actually, this doesn't get talked about enough, especially when she admitted to have sung those lyrics for the sake of it, and as a virgin at the time. this also shows how fluid one's expression can be compared to their identity. too bad that she has become so much of a meme for others to realise how awesome her lyrical prowess is.
And Cupcakke was a joke/meme and still is. Her songs weren't mainstream and shoved down your throat everywhere you went. Redd is being taken seriously and kids are taking her seriously too. Nobody was unironically bumping Cupcakke, this analogy is just wrong and dumb. And I'm Gen Z.
@l3vi132 Also Cupcakke had flow and her songs were a catchy, creative type of stupid. People keep comparing Red and Cupcakke, and it's a really unfair comparison. Red is definitely an industry plant.
I am a couple of years younger than Fiq (almost as old as a millennial gets), and my brother is a couple of years older than Fiq (about as young as Gen X gets): when we discussed the "McDonald's coffee lawsuit" from the early '90s a few months ago, he spouted all the right-wing talking points which blamed the victim and never gave a single thought to the employees who had been serving coffee capable of causing third-degree burns for who knows how long. It was kind of shocking because we knew that was bullshit back then.
@@Robstafarianmaybe you underestimated what he knew, and when he was wrong he double down on his position, to defend his ego, that’s happens a lot. That’s why arguing doesn’t work most of the time.
I think I can say I'm one of those people that finds themselves developing more "conservative/traditional" ideas alongside some progressive viewpoints as well. For me, it started when youtube was pointing out a lot of hypocrisy in the left.
It's nerdy AF, but all I can think of is the scene from Star Wars where Obi-wan is yelling "you were supposed to bring balance to the force, not destroy it!" We said we'd be better, and yet somehow we turned into our parents.
Younger millennial here but I'm dreading going through the same with my peers. Really hope I can maintain some semblance of objectivity as I get older.
Got into an actual argument with my husband recently about a connection he was making between rap and addiction. He’s a huge hip hop head from a middle class family and he’s never done most of the things he listens to people rap about all the time. I come from a poor one with a lot of multi-generational substance addiction that all of our family events and households played oldies soul and love songs all the time. You cannot tell me that music is what makes people do drugs when I was surrounded by people who were no particular fans of rap but everything around them: social conditions, lack of resources, recurrent traumas, constant exposure helped propagate this disease.
Rap has a more of an influence that we think it does..for example juice world claims future is the reason he started doing drugs..but honestly the music is just a symptom I'm sure addiction runs in his family and he was trying to find his identity as a kid
I disagree, are music does influence drug use. Hip hop is not the only type of music that does. You go to a hop hip show, there is hard drug use. Crack was introduce to R &B and hip hop spots. The real main difference no one wants to hear is are music influences violence also. There are not too many types of music that does that in modern times. In the pass white peoples made songs of battles they won. If you sing that song in the wrong place. You would be in trouble, but that medieval timeline. So yeah your husband is technically right.
This! One of my uncle (in his two steppers sandals) hates new school everything. Rap, R&B, hell even how they make houses “now a days”. He turn to drugs to deal with shit going on with his life. When he gets drunk; we hear the stories of them doing work for whyte folks, getting stiffed and having to flee police (if they tried to make a point of it). Like… Some people didn’t listen to their elders, when they gossiped amongst themselves, and you can tell.
At that time we had a diversity of black women. The issue is that today this is the only representation on a manstream level. The other type are over shadowed. And people are just tired of it.
There are a bevy of black women rappers: Noname, Sa-Roc, Jean Grae, Rapsody, Tierra Wack, Little Simz, and etc. Who don’t get enough attention. Those mad at sexy red just bored and want to complain about nothing.
What I find when I'm stuck in these debates/conversations is that it normally boils down to women being the subject that bothers them the most. Despite so many people being very attracted to these artists they have an impulse to impose specific ideals on them. NONAME and Little Simz are some of my favorites EVER, but I make sure to keep an eye out for black women making great music/art in these spaces. Niggas act so disinterested when I bring them up tho
It's about money, and _fill in the blank_ black female rapper who's ratchet, aggressively oversexualized branding is a top money maker. None of the female rappers you listed will get the same level of promotion and attention as a sexy red type rapper.
Your Cardi B's, Megan Thee Stallions, Sexxy Red's, Ice Spices though are the ones that are pushed in the mainstream. Most people aren't gonna step out of their comfort zone and search for the ones you named because they're more on the underground side.
@@Kornelius707 Bingo. If boomer xers and older millennials complaints were about the lack of diversity in the femme rap space, they'd have a point about culture's relationship to capitalism! But moralizing about raunchy sexual rap as a personal moral failing of the artists and fans? That's just dumb.
@@ibn1989 That's how its always been tho. Conscious rappers are always going to have less mainstream appeal than artists who push party music and club bangers. You will always have to do some real digging outside radio play to get to the good stuff.
I will say I had the realization I was a fucking idiot with this event. My 12 year old daughter was listening to Doja Cat in the car and I was getting pissed off. I then put on some G-Unit era rap and realized it really wasn't any less 'problematic'. On the plus side my daughter likes more of my rap, but it's equally debaucherous.
I am becoming more leftist as I get older. I was always afraid I'd become conservative but I did a bunch of research for my master's degree that made me deeply uncomfortable with the current economic system. We can't go on this way. We're literally poisoning ourselves with our complacency.
I literally hate every form and facet of conservatism more and more with every dammed passing year. Not even just the terrible economic ideas and incessant need for meaningless, garbage hierarchies, but also that constant need for endlessly recycled bullshit moral panics to whip the idiots into a frenzy with. I can't even wrap my head around things changing for me so deeply and completely that I'd suddenly be just fine with bullshit that much of my life this far was framed by going directly against. Thankfully, I know folks much older than me still fighting the good fight, so I know it's possible to go a reall long time without falling into that trap.
You can be politically and economically left all you want and still fall into social conservatism as you age. Give it 30 years or maybe even sooner and you'll catch yourself giving a "back in my day" speech to some dumb kid doing some dumb trend while completely forgetting about how some of us were out here planking and munching on tide pods. Conservatism is all about persevering hierarchies, and almost everyone eventually falls into the logic that "my generation" did it better than everyone before or since. Some ways of thinking are just human nature; it'll happen to you.
@@dawuddockery6118 I don't know about that. Most of my 'back in my day' stories would involve frankly cartoonish amounts of psychedelics, strippers, looking for as much chaos as possible, and 'questionable people'. That doesn't give me much of an imaginary high horse to stand on just to talk down to younger people from. I mean, there were definitely relationships, education, etc in the mix as well, but I can't exactly forget how I spent so much of my free time as soon as I realized what that meant, or how long I spent it that way. I'm still friends with a lot of people I met during that stretch, so it's not even like I could pretend it was any different and not immediately get laughed at and called out for lying. Which is exactly what should happen IMO.
@@dawuddockery6118you make a good point. I want to break down hierarchies, still. This is what society gets when a generation that has been putting money into pensions their whole adult lives will never see a pension. Burn it all down.
I’m a zoomer, but I’m old enough to remember my dad blasting this kind of music in our home. My dad has a huge hip hop/house record and cd collection from when he was a DJ. Its comical to me that people are trying to force respectability politics on hip hop, specifically women in hip hop.
In a way, I understand why they are so protective. Hip-hop has NEVER been kind or a comfortable space for Black women as subjects or even as performers. I can see their caution, since the music has a lot of "slap them 'hos" as damn near fundamental to how women - Black women, are treated in this genre. I want to make it clear, I don't think resorting to respectability politics is going to elevate us as Black people or especially as Black women. It hasn't saved us yet, it's only made the women who didn't conform women targets from all angles. We should be celebrating these young women in the genre for their expression of their ideas and definitely not holding them to different standards than the men or some imagined past when hip hop was "pure." I'm just trying to get my sisters to see that while understanding this "we gotta separate" is coming from a place of legitimate fear that can only be overcome by holding space for the ones who aren't giving in to being a podcast bro type of woman. If we want to support our "good" girls we have to stand by our "bad" ones too.
I mean, Lil Kim made her mark on music with her sexualized lyrics, crazy fashion, and bright wigs that all these new female MCs are doing. She had a whole feud with Nicki over it.
I hate the word "Zoomer", like who decided that the term "Gen Z" doesn't exist and that "Zoomer" wouldn't be a corny name. Jesus, we should just start letting people of the Generation decide what to call themselves and not the ancestors.
I literally have this conversation everytime there's an uproar about the next new artist (Sexxy Redd, Megan the Stallion, Ice Spice, etc.), and it's becoming exhausting.
I will say that generalized outrage by ppl are exhausting because it's lacks merit. But real hip hop heads really do try to parse out the talent and quality from the bs. There have been numerous popular songs that I've heard that are literally 2 min long and I don't think 16 actual bars were spit. To me, it's too many artist out here getting by on mediocre at best talent, but that existed in my time of being a huge hip hop head. Now I'm 39 and we grew up on songs that would be 5,6 7 min long and straight bars. Hell that one love remix was damn near 2 hrs (sarcasm). But it seems like some of this stuff is wtf... true talent has staying power
The argument that it's been done before is irrelevant. The raunchy stuff wasn't as mainstream. Now it is. And the primary images of black women being pushed now are that of Sexyred and the like. That's the issue.
@@sugarwaterpurple5280that's what I'm saying.The thot style rap of the 90's n 00's was in it's own lane and wasn't treated like a significant influence in hip hop but now it is and we see in parts in real life the ignorance it's putting in the female youth.Anybody downplaying this but complain about drill rap being destructive is a fuckin goofball
@@mxhughesWOW .....not considered mainstream? By who?! Women listen to music too now and back then, those raunchy rappers used to be extremely popular with the Ladies.
@@fivemargaritasonly they were popular but that type of content wasn't treated like a big trend like gangsta rap n party rap was at the time.The industry didn't keep tryna look for female artists with that style like that they didn't overpromote it or forcefeed us that stuff like they are now is my point
I don't even get this argument. Drakes music never gets THAT provocative. And it's not his only formula for making hits. Plus Drake has bars, Sexy is 4th grade level school cafeteria Green Eggs and Ham rapping 😭 a better comparison would be Wayne. Now HE can go crazy like on 'Pussy Monster' and it's hard to find a song with him not mentioning pussy at least once.
@@pietrycranberry6621its his personality. He is the epitome of “ Bn nice guy”. He thinks he's so ignored but he disrespects boundaries and doesn't take a no. He's creepy. Google it
I did the OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUD thing this past week shit talking about using smartphones and apps for everything in a discord group filled with Zoomers. I was basically lecturing fish about the dangers of drowning.
There is a difference between having completely unfounded assumptions about a technological device and watching the deterioration of sense in favor of hedonistic illusion… one might say
That intro was dead the fuck on. Appreciate you giving flowers to the new generation, showing us how we should be as we age out of our prime in the zeitgeist. It’s a mindfuck watching alt heroes become the old people they railed against with no sense of irony. There’s always been shock artists, and always will be. Theres also always been good elders who handled this without going crazy and continued to participate. Hopefully our generations will make that the standard instead of outliers. Thank you for doing this work!!
I’m actually kinda hopeful about this sort of thing. I feel like younger generations (at least ppl Ik) have an experience of the music we strongly identify with (so grew up with) as not being as tied to specific times not that u don’t still connect music to certain times in ur life but that the music you’re connecting to has a higher likelihood (compared to previous eras) to be from a wider range of time periods and that this maybe breeds a more holistic sense of music and its’ ebbs and flows so hopefully we won’t be as inclined to shit on future generations’ music tho the cycle seems somewhat inevitable. only time will tell I suppose
The same people complained about WAP and next year they’ll find a new female rapper to put down for being “too sexual”. I just know that as a DJ Quik fan, no one can get as dirty as him (hell even the 70s had this rapper named Blowfly who was extremely filthy). I never see male artists called out for being so sexual. It’s absolutely a double standard, and I don’t even really like Sexy Redd’s music.
