women, too. And the CA has had no qualms about taking their money for years.
BTW, MIM is not a city sponsored of funded event. It is a nonprofit corporation and is largely funded by sponsorships and revenues from Musicfest and the barbecue contest. There are cultural and educational programs galore offered during Memphis in May. We send exchange students every year to the honored country at no cost to their families. But Wendi chooses to ignore all of that while she hones in with tunnel vision on rap lyrics.
I'll be there Friday night to see how it goes, and so will my son. I'll let you know afterwards.
"MIM is not a city sponsored of funded event. It is a nonprofit corporation and is largely funded by sponsorships and revenues from Musicfest and the barbecue contest."
You're actually correct about that, I ignorantly said otherwise without as much as checking the MIM Official Website. But I believe the city still has grounds to approve such an event to take place, if I'm not mistaken. And the city would, thus, also have the power to regulate the events that take place at MIM as they see best fit, so I don't believe my entire argument can be dismissed on those terms.
"just as soon as Wendi writes a column demanding that her employer quit running ads for the Gold Club and its ilk - which run every single day in the Sports section - I will respect her disdain for our alleged lack of courage."
While that is a good point and very well concluded, its worth noting that CA does not display exploited photos of women at the Gold Club, or any of those other strip clubs that are daily advertised in the Sports Section. Granted, its a similar double-standard scenario, but its still much different to actually publicly display something of indecent nature in an open environment with underage viewing, as opposed to advertise for the grounds of that indecent display that takes place within the means of a private facility that legally maintains the requirement of adult age to view.
desi franklin, I do not mean for this to despise the event. I believe your fellow board members and yourself have done a great job hosting MIM and I wish yall much success with it. But I still do believe there to be some level of credibility from the words of Wendi Thomas.
Wow, this is great.
I am always nervous on those rare occasions when I am on the opposite side as Blinders off, as she is always on the side of the angels.
Joe4444 made some good points too, but I still believe that it is not a good idea to remove them, especially after they said they would clean it up for MIM.
Sorry Cracker, you're not getting off the hook that easy.
You've said these "kids" (the little darlings) are to be "applauded". You imply that we should take pride in their success as they represent Memphis in their music.
According to your post, Desi, blinders off and I are just old biddies who don't "get it".
Care to expand on (or retract) your earlier comments?
The CA's only concern is making money. It abandoned any genuine concern for the community years ago. Anything Wendi writes has to be OK'd by management first. They are just trying to sell papers and get the circulation figures they use to justify overpricing their advertising.
Yeah, rap lyrics are raunchy and they demean women. There are a lot of things out there that do the same thing.
If you don't like it, don't listen. If nobody buys their records, they will change.
First, what B said.
Second, yes, not all of their lyrics are misogynist and I believe that they have worked hard to get where they are. if there were no audience, there would be no Three Six Mafia.
I am NOT going to trash these kids who pulled themselves up with hard work, the way we TELL them they should.
Retractions, we don't need no stinking retractions!
"...if there were no audience, there would be no Three Six Mafia."
If there were no junkies, there would be no dealer. So, let's applaud the dealer?
We understand how commerce works Cracker, but your adulation for those who spout to the world that Memphis is all about hoes, bitches, niggaz and guns seems, well, odd.
LWC,
Wow being on the side of Angels…I hope that was meant as a compliment :-)
You said, Fix the culture, and you fix the music.
Gangsta rap music created a new culture never seen before in our culture and the affect is worse than crack cocaine in neighborhoods across America.
There are many talented young people in the inner city who are overshadowed by Gansta hip hop. It is heartbreaking to know young people who have talent and prefer to be a thug to gain street creed and be like their favorite rapper. They think they can make it like 36M, 50 Cent, and Snoop Dog. Their impressionable minds and lack of maturity imitating the life style in the lyrics of
Gangsta rap will only land many of them in jail or six feet under.
It is past time for Gangsta rap lyricss to go, remember when most of their songs were about killing cops. Personally, I wish the members of 36M nothing but success. It is time for them and others to use their artistic talent and CLEAN IT UP! Putting a slamming beat to an uplifting message is better for the culture than Gangsta rap. Hopefully, they can learn something from great African American poets like Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou.
Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed -
I, too, am America.
Maya Angelou
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Cranky Old Fart,
Slow down and read the fine print. I believe what I said was, and I quote:
I completely agree with Blinders Off and Wendi about the misogynistic lyrics and degradation of women.