No....I'm pretty sure people have always been mad about sexual lyrics. There wasn't even a Parental Advisory label until Darling Nikki came out in 84, and all he said was "masturbating with a magazine." And that's one song out of the 8 songs (I think) on the album. But nowadays, people only make sexually explicit music and it's so tiring. I'm not even remotely a conservative, but hearing about throwing it back, deepthroating, munching, choking, and various other activities every time you try to listen to a song is TIRING. You would think that ALL of life is a p*rnhub video.
All of this! We, black women, have always looked bad for existing, and no amount of respectability politics can fix all the problems caused by misogynoir. Also as a woman, who is LGBT, I need a raunchy, sexy jam for us.
Literally. I mean, no matter what we do, it's gonna be a problem. Just look at how blk women with degrees are shamed now. Blk women need to just realize that we got one life and we can't use it trying to please others that will find another reason to look down on us anyway.
We can be virginal as Mother Mary and go to church every day and wear full dresses and people will still call us names and treat us like we’re dirt 🤷🏾♀️.
That young lady in the clip going so hard against Sexy Red but was perfectly fine with Drake is WILD! Do you not listen to his lyrics, sis? The rap ones, in particular. Mixtape era included..................
its the misogynoir. thats all it ever is 😭 they dont *really* care about the content or “skill” or any of that; they’re bothered by a poor Black woman doing better than them.
But they threw bra on stage ?!?!?!? He literally helped a woman get the cover of playboy and he got sexy red her big bag!!!???? Like let her buy her Berkin please Lol must be scared of the 6 !
like..... it's insane lmao drake is DOCUMENTED with how wild he gets on the road. that's how he got a whole kid lol! and it's in his lyrics. but he's fine. we gotta stop sis's bag.... smhhhhh@@Youreallygonnaactlikethat
The conversation reminds me of when ppl got all angry about twerking but that conversation died when it was brought up the same women complaining about twerking was out here doing the crybaby in the late 90s to early 00s and then there is the freaknik of the early 90s. What it shows is that we not only have selective outrage but we have bad memory. A lot of ppl don't remember how things were back in the 90s and earlier. We even see this with over used and the often incorrect term "woke". Where ppl think now the media is different, "woke", and super progressive, forgot that the 90s did all the same things and never shied away. Some of the bad memory is intentional bc society has to have an argument, so gotta act like ya don't remember so we can die on whatever hill we choose.
That's exactly why I've never once clutched any pearls, blamed the music (or TV, video games, or any other moral panic du jour), or ever became even remotely conservative as I've gotten older. I remember damn well what I was up to as soon as I could be, and I even kept it up longer than many. None of this is new. Nostalgia tinted glasses are a motherfucker that will trip everyone up if given the chance, and I have no use for that kind of foolishness, personally. I'm really tired of watching the exact same panics play out over and over and over again, though. Apparently most people have goldfish like memories, and that gets old real fast.
I think there’s also a weird disconnect for people that this is a “hip hop” thing. No it’s not. Rock music has TONS of sexually explicit lyrics that it normalized. Same for metal, punk, country, folk, pretty much music in any genre has it. You can’t really escape it because it’s part of being human… then vast majority of people enjoy sex. Most people enjoy not feeling shame about it too. I don’t understand how people are still using this old ass scapegoat, but it is what it is. Grandmas out here playing “baby it’s cold outside” at Xmas like it’s not about banging.
Well, sadly a lot of black people in particular have internalized a lot of negative attitudes toward sex as a response to the sexual abuse and exploitation we experienced as a group via enslavement and colonization, and the aftermath of those systems. Our sexuality is also still externally policed by people who engage in the same behaviors they chastise us for allegedly engaging in ravenously.
I keep trying to tell people that it's not some conspiracy to only show black women who rap about how good at sex they are, it's just that sex sells. Like Fiq talked about in his Canibus video we got variety back in the day because MTV etc was programed. Now it's all sales and views and only the biggest survive.
@@gtg488w I didn't but I was a hipster who avoided mainstream rap for too long. Hell I'm even avoiding it now and I don't even want to avoid it anymore I'm just algorithmically bubbled away from it!
I still listen to Hard Core lol when WAP came out I wasn’t clutching my pearls but I did have a convo with my teenager about her knowing the difference between sexual liberation and hyper sexuality/marketing. There are so many layers to the conversation and it’s not always comfortable but we have to talk.
this is so right ! art especially of this day, with how many people try to censor and obfuscate it into oblivion, needs to have lots of nuance when discussing it
It kills me when the older generation acts like they were this pure and innocent generation and the young folk are wild and out of pocket. When FD brought up freaknic I did the biggest head nod. I hope I can see that documentary soon cause visual proof of that time will definitely silence some holy rollers who think they are better than everyone.
My cousin has a videotape we recorded when we went in 96. All I could think to myself is that these freaky mofos on that tape is somebody's grandparents now. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
They weren’t, I think what gets lost is integrity. Hear me out, they had no record labes waiting to make money they actually had a society that was more stuck in old times and less mentally disarmed by corporations and abusive rewards systems. So everyone in hip hop had more anti mainstream starting points, a longer journey and certainly not a whole leg in the overall music industry of the time… Back then they probably were as raunchy but less trashy less mass produced and all the bad that comes from it
"The kids are so messed up these days," has been a thing since language was invented and never takes responsibility for the people who raised these kids. I'm 39 and if I ever get to, "Kids these days are so bad," I hope someone puts me out of my misery because if I fail to raise my child in a way I approve of /it is not my child's fault/.
People who are up & arms about Sexxy Redd CLEARLY have not heard an ounce of UGK, Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat, and countless of other hip hop artists. She even stated she’s the female Gucci Mane, I mean hello?!
@@mobrk6036 Some people are tired of it but as long as the views and sales keep coming we're going to keep getting it. When the public really does get bored with it you can bet it will change fast and they will find something else to run into the ground.
It's funny to see that this happens with every single generation. These same people complaining about modern music would have their parents complaining about their music growing up as well. Insane how they never seemed to learn the lesson there.
My classmates showing their asses over new rappers are hilarious to me. The hypocrisy slays me. Y'all was at the teen club/house parties bussing it open to "Some Cut". We have truly lost the plot. End of the day my policy is I raise my kids. My wife and I are their first role models.
You are absolutely right, you two are their first role models, and seemingly very good ones. But in a digital age, I think we have to acknowledge we aren't their only ones or their most accessible ones. Our digital lives are so pervasive that it is simply more ubiquitous than any other influence unless we have the wherewithal (kids dont) to separate/detach from it. The power of the digital age is like what Christians say about the devil, The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist...
Facts! We can go back to the 80s and hear similar lyrics. Hell, I heard some of my parent's music and I'm 39 and looking at them asking wtf THEIR parents were while they listened to that filth lmaoooo. For me the talent, delivery, crafting of bars, etc is way better quality wise than sexy redd or suki imo...IMO. I won't argue the content too much
@RobJarrell63 This, all of this!!! Thank you because my man's is 100% pandering, acting like he doesn't understand it's the delivery and not the words. Lil Kim can rap the Chinese food menu and it would sound a thousand times better than anything Sexy Redd puts out because Lil Kim can rap. It's not a new versus old thing, or any of that other BS it's capability. Prime example: Doja Cat is a NEWER artist also with RAUNCHY lyrics yet she doesn't get that same energy... Why? Because she can rap. I rest my case.
I would be glad if people would enjoy something better more widely, there is always the hope that the current fanbase grows out of it but with sooo much blind support for these cheap hedonistic products- it’s unsettling
This is a NECESSARY CONVERSATION!!! I am 42 years old and a former advocate of the “real hip-hop” argument…until I remembered the massive airplays of PUT IT IN YA MOUTH and the Butterfly dance 😅 I’m now a strong advocate of the “STFU cuz there’s some hip-hop for EVERYONE” school of thought.
And before any of my peers come for me… Wu Tang’s “Ice Cream” lyrics Tupac’s “Thug Passion” lyrics and pretty much the majority of any sexualized lyrics from the “Golden Age” of Hip-hop that existed alongside all the conscious and wholesome subject matter that was gradually pushed to the side 🤷🏾♂️
I'm right there with you. I was definitely a backpacker back in the days and had the Rawkus t-shirt to prove it. However, I would be lying if I said I didn't have F*ck Me for Free on my playlist. I loved Akinyele.
F.D once again responding to people with more patience than I care to give them. Because I'm at a point where I get filled with an overwhelming sense of irritation and anger whenever somebody pipes up to hand-wring over "the corrupting influence of music". Like, babe, we'll still have the same problems if everybody listened to gospel 24/7 😂
Grew up listening to Christian music and was forbidden from listening to worldly music (I'm not black so unfortunately gospel wasn't "our" form of Christian music). All it did was make falling in love with the most diabolic music even easier.
People have been having these same damn arguments for centuries at least. A hundred years ago the flappers and the big band music and illegal booze fueling them were causing the exact same drama and panic. It gets old real fast, and I'm not interested in falling for it.
Back in the day, we had a diversity of black women. The issue is that today this is the only representation on a manstream level. The other type are over shadowed. And people are just tired of it.
@@signifiedbsides1129it’s not tearing down it’s holding black women and men accountable. Black males artist have been criticized for their violent, misogynistic lyrics, and justly so. This is no different in regards to women. This has nothing to do with ws ideology this is something about decency and decorum. Because there’s an established history of indecency doesn’t validate the behavior.
@@raynellmoore68wyeah it's way too much smoke for black men (and rightfully so), but as soon as you hold black women to the same level of accountability, people want to pull the easy win, "you hate black women!" card. It's nonsense
Hunh? Because isn’t beyonce making like 1 billion dollars on 1 tour? Like I don’t even like Beyonce but you’d think she would be your biggest representation right now. Not to mention what about the women on congress? What about the many female doctors I follow on social media. If you aren’t seeing are not seeing representation its because you aren’t looking for it. Not to mention the woman in the video is someone I would consider new middle class but came from the ghetto. It’s hilarious to me when those type of women try to judge others like they weren’t just in the ghetto themselves.
I think we need to hold the music industry accountable. They're profiting off the popularity of these artists or they're encouraging the artists to do what's profitable. But I'm assuming they still have a stake in this...If people become popular through other independent means (social media) then it really is a societal issue. This type of ratchet/dirty rap always existed. If it's the dominant sound, then I find that questionable.
I remember Put it in your Mouth being a honored and revered negro spiritual in the late 1990s a song that had both gals and guys sing with passion and enthusiasm.
I am Gen X, and i don’t see the difference between Sexxy Redd and 2 Live Crew, Too Short, Akinvele, Lil’ Kim, Trinia, etc etc. She is the grand baby to these artist, and she is in Miami, the home of bass music, that bass is moving that ass.
I appreciate your perspective but will have to disagree. People recognize these mainstream female artist are all oversexualized and pushing a degenerate message. There is influence in being an INFLUENCER which a lot of these artists are. Calling out negative cultural values and wanting to separate from them is not a bad thing. It tells the world we are not a monolith, and all black people don't behave in this deplorable way.
I’m 23 but it kills me to see people get mad at her being unapologetically herself. They also seem to forget how nasty female rappers was talking back in the day😭
@@5barbie516 I just think gangsta rap/ drill is bad for black boys. I also think Sexyred music is bad influence on black girls. I wouldnt let my daughter listen to that crap, or my son to all that killing stuff.
SKEEE YEEEEE. Thanks for all your content and recs in the past like Lil Bill, etc. you are my favorite TH-camr and inspired me to research more and make video essays!
✊🏽💯 Thank you! I'm 66 and get shut down every time I try to make this point with fellow old heads and young alike. Now I just don't engage anymore and just move on with shit that really matters.
Totally get your vibe, Fiq. I’m also 41, a “geriatric millennial” as it was. Growing up during those pivotal moments truly shaped our worldview. It's wild how music, especially hip-hop from our time, played such a role. And trends do always circle back. We've gotta see art as society's mirror and not its driver. As one of the older crew here, I think it's on us to guide, not dismiss, the younger gen. Keep the convo going!
I mean, there was still *plenty* of music I didn't like growing up. Or every moment between being that age and this age. I'm a real fan of music, but that still leaves plenty of artists, styles, genres, etc I just won't ever like. And that's fine. Nothing is for everyone. But I'm also never going to pretend it's a morality issue or that it's anyone else's problem but mine. That just gets absurd after a while.
Your taste changes as you mature (or not). Young people should not be shamed for liking their music. Older people shouldn't be shamed for not liking it. It's a matter of taste.
exactly! when i was growing up, there was only ever one woman at a time allowed to be a rap superstar and being gay was an immediate disqualifier. now we have rappers of all types of backgrounds so i never have to feel bored or over it.
I’m 44 listened to Lil Kim, Foxxy Brown, but also grew up with Black women like Anita Baker, Whitney Houston being a standard of class and grace, while also hearing Dionne Farris, Brandy, Toni Braxton etc. On the radio as well as Kim and Foxy. I asked my teen daughter who’s the most positive young black woman making music she said SZA. It just saddens me that white girls have Taylor Swift, Latinas have Selena Gomez, and there’s really not any youthful black female artists that aren’t selling a sexualized image. I know that isn’t sexy red’s fault but it is tiresome that black women are stuck in this jezebel troupe.
I think the issue (as it always is) is lack of diverse images. We should be able to make the ho stuff - sexuality is natural. We also should have multifaceted artists who can present all of their sides because no one is all slut or all class and dignity all of the time.
with all do respect it's the same with black men. it's not black women's fault yall community promote this toxicty. It's even worse with male rappers and their mumble rap.
Great video and, as others have said, amazing intro. The weirdest thing about it will be when you realize that your conservative friends aren't even political at all, or at least you never noticed them to be, and when you ask them about it they display no particular investment in their own views, speaking as though what they are saying is just "common sense". Then you really start to understand how deeply right-wing (white supremacist, patriarchal, jingoistic, etc. etc.) this country is. Nobody starts from the center -- everybody has to fight their own right-wing upbringing first.
Right before I read your comment I decided not to reply to someone who said "This has nothing to do with ws ideology this is something about decency and decorum. " glad you were there with this to affirm my instincts.
I don't know about this Elvis fella, shaking his hips like that is awfully suggestive and going to give the Youth certain Ideas that won't be so savoury.
As a very "old head" who grew up on Rudy Ray Moore, Blow Fly, 2-Live Crew, etc. I don't talk ish on the youngin's when it comes to the "sex talk" in the rap lyrics, I actually thought "WAP" was brilliant, but when it's about the dumb violent 'drill' nonsense I can't get with it.
Wish people would just watch her and Sukihana's FunnyMarco interviews. They're very down to earth and know what they're doing. Sexy Redd is actually way smarter and wittier than people think.
@@apolloskywalker633 eh. "Smartness" is an arbitrary scale imo. I'd say that she's maximized her position as an impoverished, black woman in this system to her advantage which belies an intelligence that can't be properly measured by conventional standards. She's also able to match her more adept interviewers joke for joke without a sweat just by being herself.
I look at these things a bit differently. To me, Sexy Redd (if I didn't butcher the spelling) is just another example of another "recording artist" who deserves the proverbial "5 minutes of fame" but has managed to gain inclusion in a camp far past that. And, as Signified says here, this is nothing new. The phenomenon has plagued the music industry (aa well as many others) since the humble beginnings of recorded music. It's not only about Hip Hop, but music in general. Some artists are able to punch well above their class, as far as; fan appreciation/respect, longevity, record sales, etc... when what they really deserve is just a few months (maybe a year or two) of shooting star popularity. Some of the throwback examples given here were actually skilled/talented, some, not so much. Remember the movie "Brown Sugar"? The Mos Def vs the 'Hip Hop Dalmatians' thing? The 'Dalmatians' were easily able to get repeated airplay on the lauded radio station, while the Mos Def character (the actual talented rapper/artist) got seriously/criminally dissed. It's not that Sexy Redd is far too raunchy, it's that she barely qualifies as a rapper, let alone a talented one. Of course, not being the most talented rapper doesn't mean she doesn't deserve listenership/sales, it should mean she (and others like her) deserve no more than their '5 minutes'.
I just had this conversation with someone in their mid 40s. There's no good music today! I have grown up realizing that if I can't see beauty here, it's either that it's not beautiful or I don't know how to appreciate it. That's helped me build the habit of taking time to attempt to learn to appreciate whatever I'm experiencing.
There's a lot of great music around today. I'm personally more interested in investigating older musical traditions from around the world than I am what's making the rounds on Spotify, but that doesn't change the talent and creativity even I can see in a lot of modem music. People have been having these exact conversations and panics ever since radio helped record labels become a thing, and I'm not the least bit interested in falling for it myself.
Actually if you have Spotify there's some amazing R&B artist, like giveon, Ari Lennox, Victoria Monet, Snoh Allegra..ect. you just have to give time. Music is different now, but music is always beautiful to me regardless of the era or genre. Music is about the moment.
Not really. As a golden age hiphop head, I remember having these same conversations about Trina, Lil' Kim, AMG, and Snoop way back in the day. Snoop and AMG about the disrespect of women, lack of balance, etc. and Lil' Kim/Trina/etc. for playing up to male fantasies. I come from M.C. Lyte, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, The Lady Bug Mecca, Bohamadia, Jean Grae, Lady of Rage, Rah Digga, Apani B. Fly.....real rappers with lyrics. We knew these male rappers were writing for Lil' Kim (Biggie), Trina (Trick Daddy), Foxy (Jay-Z); so their lyrics were coming from a male perspective and maybe not necessarily a perspective a female rapper would come up with on their own to present to the world. But the Lil' Kim's/Trina's were outselling everybody so we knew it was a matter of time before the Sexy Redd's and the Sukihana's would become the norm. Which is why when the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill hit back in the 90's, it had such a huge impact. In the midst of the Lil' Kim's/Trina's, here was a female rapper with a true feminine point of view and the whole world felt it. It sold just as well as, if not more, than the Lil' Kim's, and gave us hope that there could be mainstream balance in hip hop. Look, we all know that there are a variety of stances when it comes to sexuality and how it should be displayed. The only thing most ask for is balance. For every platinum streaming song about deep throating, or taking it up the butt, give us another 2 or 3 platinum streaming songs about Black feminism.....or what it is like and how to move as a Black women in today's world; how to love and/or preference on how to be loved. Whatever, just not upfront sex and materialism all the time. I believe a significant amount of those who criticize today's artists, would have criticized yesterday's as well. There is enough with emotional intelligence that doesn't just accept anything with a good beat behind it. Now, are there hypocrites? Of course. The old heads may have partied to questionable degrading music back in the day, but once again, they had more balance. Missy was dropping heat that touched on a variety of subjects to counter. But today's youth got trap, drill (psychopathic music laughing at fallin' enemies), etc., and unlimited access to porn and misinformation that wasn't as widespread back in the day. There needs to be a lot more to balance that amount of huge negativity. When old heads are criticizing, that is what they mean. That's the context. It just comes off wrong because the Sexy Redd's/Sukihana's/etc. is all that is being presented to them; so they pick on that.
That’s true but I think part of his point was to highlight how blaming the youth for indulging in, let’s call it “Destructive rap” is blaming the wrong people. We should be targeting the record producers and streaming platforms that push that content on top of the algorithm over conscious artists. There are good artists that aren’t creating “destructive rap” that many ppl should be listening to, while also enjoying their age of debauchery. A lot of the energy is old heads put into shaming WAP, only draws more attention to Cardi and blesses the algorithm. We can spend that energy promoting conscious artists.
It's interesting to me how, after 50 years of Hip-hop, there's still only one MC Lyte, One Latifah, One Salt N Pepa... but there have been about 50 Lil Kims...
All Black music has that element from way back when, lots of genres have that, people were rocking to the beats and not listening to the lyrics. The only difference is exposure, the modern communication systems allows it to be all out there. all the time. Great point too, about the mainstreaming of it and the fact that the consumers are not mainly us. This stuff is being sold in mainstream stores and making money for some people
This is why I keep up with Dead End Hip Hop. It's older Millennial dudes talking about hiphop but they really try everything out and have such an insane depth of knowledge and history on every era of hip-hop.
As one of the “hypocritical” old heads of which u speak, back in the day, I could choose to listen to Lauryn Hill instead of Trina; Eve instead of Lil Kim; or a Tribe Called Quest instead of Too Live Crew. When it comes to men in hip hop, I still have choices. When it comes to women in hip hop, there are far fewer distinctions between acts, so far fewer choices. To be fair, I may just be ignorant of the alternatives. In any case, the same hip hop heads that criticize that music now likely criticized it then. I know I did, and I know I do. I don’t criticize the consumers because ur free to like what u like. That doesn’t make the criticism unwarranted or hypocritical though. We literally call hip hop a cornerstone of “the culture,” so it’s reasonable to have concerns about the things “the culture” encourages.
I don't even think it's a problem inherent to "the culture", it's a problem inherent to profit. Sex sells, or so they say, and those who fund and sell hip hop aren't artists it's businessmen. The publishers are the ones pushing for profit the most (usually) and their is no profit in their view in black women unless you can sell them as sex symbols. The problem with the culture won't be fixed unless we fix the problem with The System first.
@@fluidthought42I don’t disagree with anything u said. However, we can’t fix the music industry, so our only recourse is to condemn the artists who make this harmful content. I know that this is just a reflection of capitalism rather than a reflection of morals within our communities. That said, the morals within our communities are being shaped by the entertainment choices of our adolescents and youths, so I’m standing on my square on this one.
@@seanh8095 I think we _can_ change the music industry if we _collectively_ moved to do so. We need to organize, and we need artists to organize too. Not for self censorship but to make sure that we are promoting what we want to hear, and that includes all of us teaching kids to understand how society tries to sell them sex. It's a conversation that I'm gonna have with my own 13 year old boy, if he knows how society tries to sell him sex and why it does (because the emotional part of intimacy that actually makes it worthwhile isn't as easily packaged and sold for profit as the physical aspect of it) that way hopefully he can grow up to have a more healthy relationship to his sexuality than if I allowed him to inherit society's views on sex.
I can not stand any phrase that starts with "this generation.... blah blah blah. " Our parents' generation and the past itself shows that people weren't anymore or less moral or respectable than the present generation. 🙄
I thought everyone forgot that AMG "B Betta Have My Money" except me. I'd play that late in the night after I knew the managers were either asleep or holed up in the office getting ready to close down for the night and any customers who might complain had already gone home. Only people left were the real ones who wanted to get nasty on the dance floor or were too drunk to care what anybody else was doing, because that joint was RAW for the early 90's 😂. As a GenX of 52, for me, the golden age of hip-hop was solid early 90's-late 90's. It was past it's nascent stages of simple beats and sing song bars, but hadn't become folks jockeying to be the nastiest, baddest, got shot the most times as cred. It had developed technologically with better samples and mixes, rappers had styles across the board, and subjects ranged from socially conscious to parties/girls/floss, to who was the baddest, most dangerous, did the most crime and least time. Some was straight up danceable, some was definitely meant to just enjoy like a good cognac. It seemed the most wild west, original, experimental time for hip-hop before the sleek and polished 90-mid 2k era of well-crafted artists. I feel like this is a return to that era of unhinged, experimental, weird, irreverent music taking hip-hop into its next era. Not gonna lie, a lot of it isn't for me. I'm too old to try to figure out the slang 😂, but I respect that that's how time marches on. Let these babies cut their teeth like we did. If it bothers you so much, get out your old Heavy D cd and mind your business.
I feel like this video is just one great big strawman argument. Everyone knows that Rap and Hip Hop has always had a tendency to be edgy and profane. I don't think that's the problem most people have with Sexy Red's song "Pound Town". The reason her song became so popular is because it sounds like shit. People weren't clicking on her videos because they like her music. People were clicking on her songs and laughing at how terrible they sound. People love profane Rap and Hip Hop when it sounds good. What they hate is seeing an Artist become rich and famous for making shitty music. We're not stupid. We can see what's happening. Artists aren't becoming popular for their music anymore. They're becoming popular for going viral even if it's for the wrong reasons.