Are you Wendi? Did I say one thing about or to you - especially about your being an old biddy? And just who do you think I am? I'm 50 and a station wagon driving mom. Please. You don't have an exclusive license to be a moral authority here.
Joe4444,
I understand that the CA doesn't show XXX pix of Gold Club vixens in the actual paper. But they are making a buck every day off of advertising the activities that go on in those clubs, and they are not working on girl scout badges there. It is totally hypocritical for Wendi to snidely call MIM board members on the carpet for promoting activities that are degrading to women and yet remain silent about the promotion of the same in your own backyard. So sorry.
So no, I don't wish to retract anything I said, COF. I'll watch the show and so will my son with his buddies, and if anything that I belive is questionalbe happens, I'll be informed for the next board meeting, and it will be conversation fodder for me and the boy about the appropriate way to treat women. Which as I said is an ongoing conversation in our 21st century American household - because it has to be due to our pop culture, including but limited to rap lyrics.
Desi,
I apologize for my punctuation, but when I said:
"According to your post, Desi, blinders off and I are just old biddies who don't "get it".'
I was speaking to LWC, not you.
I obviously should have said; "According to your post Cracker, Desi, Blinders Off and I......."
I guess I still need your editing, like back in Law Review days. Or, at least, I need to go back and read "Eats, Shoots and Leaves".
"Joe4444 made some good points too, but I still believe that it is not a good idea to remove them, especially after they said they would clean it up for MIM."
Thank you. I didn't actually expect you to change your mind. It was just to add a little debate flavor to the discussion about MIM and Three 6 Mafia. To be honest, I'm indifferent on the issue altogether.
"It is totally hypocritical for Wendi to snidely call MIM board members on the carpet for promoting activities that are degrading to women and yet remain silent about the promotion of the same in your own backyard."
Desi Franklin,
The difference here is that the CA is paid by those XXX companies to advertise them in a non-explicit way, whereas MIM invited Three 6 Mafia to display explicitly and degrading behavior openly to thousands of fans, many underaged, in an event that attests to be "family oriented." Whether it is your moral-value or not to be entertained by this type of behavior, it is a potentially negatively portrayed value on a city with an already struggling image amidst numerous exposures of corrupt local politicians. Wendi Thomas is attacking the MIM board because of the invitation to Three 6 Mafia, over a number of other bands/artists that are much cleaner and appropriate for such an event. The CA did not extend an "invitation" to strip clubs and such to advertise, over the advertisements of other facilities. The CA only accepted the ad of the company willing to pay sufficiently for the services, and in the ad they do not provide any degradation or nudity for the audience to engage in.
The CA is also not a public event, but rather, a paper of local and national news to provide its readers. It does not have an image holding to its name that will leave as dramatic of an impact on the image of the city. Thus I believe the CA is less accountable for these ad's than MIM would be for the actions, words, and lyrics of Three 6 Mafia in MIM this weekend.
COF, Since it seems we know each other from law school, email me and let me know who you are at fnnybkwrm@yahoo.com. Sorry for the misinterpretation. It is an Eats, Shoots and Leaves sort of thing. My apologies.
Joe,
All I have to say about your arguments are that if you are a woman being treated as nothing more than a sexual object, the finer points about who, what, where, when and why don't really matter. You are being exploited. It's really very simple - MIM is to the CA as 36M is to strip club ads. The CA will holler that's unfair - they have a much broader array of offerings than those ads - and so will MIM.
If you don't think our daily nuewspaper, such as it is, presents an image of Memphis to visitors, you are wrong.
And it there are underaged kids at the concert, then I would ask, do their parents know what they are attending and watching, and what are they doing to either cast a blind eye or be involved in shaping their kids' values? Musicfest isn't that accessible to kids unless someone takes them there or, which is unlikely, they have a lot of disposable cash and can get downtown on their own.
One thing Blinders Off might be interested to learn is that white kids listen to disgusting gangsta rap just as much as black kids. I am constantly having to tell my son to change the radio station in my car from Trying to Catch Me Riding Dirty, This is Why I'm Hot, etc.
I'll give a full book report after Friday's performance.
"All I have to say about your arguments are that if you are a woman being treated as nothing more than a sexual object, the finer points about who, what, where, when and why don't really matter. You are being exploited."
Desi,
Is it really necessary to critique me, personally, in regards to this issue and the arguments pertaining to them? My arguments are from a moral, pro-Wendi Thomas, anti-Three 6 Mafia perspective. I want to present a viewpoint from that side, and whether or not I have personal moral value that relates to that is beyond the point of discussion here.