Agreed. Make no mistake, there is a vocal segment of rap fans clutching their pearls over Redd's lyrical content, but there are just as many of us offended by how genuinely terrible she is at her craft, and the former is much easier to rebut than the latter. Granted, I might be mistaken in assuming that rap is her craft versus eliciting engagement via outrage.
I agree with this! For me personally, as 97 kid, I don’t have a problem with provocative lyrics as long as it’s well done! Megan Thee Stallion is very sexual; she’s also actually talented and good at rapping! Cardi B also does it for me, because she has good stage presence, and she be having fun one-liners. I can’t stand Ice Spice or Sexxy Red, not because they’re very sexual, but because they’re boring, unoriginal, and frankly they’re just not talented. I’m assuming that he specifically focusing on the generational focus of the argument, versus the actual skill factor, because that is a valid critique 😂
"BUT...BUT...everyone else has/is making vulgar, disgusting music!" Not sure how that is a legitimate argument? Filth is filth, regardless of whether it comes from a male artist, a female artist, or whatever. Why are we glorifying this demonic shit? I am NOT saying to rag on Sexy Redd, because a lot of this is trauma-based. But to say this is permissible music to feed to your children? Then y'all wonder why the black community is in complete shambles. It's an embarrassment. We have to do better.
The first song I got in trouble was singing and dancing to 'Me So H*rny.' We were preparing for a dance performance and the coach started telling us what was expected and why we had to be "better than that." It's exhausting having to represent all of Black womanhood and having that pressure from a young age can cause some people to give in to respectability politics rather than questioning why aesthetics determine a person's worth.
I'm 51 and I definitely remember back when 2LiveCrew were getting arrested for obscenity not far from me, in Miami. What kind of weird drugs are people taking that they've forgotten the whole Tipper Gore/PMRC debacle? Or is this because no one talks to their kids about when they were young? Sheesh.
Can someone please explain why y’all don’t think media/marketing influences people?? I really need someone to break it down. Dont we talk about the impact of copaganda on society? The endless portrayal as cops being the good guys has an effect but other things dont?? Can you explain why when it comes to sexyyred and gangster rap we all of a sudden get amnesia and say “oh art is a reflection of society” instead of “some of this ‘art’ is a reflection of what the powers that be want you to think and feel about yourself and the people around you? Why do we stop the buck at art being influential and an intentional message when we get to hiphop just because it’s fun? The one thing I’m glad you admitted to is how due to your financial and societal privilege these art forms didnt affect you as much as others. Well i grew in up Newark and the lives of the kids there is already so fragile that negative influences like the racist, colorist, capitalist, sexually exploitative music hiphop creates works in conjunction with our oppressive systems to keep people in a cycle of poverty topped with poor decision making. It may not affect the rich and financially well off like you and your circle but it damn sure affected mine. So lets think outside our bubble and recognize that it’s a problem
Yes media influences people but it can not influence what is not already there. Media can not influence in a vacuum, it can only reinforce and create feedback loop. Hip hop music has always reflected that in a raw and uncensored way from NWA to Biggie to Three 6 to Future and to people like Sexy redd or Megan Thee Stallion. And it does reinforce concepts within people's minds but you can't change a culture through media.
I'm so glad I didn't 'cast this to the living room TV.😅 Thanks for making this video. I've been complaining about how stank people are getting about hip hop's hard(er)core songs. Again. Yet again.
I’m about a decade younger, this isn’t ending with my generation either. The kids who danced & sung along to “My Neck My Back”, “Nookie Real Good” & “The Whisper Song” are now the parents with the digital picket signs.
Two live crew was definitely more graphic and just listen to Trina’s “The Baddest Chick” she rapped about making a dude eat her when her 🩸 was on 🤷🏾♀️
Too short is about as raunchy as it gets and that dude been around since I was a kid. I think maybe these folks only listened to radio rap, damn near every album had a couple nasty songs on it.
So wanting a diverse representation of BW in the hip hop space is playing respectability politics & anti-black? U just went thru raunchy lyrics that go all the way back to the 80’s & things hv only gotten more degenerate since then & women who are sick of not having a counterweight to the ratchet imagery are suddenly the bad guys? Can we not look at the state of the community & be honest tht there’s a negative correlation? 🤦🏽♀️
You are playing respectability politics because if you weren’t you would know there are diverse representation in hip pop and you are more than welcome to go listen to them but yall don’t and complain about stuff you don’t like instead of promoting the one you do. It’s makes no sense, if ppl like redd ain’t for you then don’t listen so simple lol I know mad conscious Black woman rappers.
@@roxywyndham first off, I don’t listen to sexy redd or most of these other female rappers. I do support conscious rappers. It just kills me that most of them don’t get the exposure that these other degenerates rappers get. If wanting better representation for black women makes me an arbiter of respectability politics then so be it 🤷🏽♀️
Here is the thing hip hop came from the streets so it does and should reflect the streets. The problem falls down to when folks turn the streets into caricatures. And ya the perl clutchin is supper ironic.
I think the blog era (09-15) is the closest thing to being the best era other than the 90’s Kendrick, cole, chance, Danny brown, wiz, odd future, mixtape Wayne, pro era, etc. it was a fire era for hip hop
I’ve seen it happen already. A couple of really, really good, long time, BEST friends have disappointed me. Not to the point of being bigots at least. Mainly in areas of trans peoples and sexuality. And, I think it can be chalked up to a lack of education But, gender roles as well to a lesser extent. On the other hand (while the minority) I have found dudes that I thought were gonna be problematic due to some off handed comment their wife or girlfriend may have made, we’re actually VERY woke and VERY progressive when discussing politics, race issues and trans issues. This made me happy to see that I wasn’t alone. I am most definately the most woke, progressive and empathetic of my friend group. Or so I thought. These 2 dudes are right w me on almost all issues. All the important ones at least.
As a black woman, I've never been comfortable with mainstream hip-hop. I was only allowed to listen to christian music and some sound tracks growing up. I'm 40.
Can we talk about some of the music that I hear some oldheads blast, especially those southern blues songs like “Side Piece” and “Cleaning Ain’t Cheating”? My mom and I would go on bus trips to casinos, and the bus would always play a southern blues cd, and let me tell you that a lot of those songs are raunchy compared to the rap songs that are played on the radio. My mom and I were shocked but we were laughing when we heard Big Cynthia’s “Cleaning Ain’t Cheating” being blasted on the bus. Most of the people on that bus were 50+, yet no one batted an eye. I remember years ago before we started to go on bus trips, my mom’s car was having issues, and we had to ride with some we knew to get some auto parts. I remember she had this cd and I remember this one song. The beat was good, but when I listened closely to the lyrics, I was surprised but laughing. The song was called “Man with the Singing 🔔” by Frank Lucas (you can guess what the bell means). I bet you that these same people who will play those songs will act like church saints whenever a rap song plays.
Thank you for putting me in my place bro I needed this intervention today! My homie had to grill me because I was super offended by sexy redd. Somebody mixed skee yee with Monica’s “so gone” and I lost my damn mind in the club! I still think ice spice, Mariah the scientist and rubi rose are not true MCs and benefit from light skinned privilege. But there are some 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 new artists coming out in this new generations too.
I don't think I agree that you have to be an "anti-woke" conservative or an "old head" to dislike the direction of today's rap OR believe it's having a weird effect on young audiences. The same way that p*rn creates strange expectations, why not music? We are at the point that entire careers have been built from lyrical pornography. I'm 32, but hell. If I was 16 and I only consumed this media, I would think it more important to learn to throw it back than balance a checkbook. Well, probably not, because I know my parents 🤷🏾♀️
I think it's different in that a lot of (especially younger) people expect real life to be like porn for some absurd reason. I don't know if I've known too many people who thought music and its artists represented the real world in that same way. In either case, the answer is the same: no media actually represents real life. If it did, people wouldn't use it as escapism or explicit fun in the first place. I can think it's foolish and silly that people might fall into that line of thinking, but it's not going to make me upset that either exist, personally.
@@RevShifty and that makes sense. The problem is (as you said) that the ones who do believe in the realities of these things are children. They can't even tell the difference between filtered, airbrushed, continuously altered photos of clothed people. Everything they hear and see is fabricated, but they emulate it nevertheless. That's why that 16 year old girl was twerking in an Ice Spice video. And one search of her Instagram shows content that appears more mature than a teenager. In that and other instances, I think the visual and music go hand in hand. It's really just teaching transactional behavior tbh. And not the "I do something nice for you, you do something nice for me" type. In hetero world, women (and girls) are baddies who secure the bag by sexualizing themselves and men (and boys) secure clout by making these baddies submit in public and perform endless sex acts in private.
@@diandriasmith889 I knew media didn't represent the real world by 10-12 years old. Before I even discovered most forms of media even existed, and was mostly limited to TV and the occasional magazine. Was I just that weird of a kid? That's literally what started my whole anti consumption streak, because every damned where I looked was just people trying to sell me more bullshit (heavily manicured images, silly products, fake lifestyles, etc) and it got old fast. That streak has never left me; if anything it gets stronger year by year because it's all just so ever present now. And I obviously discovered how that plays into societal expectations and social norms as I grew up. I don't really use social media outside of TH-cam, but chasing clout and going for easy rep/clicks doesn't mean they necessarily buy all this as reality, as much as they're able to tell the whole world that they're learning that sex sells. That definitely sounds like a problem, I'm just not sure it's the same problem many people might think it is at first. It means they're learning people (including themselves) can easily become commodities, and I don't know if that could ever lead anywhere positive. I mostly think that if this degree of social media use and being terminally online had existed when any of us (or even our parents) were kids, we'd have done much of the same stuff and left just as much of a record as it all. Kids being dumb and mostly inexperienced with and not recognizing the complexities of real life is kinda their whole thing. It's just that some of them can be seen doing it from across the globe instead of just across the block or neighborhood now.
Personally, as a middle GenZ-er, I feel like the difference between the girls today vs. earlier girls (Nicki, Kim, Foxy, Eve, Trina, Remy) is that there was a certain amount of respectability and classiness with the earlier girls. Like, yes Kim and Nicki rap about the same things as the current girls, but it wasn’t all that, they have clever lyrics, punchlines, and personalities outside of the music. Sexxy Red showed up to one of her shows in a bonnet and onesie, that’s my take
Sometimes, i find his takes to be completely disingenuous. Whatever happened to the old saying, if you knew better you'd do better? Sexxy red is in the long line of women who only can sell one thing, and her dusty self has maybe another 6 months before we forget her. But before she leaves it's her turn to hear about herself. Yes we all have raunchy lyrics in the past, but it wasn't the only thing being sold. And the one's who only had that? Didn't last. It's a problem EVERY time it happens, and it will keep being a problem until we fix it.
But sex *always* sells. I'm not going to blame the person taking advantage of that, I'm going to look at a society that still sees all things sexual as both taboo and best kept hidden and easily marketable and a guaranteed way to make a good paycheck. Sex is just the quickest and easiest way to draw attention, I'm not going to fault someone for using that to their advantage.
Yet another wonderful example of "watch the whole thing before ya comment" I listen to you on my walks. Not in the best of health (don't smoke, kids) so I walk daily. Least a 5k. Started doing that around the time I saw my first video of yours. You've been a constant ✊🏻 Well early on ngl I'm saying "but....bruh... just cause you did something yesterday is no reason to do it today.", and I stand by that, but at about the 8:44 mark I'm glad I watched the whole thing. I still have thoughts, but I'ma marinate on this one. Hands down my favorite creator on a dying platform (TH-cam). Still loving your recommendation for NEBULA. Cheers. Edit: and as one of the younger gen-x'ers, suggest we were the first to grow up with hip-hop as a constant (born in 76), but not really important to the overall point here. Bless.
I’m from a small town. Can’t believe you remember 2 Live Crew. I remember their early days copying mix tapes & friends going to shows & then makes tapes because of censorship & bringing them to house parties.
I have no problem with a black entertainer making money legitimately. But I'm sorry, in the modern era they've commodified our music to the point where they've made artist like Sexy Redd the pinnacle for black women rappers overall. It feels industry pushed like crazy. Im staring down 40 hard ass hell and I've grown up in Miami FL with Uncle Luke, Trina, Trick Daddy, and a plethora of local rappers with wild ass lyrics. With the that being said i just can't co-sign this shit and neither can my wife. Especially with 2 young daughters of our own in the modern era. I hope that young lady makes all the money she can from her music. I just won't be listening, and neither will my family.
And let’s talk about how this is MAINLY projected upon black women!
Yeah because the men say a lot of worse things 😂
Its all nasty and horrible for kids homie
^^^ missing the point, people still give Miley praise for ‘pushing boundaries’ and ‘breaking down social norms’ for twerking & doing drugs lol
@@P-10.00 I disliked her in that era too….Im not against singing about bad things but not so explicitly and out…..
I love how the lady in the clip wants to go to DRAKE, the new school LL Cool J, but she found out Red was coming now it's a problem??
I'm sorry but going to a Drake concert and being outraged at Sexy Red is crazy.
Drake is misogynistic as hell so feeling like he's more appropriate is uh a choice
Drake isn’t more misogynistic than any other rapper
yea she lost creditability their
Honestly I did a spit take when she said that lol. Like damm, Drake can be used as an argument for saying he's a plant as well
Bingo! That's a big red flag to complain about Black women mentioning any male rap artist who said anything offensive about women.
People saying sexyy red is too provocative probably never hearing any Cupcakke songs back in her 2015-2019 era
actually, this doesn't get talked about enough, especially when she admitted to have sung those lyrics for the sake of it, and as a virgin at the time. this also shows how fluid one's expression can be compared to their identity. too bad that she has become so much of a meme for others to realise how awesome her lyrical prowess is.
Still more proactive
Cupcake slaps, it's raunchy and creative
And Cupcakke was a joke/meme and still is. Her songs weren't mainstream and shoved down your throat everywhere you went. Redd is being taken seriously and kids are taking her seriously too. Nobody was unironically bumping Cupcakke, this analogy is just wrong and dumb. And I'm Gen Z.
@l3vi132 Also Cupcakke had flow and her songs were a catchy, creative type of stupid. People keep comparing Red and Cupcakke, and it's a really unfair comparison. Red is definitely an industry plant.
I can definitely relate to the worst thing about getting older is watching people turn into conservative hypocrites. So frustrating
I am a couple of years younger than Fiq (almost as old as a millennial gets), and my brother is a couple of years older than Fiq (about as young as Gen X gets): when we discussed the "McDonald's coffee lawsuit" from the early '90s a few months ago, he spouted all the right-wing talking points which blamed the victim and never gave a single thought to the employees who had been serving coffee capable of causing third-degree burns for who knows how long. It was kind of shocking because we knew that was bullshit back then.
@@Robstafarianmaybe you underestimated what he knew, and when he was wrong he double down on his position, to defend his ego, that’s happens a lot. That’s why arguing doesn’t work most of the time.
I think I can say I'm one of those people that finds themselves developing more "conservative/traditional" ideas alongside some progressive viewpoints as well. For me, it started when youtube was pointing out a lot of hypocrisy in the left.
It's nerdy AF, but all I can think of is the scene from Star Wars where Obi-wan is yelling "you were supposed to bring balance to the force, not destroy it!" We said we'd be better, and yet somehow we turned into our parents.
Younger millennial here but I'm dreading going through the same with my peers. Really hope I can maintain some semblance of objectivity as I get older.
Got into an actual argument with my husband recently about a connection he was making between rap and addiction. He’s a huge hip hop head from a middle class family and he’s never done most of the things he listens to people rap about all the time. I come from a poor one with a lot of multi-generational substance addiction that all of our family events and households played oldies soul and love songs all the time. You cannot tell me that music is what makes people do drugs when I was surrounded by people who were no particular fans of rap but everything around them: social conditions, lack of resources, recurrent traumas, constant exposure helped propagate this disease.
Rap has a more of an influence that we think it does..for example juice world claims future is the reason he started doing drugs..but honestly the music is just a symptom I'm sure addiction runs in his family and he was trying to find his identity as a kid
I disagree, are music does influence drug use. Hip hop is not the only type of music that does. You go to a hop hip show, there is hard drug use. Crack was introduce to R &B and hip hop spots. The real main difference no one wants to hear is are music influences violence also. There are not too many types of music that does that in modern times. In the pass white peoples made songs of battles they won. If you sing that song in the wrong place. You would be in trouble, but that medieval timeline. So yeah your husband is technically right.
This! One of my uncle (in his two steppers sandals) hates new school everything. Rap, R&B, hell even how they make houses “now a days”. He turn to drugs to deal with shit going on with his life. When he gets drunk; we hear the stories of them doing work for whyte folks, getting stiffed and having to flee police (if they tried to make a point of it).
Like… Some people didn’t listen to their elders, when they gossiped amongst themselves, and you can tell.
It’s influencing this younger generation and I’m from the same type of community you’re from.
@@airmann4673i think it depends on that person. some will do what songs say, and others will just take it as a song and nothing else.
So funny see people mad at this, I'm old enough to remember songs like My Neck, My Back, which has the same raunchy lyrics if not more.
I remember 'The Bad Touch' song.
Those people probably didnt like that song either tbh
At that time we had a diversity of black women. The issue is that today this is the only representation on a manstream level. The other type are over shadowed. And people are just tired of it.
@@a.g3322besides Lauryn Hill, what mainstream female rapper was not sexualized back then?
Khia wasn't opening for dmx , em or Jay-z the way sexy red is opening for drake. Those songs back than weren't mainstream
There are a bevy of black women rappers: Noname, Sa-Roc, Jean Grae, Rapsody, Tierra Wack, Little Simz, and etc. Who don’t get enough attention. Those mad at sexy red just bored and want to complain about nothing.
What I find when I'm stuck in these debates/conversations is that it normally boils down to women being the subject that bothers them the most. Despite so many people being very attracted to these artists they have an impulse to impose specific ideals on them.
NONAME and Little Simz are some of my favorites EVER, but I make sure to keep an eye out for black women making great music/art in these spaces. Niggas act so disinterested when I bring them up tho
It's about money, and _fill in the blank_ black female rapper who's ratchet, aggressively oversexualized branding is a top money maker. None of the female rappers you listed will get the same level of promotion and attention as a sexy red type rapper.
Your Cardi B's, Megan Thee Stallions, Sexxy Red's, Ice Spices though are the ones that are pushed in the mainstream. Most people aren't gonna step out of their comfort zone and search for the ones you named because they're more on the underground side.
@@Kornelius707
Bingo. If boomer xers and older millennials complaints were about the lack of diversity in the femme rap space, they'd have a point about culture's relationship to capitalism! But moralizing about raunchy sexual rap as a personal moral failing of the artists and fans? That's just dumb.
@@ibn1989 That's how its always been tho. Conscious rappers are always going to have less mainstream appeal than artists who push party music and club bangers.
You will always have to do some real digging outside radio play to get to the good stuff.
I will say I had the realization I was a fucking idiot with this event.
My 12 year old daughter was listening to Doja Cat in the car and I was getting pissed off. I then put on some G-Unit era rap and realized it really wasn't any less 'problematic'.
On the plus side my daughter likes more of my rap, but it's equally debaucherous.
So the answer is surround her with more positive less provocative music not saying “the stuff i listened to is just as bad” ....it’s your kid tho ig
@@mobrk6036 It's way more complicated than that, but yeah I do try to pepper in other music so it's not all edgy all the time.
@@mobrk6036worry about yourself, they'll raise their kids how they want.
@@MySqueezingArm yea I understand
Doja has non-explicit versions of her songs. The radio versions
I am becoming more leftist as I get older. I was always afraid I'd become conservative but I did a bunch of research for my master's degree that made me deeply uncomfortable with the current economic system. We can't go on this way. We're literally poisoning ourselves with our complacency.
I literally hate every form and facet of conservatism more and more with every dammed passing year. Not even just the terrible economic ideas and incessant need for meaningless, garbage hierarchies, but also that constant need for endlessly recycled bullshit moral panics to whip the idiots into a frenzy with.
I can't even wrap my head around things changing for me so deeply and completely that I'd suddenly be just fine with bullshit that much of my life this far was framed by going directly against. Thankfully, I know folks much older than me still fighting the good fight, so I know it's possible to go a reall long time without falling into that trap.
You can be politically and economically left all you want and still fall into social conservatism as you age. Give it 30 years or maybe even sooner and you'll catch yourself giving a "back in my day" speech to some dumb kid doing some dumb trend while completely forgetting about how some of us were out here planking and munching on tide pods. Conservatism is all about persevering hierarchies, and almost everyone eventually falls into the logic that "my generation" did it better than everyone before or since. Some ways of thinking are just human nature; it'll happen to you.
@@dawuddockery6118 I don't know about that. Most of my 'back in my day' stories would involve frankly cartoonish amounts of psychedelics, strippers, looking for as much chaos as possible, and 'questionable people'. That doesn't give me much of an imaginary high horse to stand on just to talk down to younger people from.
I mean, there were definitely relationships, education, etc in the mix as well, but I can't exactly forget how I spent so much of my free time as soon as I realized what that meant, or how long I spent it that way. I'm still friends with a lot of people I met during that stretch, so it's not even like I could pretend it was any different and not immediately get laughed at and called out for lying. Which is exactly what should happen IMO.
@@dawuddockery6118you make a good point. I want to break down hierarchies, still. This is what society gets when a generation that has been putting money into pensions their whole adult lives will never see a pension. Burn it all down.
@@dawuddockery6118education, facts and stats will definitely prevent you from being conservative.
I’m a zoomer, but I’m old enough to remember my dad blasting this kind of music in our home. My dad has a huge hip hop/house record and cd collection from when he was a DJ. Its comical to me that people are trying to force respectability politics on hip hop, specifically women in hip hop.
In a way, I understand why they are so protective. Hip-hop has NEVER been kind or a comfortable space for Black women as subjects or even as performers. I can see their caution, since the music has a lot of "slap them 'hos" as damn near fundamental to how women - Black women, are treated in this genre.
I want to make it clear, I don't think resorting to respectability politics is going to elevate us as Black people or especially as Black women. It hasn't saved us yet, it's only made the women who didn't conform women targets from all angles. We should be celebrating these young women in the genre for their expression of their ideas and definitely not holding them to different standards than the men or some imagined past when hip hop was "pure."
I'm just trying to get my sisters to see that while understanding this "we gotta separate" is coming from a place of legitimate fear that can only be overcome by holding space for the ones who aren't giving in to being a podcast bro type of woman. If we want to support our "good" girls we have to stand by our "bad" ones too.
Gate keeping it is definitely acceptable for the art/culture.
I mean, Lil Kim made her mark on music with her sexualized lyrics, crazy fashion, and bright wigs that all these new female MCs are doing. She had a whole feud with Nicki over it.
You mean boomer 🙄
I hate the word "Zoomer", like who decided that the term "Gen Z" doesn't exist and that "Zoomer" wouldn't be a corny name. Jesus, we should just start letting people of the Generation decide what to call themselves and not the ancestors.
I'm old enough to remember Adina Howard getting dragged for Freak Like Me by people who snorted lines to Super Freak.
😂
I literally have this conversation everytime there's an uproar about the next new artist (Sexxy Redd, Megan the Stallion, Ice Spice, etc.), and it's becoming exhausting.
I will say that generalized outrage by ppl are exhausting because it's lacks merit. But real hip hop heads really do try to parse out the talent and quality from the bs. There have been numerous popular songs that I've heard that are literally 2 min long and I don't think 16 actual bars were spit. To me, it's too many artist out here getting by on mediocre at best talent, but that existed in my time of being a huge hip hop head. Now I'm 39 and we grew up on songs that would be 5,6 7 min long and straight bars. Hell that one love remix was damn near 2 hrs (sarcasm). But it seems like some of this stuff is wtf... true talent has staying power
The argument that it's been done before is irrelevant. The raunchy stuff wasn't as mainstream. Now it is. And the primary images of black women being pushed now are that of Sexyred and the like. That's the issue.