"If you don't think our daily nuewspaper, such as it is, presents an image of Memphis to visitors, you are wrong."
I never said that the CA, or any local newspaper, would have a meaningless effect on the image of the city, I said they are less impacting than an event like MIM. Putting it this way: If a visitor comes to Memphis, picks up a newspaper and reads the Sports, and they see these ads for local strip clubs, what do you feel would skim over their mind about Memphis? What if that same visitor were to go to Music Fest, a popular event for tourists, and watch Three 6 Mafia perform and display an explicit, degrading formation of women dancing around, with lyrics filled with vulgarity? I believe this particular visitor would see Memphis more from MF than from the CA.
Of course that is not a researched fact, but just a educated observation from my limited knowledge of human behavior, so feel free to challenge that statement if you have facts to prove me wrong.
"Musicfest isn't that accessible to kids unless someone takes them there or, which is unlikely, they have a lot of disposable cash and can get downtown on their own."
But, that still is easy access for a number of underage kids. At a popular place like MF, it seems remotely easy to find a 20-25 year old around the place to assist a kid with finding access to an event such as music fest. And even if the underage kid was accompanied by a parent, they are still at the location by means with access to the same situation as being compared to strip clubs here, which legally ban all minors under the age of 18, whether accompanied by an adult or not.
"I am constantly having to tell my son to change the radio station in my car from Trying to Catch Me Riding Dirty, This is Why I'm Hot, etc."
So I'm assuming you, as a responsible parent, feel similar as I do in this argument, about the effect of "gangsta rap" music on today's society? Thus, would it not only add to my argument to suggest that some of this "gangsta rap" not be displayed and promoted in the city?
You cannot protect kids from everything. T6M is not among my favorites, but we are NOT in the position of being nanny.
I was fortunate when I grew up, my parents listened to the same things I did, and I never recall that they banned anything. They were of the opinion that if they tried to ban something, I'd get MORE curious and find a way to listen to this.
If there was something they were concerned about, they would TALK with me about it, and that's how parents should be.
I don't listen to them, they're not my cup of tea, but it waould be hypocritical of me to suggest they be run out of MIM.
Face it, T6M reflects where we are as a city; change the culture and the music will follow.
Y'all PLEASE stop trying to put the cart before the horse!
Here's my final point.
If T6M is banned from MIM, the Law of Unintended Consequences says that they will become martyrs, and even more beloved than before.
Those in the community that may have thought T6M had gone soft, gone Hollywood after they won the Oscar will rally to their defense as the banning will regain them some Street Cred.
In fact, I would think their record sales would go UP, not down.
So, if you want to give these people whose music you hate a big career boost, kick them out of BSMF, I'm sure they would sell MORE records because of it.
LWC,
I enjoyed this post.
Desi,
I am aware white kids are listening to Gangsta Rap and I am sure many of their Mothers were against it as we were when many of us first heard it. I didn’t allow my children to listen to it when they were in their informative years although I know they did out of my presence.
LWC final comment is a factual point about this subject and morals and values begin at home, as parents we just have to hope for the best that our children listened and learned something from us about life.
Blinders Off,
You are so right..."morals and values begin at home, as parents we just have to hope for the best that our children listened and learned something from us about life."
Amen, sister, say a prayer for me on that one. Having a fifteen year old keeps it real, that's for sure.
Desi
There was a post earlier about gangsta rap creating a new culture. I think the movie "Superfly" had more affect than even NWA. There was this cool documentary about the history of gangs in Los Angeles on HBO a couple months ago and it specifically mentions what a cultural watershed "Superfly" was. Strange but true.
One final point, shouldn't we also be talking about the influence of Bob Johnson (BET) & David Geffen (Interscope Records), who happens to a big donor to the democratic party, about the influence of gangsta rap?
LWC,
As we wrap this up, let me address your final comments.
"Face it, T6M reflects where we are as a city..."
So you feel where we are as a city is reflected in T6M's portrayal of Memphis as a violent cauldron of gun wielding niggaz, hoes and bitches.?
Fine.
"Change the culture" you tell us(we assume you would like to change this culture). However, wouldn't any attempt to change this culture include putting an end to the adulation of vulgar gansta rappers simply because they've achieved wealth?
This "Get Rich or Die Trying" culture is just what is killing these kids; these kids who are encouraged to see themselves and others as nothing but Niggaz, Hoes and Bitches.
And yet, here you are praising and applauding this culture in the form of T6M. You applaud them simply because they "made it". Because the got rich, and didn't die trying.
Rant over, thanks for the space.
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