@@sugarwaterpurple5280that's what I'm saying.The thot style rap of the 90's n 00's was in it's own lane and wasn't treated like a significant influence in hip hop but now it is and we see in parts in real life the ignorance it's putting in the female youth.Anybody downplaying this but complain about drill rap being destructive is a fuckin goofball
@@mxhughesWOW .....not considered mainstream? By who?! Women listen to music too now and back then, those raunchy rappers used to be extremely popular with the Ladies.
@@fivemargaritasonly they were popular but that type of content wasn't treated like a big trend like gangsta rap n party rap was at the time.The industry didn't keep tryna look for female artists with that style like that they didn't overpromote it or forcefeed us that stuff like they are now is my point
Imagine going to see Drake..but complaining about Sexy Redd. .they are definitely getting that lady together on Tik Tok though, lol
Imagine going to see Drake. 😏
@@realMacMadameHis music isn't that bad.🤣🤣🤣
I don't even get this argument. Drakes music never gets THAT provocative. And it's not his only formula for making hits. Plus Drake has bars, Sexy is 4th grade level school cafeteria Green Eggs and Ham rapping 😭 a better comparison would be Wayne. Now HE can go crazy like on 'Pussy Monster' and it's hard to find a song with him not mentioning pussy at least once.
@@Antwannnnit about her talking about respectability politics, but going to see Drake who has a lot problems especially tied to black women is crazy
@@pietrycranberry6621its his personality. He is the epitome of “ Bn nice guy”. He thinks he's so ignored but he disrespects boundaries and doesn't take a no. He's creepy. Google it
I did the OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUD thing this past week shit talking about using smartphones and apps for everything in a discord group filled with Zoomers. I was basically lecturing fish about the dangers of drowning.
There is a difference between having completely unfounded assumptions about a technological device and watching the deterioration of sense in favor of hedonistic illusion… one might say
That intro was dead the fuck on. Appreciate you giving flowers to the new generation, showing us how we should be as we age out of our prime in the zeitgeist. It’s a mindfuck watching alt heroes become the old people they railed against with no sense of irony. There’s always been shock artists, and always will be. Theres also always been good elders who handled this without going crazy and continued to participate. Hopefully our generations will make that the standard instead of outliers. Thank you for doing this work!!
I’m actually kinda hopeful about this sort of thing. I feel like younger generations (at least ppl Ik) have an experience of the music we strongly identify with (so grew up with) as not being as tied to specific times not that u don’t still connect music to certain times in ur life but that the music you’re connecting to has a higher likelihood (compared to previous eras) to be from a wider range of time periods and that this maybe breeds a more holistic sense of music and its’ ebbs and flows so hopefully we won’t be as inclined to shit on future generations’ music tho the cycle seems somewhat inevitable. only time will tell I suppose
Zach Bryan is the best artist currently alive
The same people complained about WAP and next year they’ll find a new female rapper to put down for being “too sexual”. I just know that as a DJ Quik fan, no one can get as dirty as him (hell even the 70s had this rapper named Blowfly who was extremely filthy). I never see male artists called out for being so sexual. It’s absolutely a double standard, and I don’t even really like Sexy Redd’s music.
We’re you around when H-Town released Knocking Boots? Cuz uh folks were a bit pressed about it as I recall.
WAP ain't even that wild compared to 2 Live Crew
No....I'm pretty sure people have always been mad about sexual lyrics. There wasn't even a Parental Advisory label until Darling Nikki came out in 84, and all he said was "masturbating with a magazine." And that's one song out of the 8 songs (I think) on the album. But nowadays, people only make sexually explicit music and it's so tiring. I'm not even remotely a conservative, but hearing about throwing it back, deepthroating, munching, choking, and various other activities every time you try to listen to a song is TIRING. You would think that ALL of life is a p*rnhub video.
😂😂😂 Get Down gotta be one of my most problematic favorite bops from Quik.
Millie Jackson, Blowfly, Too Short, 2 Live Crew, AMG, Trina... these chirrens are quite civilized in comparison.
All of this! We, black women, have always looked bad for existing, and no amount of respectability politics can fix all the problems caused by misogynoir. Also as a woman, who is LGBT, I need a raunchy, sexy jam for us.
Literally. I mean, no matter what we do, it's gonna be a problem. Just look at how blk women with degrees are shamed now. Blk women need to just realize that we got one life and we can't use it trying to please others that will find another reason to look down on us anyway.
@@KrazyVideoChickAbsolutely!
Have you heard of Domo Wilson?
We can be virginal as Mother Mary and go to church every day and wear full dresses and people will still call us names and treat us like we’re dirt 🤷🏾♀️.
@@KrazyVideoChickqq1
That young lady in the clip going so hard against Sexy Red but was perfectly fine with Drake is WILD! Do you not listen to his lyrics, sis? The rap ones, in particular. Mixtape era included..................
its the misogynoir. thats all it ever is 😭
they dont *really* care about the content or “skill” or any of that; they’re bothered by a poor Black woman doing better than them.
But they threw bra on stage ?!?!?!? He literally helped a woman get the cover of playboy and he got sexy red her big bag!!!???? Like let her buy her Berkin please
Lol must be scared of the 6 !
that woman has a whole list of trash takes on her tiktok
like..... it's insane lmao drake is DOCUMENTED with how wild he gets on the road. that's how he got a whole kid lol! and it's in his lyrics. but he's fine. we gotta stop sis's bag.... smhhhhh@@Youreallygonnaactlikethat
@@gios4ma that black women ain’t representing me if she’s representing you have at it!
The conversation reminds me of when ppl got all angry about twerking but that conversation died when it was brought up the same women complaining about twerking was out here doing the crybaby in the late 90s to early 00s and then there is the freaknik of the early 90s.
What it shows is that we not only have selective outrage but we have bad memory. A lot of ppl don't remember how things were back in the 90s and earlier. We even see this with over used and the often incorrect term "woke". Where ppl think now the media is different, "woke", and super progressive, forgot that the 90s did all the same things and never shied away. Some of the bad memory is intentional bc society has to have an argument, so gotta act like ya don't remember so we can die on whatever hill we choose.
That's exactly why I've never once clutched any pearls, blamed the music (or TV, video games, or any other moral panic du jour), or ever became even remotely conservative as I've gotten older. I remember damn well what I was up to as soon as I could be, and I even kept it up longer than many.
None of this is new. Nostalgia tinted glasses are a motherfucker that will trip everyone up if given the chance, and I have no use for that kind of foolishness, personally. I'm really tired of watching the exact same panics play out over and over and over again, though. Apparently most people have goldfish like memories, and that gets old real fast.
Bruh just say we did the same thing 30 years ago
Like great point but Woow
@@Youreallygonnaactlikethat if you just want one liners go watch action movies. dont get upset.
@@Youreallygonnaactlikethat
😅
I think there’s also a weird disconnect for people that this is a “hip hop” thing. No it’s not. Rock music has TONS of sexually explicit lyrics that it normalized. Same for metal, punk, country, folk, pretty much music in any genre has it. You can’t really escape it because it’s part of being human… then vast majority of people enjoy sex. Most people enjoy not feeling shame about it too. I don’t understand how people are still using this old ass scapegoat, but it is what it is.
Grandmas out here playing “baby it’s cold outside” at Xmas like it’s not about banging.
This 😂
Well, sadly a lot of black people in particular have internalized a lot of negative attitudes toward sex as a response to the sexual abuse and exploitation we experienced as a group via enslavement and colonization, and the aftermath of those systems. Our sexuality is also still externally policed by people who engage in the same behaviors they chastise us for allegedly engaging in ravenously.
I keep trying to tell people that it's not some conspiracy to only show black women who rap about how good at sex they are, it's just that sex sells. Like Fiq talked about in his Canibus video we got variety back in the day because MTV etc was programed. Now it's all sales and views and only the biggest survive.
one is more commercial than the other. so you have kids singing WAP instead of Closer.
are you really comparing pound town to baby it's cold outtside??? be so fr
She wants to go see Drake? Wtf is wrong with this woman?
lmaooo
Shots fired! XD
Drake is better than sexy red, she's has standards at least.
@@Kornelius707lol ppl acting like everyone didn’t fw drake for close to a decade. Especially girls.
@@gtg488w
I didn't but I was a hipster who avoided mainstream rap for too long. Hell I'm even avoiding it now and I don't even want to avoid it anymore I'm just algorithmically bubbled away from it!
I still listen to Hard Core lol when WAP came out I wasn’t clutching my pearls but I did have a convo with my teenager about her knowing the difference between sexual liberation and hyper sexuality/marketing. There are so many layers to the conversation and it’s not always comfortable but we have to talk.
this is so right ! art especially of this day, with how many people try to censor and obfuscate it into oblivion, needs to have lots of nuance when discussing it
It kills me when the older generation acts like they were this pure and innocent generation and the young folk are wild and out of pocket. When FD brought up freaknic I did the biggest head nod. I hope I can see that documentary soon cause visual proof of that time will definitely silence some holy rollers who think they are better than everyone.
My cousin has a videotape we recorded when we went in 96. All I could think to myself is that these freaky mofos on that tape is somebody's grandparents now. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@nervousallday yo fo real so many people about to see their grandparents shaking ass on tape.
Ghetto tbh
They weren’t, I think what gets lost is integrity. Hear me out, they had no record labes waiting to make money they actually had a society that was more stuck in old times and less mentally disarmed by corporations and abusive rewards systems. So everyone in hip hop had more anti mainstream starting points, a longer journey and certainly not a whole leg in the overall music industry of the time…
Back then they probably were as raunchy but less trashy less mass produced and all the bad that comes from it
"The kids are so messed up these days," has been a thing since language was invented and never takes responsibility for the people who raised these kids. I'm 39 and if I ever get to, "Kids these days are so bad," I hope someone puts me out of my misery because if I fail to raise my child in a way I approve of /it is not my child's fault/.
People who are up & arms about Sexxy Redd CLEARLY have not heard an ounce of UGK, Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat, and countless of other hip hop artists. She even stated she’s the female Gucci Mane, I mean hello?!
People are tired of the same raunchy black female when we already have so many, and there not wrong tbh
@@mobrk6036right its weird people are trying to validate this. In was not a good thing in the 80s and 90s and forsure not now.
@@mobrk6036Please. There are tons of Black male rappers with raunchy music but you’re not saying they’re destroying the Black community.
@@BellesView I’m not saying either is “destroying” but I do think that both are contributing negatively
@@mobrk6036 Some people are tired of it but as long as the views and sales keep coming we're going to keep getting it. When the public really does get bored with it you can bet it will change fast and they will find something else to run into the ground.
It's funny to see that this happens with every single generation. These same people complaining about modern music would have their parents complaining about their music growing up as well. Insane how they never seemed to learn the lesson there.
My classmates showing their asses over new rappers are hilarious to me. The hypocrisy slays me. Y'all was at the teen club/house parties bussing it open to "Some Cut". We have truly lost the plot. End of the day my policy is I raise my kids. My wife and I are their first role models.
You are absolutely right, you two are their first role models, and seemingly very good ones. But in a digital age, I think we have to acknowledge we aren't their only ones or their most accessible ones. Our digital lives are so pervasive that it is simply more ubiquitous than any other influence unless we have the wherewithal (kids dont) to separate/detach from it.
The power of the digital age is like what Christians say about the devil, The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist...
@@TorreEdwardsWhat? There are people who don't believe the internet exists?!😂
My take isn't they bad. I just don't think she can rap well, but her content doesn't bother me. I'm glad she can make something people enjoy though.
Facts! We can go back to the 80s and hear similar lyrics. Hell, I heard some of my parent's music and I'm 39 and looking at them asking wtf THEIR parents were while they listened to that filth lmaoooo. For me the talent, delivery, crafting of bars, etc is way better quality wise than sexy redd or suki imo...IMO. I won't argue the content too much
@RobJarrell63 This, all of this!!! Thank you because my man's is 100% pandering, acting like he doesn't understand it's the delivery and not the words. Lil Kim can rap the Chinese food menu and it would sound a thousand times better than anything Sexy Redd puts out because Lil Kim can rap. It's not a new versus old thing, or any of that other BS it's capability. Prime example: Doja Cat is a NEWER artist also with RAUNCHY lyrics yet she doesn't get that same energy... Why? Because she can rap. I rest my case.
THIS
I would be glad if people would enjoy something better more widely, there is always the hope that the current fanbase grows out of it but with sooo much blind support for these cheap hedonistic products- it’s unsettling
This is a NECESSARY CONVERSATION!!! I am 42 years old and a former advocate of the “real hip-hop” argument…until I remembered the massive airplays of PUT IT IN YA MOUTH and the Butterfly dance 😅 I’m now a strong advocate of the “STFU cuz there’s some hip-hop for EVERYONE” school of thought.
And before any of my peers come for me…
Wu Tang’s “Ice Cream” lyrics
Tupac’s “Thug Passion” lyrics
and pretty much the majority of any sexualized lyrics from the “Golden Age” of Hip-hop that existed alongside all the conscious and wholesome subject matter that was gradually pushed to the side 🤷🏾♂️
I'm right there with you. I was definitely a backpacker back in the days and had the Rawkus t-shirt to prove it. However, I would be lying if I said I didn't have F*ck Me for Free on my playlist. I loved Akinyele.
F.D once again responding to people with more patience than I care to give them.
Because I'm at a point where I get filled with an overwhelming sense of irritation and anger whenever somebody pipes up to hand-wring over "the corrupting influence of music".
Like, babe, we'll still have the same problems if everybody listened to gospel 24/7 😂
Grew up listening to Christian music and was forbidden from listening to worldly music (I'm not black so unfortunately gospel wasn't "our" form of Christian music). All it did was make falling in love with the most diabolic music even easier.
People have been having these same damn arguments for centuries at least. A hundred years ago the flappers and the big band music and illegal booze fueling them were causing the exact same drama and panic. It gets old real fast, and I'm not interested in falling for it.
@@RevShiftyJazz ain’t even have lyrics and people were saying “playing those notes that way inspires devilish tendencies” like what the hell
Back in the day, we had a diversity of black women. The issue is that today this is the only representation on a manstream level. The other type are over shadowed. And people are just tired of it.
I can agree somewhat here, but the response isn't to teear down other black women
@@signifiedbsides1129it’s not tearing down it’s holding black women and men accountable. Black males artist have been criticized for their violent, misogynistic lyrics, and justly so. This is no different in regards to women. This has nothing to do with ws ideology this is something about decency and decorum. Because there’s an established history of indecency doesn’t validate the behavior.
@@raynellmoore68wyeah it's way too much smoke for black men (and rightfully so), but as soon as you hold black women to the same level of accountability, people want to pull the easy win, "you hate black women!" card. It's nonsense
Hunh? Because isn’t beyonce making like 1 billion dollars on 1 tour? Like I don’t even like Beyonce but you’d think she would be your biggest representation right now. Not to mention what about the women on congress? What about the many female doctors I follow on social media. If you aren’t seeing are not seeing representation its because you aren’t looking for it. Not to mention the woman in the video is someone I would consider new middle class but came from the ghetto. It’s hilarious to me when those type of women try to judge others like they weren’t just in the ghetto themselves.
I think we need to hold the music industry accountable. They're profiting off the popularity of these artists or they're encouraging the artists to do what's profitable. But I'm assuming they still have a stake in this...If people become popular through other independent means (social media) then it really is a societal issue.
This type of ratchet/dirty rap always existed. If it's the dominant sound, then I find that questionable.
“Everyone can benefit a little bit from some screen time breaks” and a little bit of history.
I remember Put it in your Mouth being a honored and revered negro spiritual in the late 1990s a song that had both gals and guys sing with passion and enthusiasm.
I am Gen X, and i don’t see the difference between Sexxy Redd and 2 Live Crew, Too Short, Akinvele, Lil’ Kim, Trinia, etc etc. She is the grand baby to these artist, and she is in Miami, the home of bass music, that bass is moving that ass.
I appreciate your perspective but will have to disagree. People recognize these mainstream female artist are all oversexualized and pushing a degenerate message. There is influence in being an INFLUENCER which a lot of these artists are. Calling out negative cultural values and wanting to separate from them is not a bad thing. It tells the world we are not a monolith, and all black people don't behave in this deplorable way.
Excellent, thought provoking stuff as always. I’m taking my elder Gen X carcass out for a walk right now on your suggestion.
My ankle hurts from walking too much today. Owie.
I’m 23 but it kills me to see people get mad at her being unapologetically herself. They also seem to forget how nasty female rappers was talking back in the day😭
It’s actually really weird. They love Lil Kim but hate Meg Thee Stallion I just don’t understand
@@5barbie516 I just think gangsta rap/ drill is bad for black boys. I also think Sexyred music is bad influence on black girls. I wouldnt let my daughter listen to that crap, or my son to all that killing stuff.
@@5barbie516 They also love Nicki Minaj but Nicki talks crazy too in her songs. The hypocrisy is crazy
to quote Dead Prez "Platinum don't mean that it gotta be hot. I ain't gotta love it even if they play it a lot"
SKEEE YEEEEE. Thanks for all your content and recs in the past like Lil Bill, etc. you are my favorite TH-camr and inspired me to research more and make video essays!
✊🏽💯 Thank you! I'm 66 and get shut down every time I try to make this point with fellow old heads and young alike. Now I just don't engage anymore and just move on with shit that really matters.
Totally get your vibe, Fiq. I’m also 41, a “geriatric millennial” as it was. Growing up during those pivotal moments truly shaped our worldview. It's wild how music, especially hip-hop from our time, played such a role. And trends do always circle back. We've gotta see art as society's mirror and not its driver. As one of the older crew here, I think it's on us to guide, not dismiss, the younger gen. Keep the convo going!
Honestly, any time i dont like new music i just assume its because im getting old.
I mean, there was still *plenty* of music I didn't like growing up. Or every moment between being that age and this age. I'm a real fan of music, but that still leaves plenty of artists, styles, genres, etc I just won't ever like.
And that's fine. Nothing is for everyone. But I'm also never going to pretend it's a morality issue or that it's anyone else's problem but mine. That just gets absurd after a while.
I know I'm getting old but I keep finding new and old stuff that fills me with life
The only thing worse than getting older and seeing your peers become conservative is seeing your parents do it instead
Your taste changes as you mature (or not).
Young people should not be shamed for liking their music. Older people shouldn't be shamed for not liking it. It's a matter of taste.
I looooooooooooooooooooooooove the variety of this generation and the fact that womxn and gay rappers are more abundant. (31y.o.)
exactly! when i was growing up, there was only ever one woman at a time allowed to be a rap superstar and being gay was an immediate disqualifier.
now we have rappers of all types of backgrounds so i never have to feel bored or over it.
Same!
@@gios4maSalt N Peppa, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Da Brat, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliot, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Eve, Trina....
She was going to see Drake, the same man who sung “long as my bitches love me” but Sexy Red is where she draws the line.
Just speaking facts. After watching this I’ve had to reevaluate my thoughts on music back then versus now.
I’m 44 listened to Lil Kim, Foxxy Brown, but also grew up with Black women like Anita Baker, Whitney Houston being a standard of class and grace, while also hearing Dionne Farris, Brandy, Toni Braxton etc. On the radio as well as Kim and Foxy. I asked my teen daughter who’s the most positive young black woman making music she said SZA. It just saddens me that white girls have Taylor Swift, Latinas have Selena Gomez, and there’s really not any youthful black female artists that aren’t selling a sexualized image. I know that isn’t sexy red’s fault but it is tiresome that black women are stuck in this jezebel troupe.
I think the issue (as it always is) is lack of diverse images. We should be able to make the ho stuff - sexuality is natural. We also should have multifaceted artists who can present all of their sides because no one is all slut or all class and dignity all of the time.
@@pisceanbeauty2503 we should have female artists that vary from each other in regards to image
There are, they just don't get air time
same with gangsta rap one of the worse things that happened to the community
with all do respect it's the same with black men. it's not black women's fault yall community promote this toxicty. It's even worse with male rappers and their mumble rap.
4:39 why did she not find Drake problematic enough?
3:44 we can't forget the 'Lil' rappers 🤣
Great video and, as others have said, amazing intro. The weirdest thing about it will be when you realize that your conservative friends aren't even political at all, or at least you never noticed them to be, and when you ask them about it they display no particular investment in their own views, speaking as though what they are saying is just "common sense". Then you really start to understand how deeply right-wing (white supremacist, patriarchal, jingoistic, etc. etc.) this country is. Nobody starts from the center -- everybody has to fight their own right-wing upbringing first.
Right before I read your comment I decided not to reply to someone who said "This has nothing to do with ws ideology this is something about decency and decorum. " glad you were there with this to affirm my instincts.
“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
I don't know about this Elvis fella, shaking his hips like that is awfully suggestive and going to give the Youth certain Ideas that won't be so savoury.
As a very "old head" who grew up on Rudy Ray Moore, Blow Fly, 2-Live Crew, etc. I don't talk ish on the youngin's when it comes to the "sex talk" in the rap lyrics, I actually thought "WAP" was brilliant, but when it's about the dumb violent 'drill' nonsense I can't get with it.
But violent music existed back then too. Why is 304 music ok but violent music is bad?
Sorry, I don't know what 304 is.
Wish people would just watch her and Sukihana's FunnyMarco interviews. They're very down to earth and know what they're doing. Sexy Redd is actually way smarter and wittier than people think.
Sexy Redd and Smart in the same sentence? Stop it 😂😂😂
@@apolloskywalker633 eh. "Smartness" is an arbitrary scale imo. I'd say that she's maximized her position as an impoverished, black woman in this system to her advantage which belies an intelligence that can't be properly measured by conventional standards. She's also able to match her more adept interviewers joke for joke without a sweat just by being herself.
@@Paratet I know you don't believe social media success=intelligence. Otherwise you'd have to think that adin Ross is intelligent 😂
Yes! I love those interviews
I look at these things a bit differently. To me, Sexy Redd (if I didn't butcher the spelling) is just another example of another "recording artist" who deserves the proverbial "5 minutes of fame" but has managed to gain inclusion in a camp far past that. And, as Signified says here, this is nothing new. The phenomenon has plagued the music industry (aa well as many others) since the humble beginnings of recorded music. It's not only about Hip Hop, but music in general. Some artists are able to punch well above their class, as far as; fan appreciation/respect, longevity, record sales, etc... when what they really deserve is just a few months (maybe a year or two) of shooting star popularity. Some of the throwback examples given here were actually skilled/talented, some, not so much. Remember the movie "Brown Sugar"? The Mos Def vs the 'Hip Hop Dalmatians' thing? The 'Dalmatians' were easily able to get repeated airplay on the lauded radio station, while the Mos Def character (the actual talented rapper/artist) got seriously/criminally dissed. It's not that Sexy Redd is far too raunchy, it's that she barely qualifies as a rapper, let alone a talented one. Of course, not being the most talented rapper doesn't mean she doesn't deserve listenership/sales, it should mean she (and others like her) deserve no more than their '5 minutes'.
I just had this conversation with someone in their mid 40s. There's no good music today!
I have grown up realizing that if I can't see beauty here, it's either that it's not beautiful or I don't know how to appreciate it. That's helped me build the habit of taking time to attempt to learn to appreciate whatever I'm experiencing.
There's a lot of great music around today. I'm personally more interested in investigating older musical traditions from around the world than I am what's making the rounds on Spotify, but that doesn't change the talent and creativity even I can see in a lot of modem music. People have been having these exact conversations and panics ever since radio helped record labels become a thing, and I'm not the least bit interested in falling for it myself.
Actually if you have Spotify there's some amazing R&B artist, like giveon, Ari Lennox, Victoria Monet, Snoh Allegra..ect. you just have to give time. Music is different now, but music is always beautiful to me regardless of the era or genre. Music is about the moment.
Not really. As a golden age hiphop head, I remember having these same conversations about Trina, Lil' Kim, AMG, and Snoop way back in the day. Snoop and AMG about the disrespect of women, lack of balance, etc. and Lil' Kim/Trina/etc. for playing up to male fantasies. I come from M.C. Lyte, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, The Lady Bug Mecca, Bohamadia, Jean Grae, Lady of Rage, Rah Digga, Apani B. Fly.....real rappers with lyrics. We knew these male rappers were writing for Lil' Kim (Biggie), Trina (Trick Daddy), Foxy (Jay-Z); so their lyrics were coming from a male perspective and maybe not necessarily a perspective a female rapper would come up with on their own to present to the world. But the Lil' Kim's/Trina's were outselling everybody so we knew it was a matter of time before the Sexy Redd's and the Sukihana's would become the norm. Which is why when the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill hit back in the 90's, it had such a huge impact. In the midst of the Lil' Kim's/Trina's, here was a female rapper with a true feminine point of view and the whole world felt it. It sold just as well as, if not more, than the Lil' Kim's, and gave us hope that there could be mainstream balance in hip hop.
Look, we all know that there are a variety of stances when it comes to sexuality and how it should be displayed. The only thing most ask for is balance. For every platinum streaming song about deep throating, or taking it up the butt, give us another 2 or 3 platinum streaming songs about Black feminism.....or what it is like and how to move as a Black women in today's world; how to love and/or preference on how to be loved. Whatever, just not upfront sex and materialism all the time.
I believe a significant amount of those who criticize today's artists, would have criticized yesterday's as well. There is enough with emotional intelligence that doesn't just accept anything with a good beat behind it.
Now, are there hypocrites? Of course. The old heads may have partied to questionable degrading music back in the day, but once again, they had more balance. Missy was dropping heat that touched on a variety of subjects to counter. But today's youth got trap, drill (psychopathic music laughing at fallin' enemies), etc., and unlimited access to porn and misinformation that wasn't as widespread back in the day. There needs to be a lot more to balance that amount of huge negativity. When old heads are criticizing, that is what they mean. That's the context. It just comes off wrong because the Sexy Redd's/Sukihana's/etc. is all that is being presented to them; so they pick on that.
That’s true but I think part of his point was to highlight how blaming the youth for indulging in, let’s call it “Destructive rap” is blaming the wrong people. We should be targeting the record producers and streaming platforms that push that content on top of the algorithm over conscious artists. There are good artists that aren’t creating “destructive rap” that many ppl should be listening to, while also enjoying their age of debauchery. A lot of the energy is old heads put into shaming WAP, only draws more attention to Cardi and blesses the algorithm. We can spend that energy promoting conscious artists.
“The only thing most ask for is balance.”
He won’t talk about this though, for whatever reason
It's interesting to me how, after 50 years of Hip-hop, there's still only one MC Lyte, One Latifah, One Salt N Pepa... but there have been about 50 Lil Kims...
All Black music has that element from way back when, lots of genres have that, people were rocking to the beats and not listening to the lyrics. The only difference is exposure, the modern communication systems allows it to be all out there. all the time.
Great point too, about the mainstreaming of it and the fact that the consumers are not mainly us. This stuff is being sold in mainstream stores and making money for some people
This is why I keep up with Dead End Hip Hop. It's older Millennial dudes talking about hiphop but they really try everything out and have such an insane depth of knowledge and history on every era of hip-hop.
Love DEHH, their podcast is also loads of fun
As one of the “hypocritical” old heads of which u speak, back in the day, I could choose to listen to Lauryn Hill instead of Trina; Eve instead of Lil Kim; or a Tribe Called Quest instead of Too Live Crew. When it comes to men in hip hop, I still have choices. When it comes to women in hip hop, there are far fewer distinctions between acts, so far fewer choices. To be fair, I may just be ignorant of the alternatives. In any case, the same hip hop heads that criticize that music now likely criticized it then. I know I did, and I know I do. I don’t criticize the consumers because ur free to like what u like. That doesn’t make the criticism unwarranted or hypocritical though. We literally call hip hop a cornerstone of “the culture,” so it’s reasonable to have concerns about the things “the culture” encourages.
I don't even think it's a problem inherent to "the culture", it's a problem inherent to profit. Sex sells, or so they say, and those who fund and sell hip hop aren't artists it's businessmen. The publishers are the ones pushing for profit the most (usually) and their is no profit in their view in black women unless you can sell them as sex symbols. The problem with the culture won't be fixed unless we fix the problem with The System first.
@@fluidthought42I don’t disagree with anything u said. However, we can’t fix the music industry, so our only recourse is to condemn the artists who make this harmful content. I know that this is just a reflection of capitalism rather than a reflection of morals within our communities. That said, the morals within our communities are being shaped by the entertainment choices of our adolescents and youths, so I’m standing on my square on this one.
@@seanh8095
I think we _can_ change the music industry if we _collectively_ moved to do so. We need to organize, and we need artists to organize too. Not for self censorship but to make sure that we are promoting what we want to hear, and that includes all of us teaching kids to understand how society tries to sell them sex. It's a conversation that I'm gonna have with my own 13 year old boy, if he knows how society tries to sell him sex and why it does (because the emotional part of intimacy that actually makes it worthwhile isn't as easily packaged and sold for profit as the physical aspect of it) that way hopefully he can grow up to have a more healthy relationship to his sexuality than if I allowed him to inherit society's views on sex.
I can not stand any phrase that starts with "this generation.... blah blah blah. " Our parents' generation and the past itself shows that people weren't anymore or less moral or respectable than the present generation. 🙄
I thought everyone forgot that AMG "B Betta Have My Money" except me. I'd play that late in the night after I knew the managers were either asleep or holed up in the office getting ready to close down for the night and any customers who might complain had already gone home. Only people left were the real ones who wanted to get nasty on the dance floor or were too drunk to care what anybody else was doing, because that joint was RAW for the early 90's 😂.
As a GenX of 52, for me, the golden age of hip-hop was solid early 90's-late 90's. It was past it's nascent stages of simple beats and sing song bars, but hadn't become folks jockeying to be the nastiest, baddest, got shot the most times as cred. It had developed technologically with better samples and mixes, rappers had styles across the board, and subjects ranged from socially conscious to parties/girls/floss, to who was the baddest, most dangerous, did the most crime and least time. Some was straight up danceable, some was definitely meant to just enjoy like a good cognac. It seemed the most wild west, original, experimental time for hip-hop before the sleek and polished 90-mid 2k era of well-crafted artists. I feel like this is a return to that era of unhinged, experimental, weird, irreverent music taking hip-hop into its next era. Not gonna lie, a lot of it isn't for me. I'm too old to try to figure out the slang 😂, but I respect that that's how time marches on. Let these babies cut their teeth like we did. If it bothers you so much, get out your old Heavy D cd and mind your business.
I feel like this video is just one great big strawman argument. Everyone knows that Rap and Hip Hop has always had a tendency to be edgy and profane. I don't think that's the problem most people have with Sexy Red's song "Pound Town". The reason her song became so popular is because it sounds like shit. People weren't clicking on her videos because they like her music. People were clicking on her songs and laughing at how terrible they sound. People love profane Rap and Hip Hop when it sounds good. What they hate is seeing an Artist become rich and famous for making shitty music. We're not stupid. We can see what's happening. Artists aren't becoming popular for their music anymore. They're becoming popular for going viral even if it's for the wrong reasons.
Agreed. Make no mistake, there is a vocal segment of rap fans clutching their pearls over Redd's lyrical content, but there are just as many of us offended by how genuinely terrible she is at her craft, and the former is much easier to rebut than the latter.
Granted, I might be mistaken in assuming that rap is her craft versus eliciting engagement via outrage.
I am not surprised, that is how he has been making his videos as of late.
I agree with this! For me personally, as 97 kid, I don’t have a problem with provocative lyrics as long as it’s well done! Megan Thee Stallion is very sexual; she’s also actually talented and good at rapping! Cardi B also does it for me, because she has good stage presence, and she be having fun one-liners.
I can’t stand Ice Spice or Sexxy Red, not because they’re very sexual, but because they’re boring, unoriginal, and frankly they’re just not talented.
I’m assuming that he specifically focusing on the generational focus of the argument, versus the actual skill factor, because that is a valid critique 😂
Exactly
"It's not the music, it's the society." Couldn't have said it ANY better. Great video, brotha 👏
"BUT...BUT...everyone else has/is making vulgar, disgusting music!" Not sure how that is a legitimate argument? Filth is filth, regardless of whether it comes from a male artist, a female artist, or whatever. Why are we glorifying this demonic shit? I am NOT saying to rag on Sexy Redd, because a lot of this is trauma-based. But to say this is permissible music to feed to your children? Then y'all wonder why the black community is in complete shambles. It's an embarrassment. We have to do better.
Agreed. People need to quit with the what-aboutisms. They're rarely if ever valid arguments.
Exactly
The first song I got in trouble was singing and dancing to 'Me So H*rny.' We were preparing for a dance performance and the coach started telling us what was expected and why we had to be "better than that."
It's exhausting having to represent all of Black womanhood and having that pressure from a young age can cause some people to give in to respectability politics rather than questioning why aesthetics determine a person's worth.
I'm 51 and I definitely remember back when 2LiveCrew were getting arrested for obscenity not far from me, in Miami. What kind of weird drugs are people taking that they've forgotten the whole Tipper Gore/PMRC debacle? Or is this because no one talks to their kids about when they were young? Sheesh.
Can someone please explain why y’all don’t think media/marketing influences people?? I really need someone to break it down. Dont we talk about the impact of copaganda on society? The endless portrayal as cops being the good guys has an effect but other things dont?? Can you explain why when it comes to sexyyred and gangster rap we all of a sudden get amnesia and say “oh art is a reflection of society” instead of “some of this ‘art’ is a reflection of what the powers that be want you to think and feel about yourself and the people around you?
Why do we stop the buck at art being influential and an intentional message when we get to hiphop just because it’s fun?
The one thing I’m glad you admitted to is how due to your financial and societal privilege these art forms didnt affect you as much as others. Well i grew in up Newark and the lives of the kids there is already so fragile that negative influences like the racist, colorist, capitalist, sexually exploitative music hiphop creates works in conjunction with our oppressive systems to keep people in a cycle of poverty topped with poor decision making. It may not affect the rich and financially well off like you and your circle but it damn sure affected mine. So lets think outside our bubble and recognize that it’s a problem
Yes media influences people but it can not influence what is not already there. Media can not influence in a vacuum, it can only reinforce and create feedback loop. Hip hop music has always reflected that in a raw and uncensored way from NWA to Biggie to Three 6 to Future and to people like Sexy redd or Megan Thee Stallion. And it does reinforce concepts within people's minds but you can't change a culture through media.
The white concert chorus sent chills down my spine while I was doing dishes
I'm so glad I didn't 'cast this to the living room TV.😅 Thanks for making this video. I've been complaining about how stank people are getting about hip hop's hard(er)core songs. Again. Yet again.
I’m about a decade younger, this isn’t ending with my generation either. The kids who danced & sung along to “My Neck My Back”, “Nookie Real Good” & “The Whisper Song” are now the parents with the digital picket signs.
Two live crew was definitely more graphic and just listen to Trina’s “The Baddest Chick” she rapped about making a dude eat her when her 🩸 was on 🤷🏾♀️
Cupcakke
Too short is about as raunchy as it gets and that dude been around since I was a kid.
I think maybe these folks only listened to radio rap, damn near every album had a couple nasty songs on it.
Bruh, I used to say “I know the Freaknik generation ain’t talking about anything being so different”
As a white person that is a 4 time felon I have to say I have NEVER heard a single Tim McGraw song in my entire life I listen to Classic triple six
I shave em dry by lucille bogan is like pre WW2. Sexy red is tame in comparison
Facts
Yep.
As you age and your mental faculties decline, rightwing ideology suddenly begins to make more and more sense.
😂😂😂😂😂
I appreciate this perspective! Thank you for helping me out of my own hive mind.
So wanting a diverse representation of BW in the hip hop space is playing respectability politics & anti-black? U just went thru raunchy lyrics that go all the way back to the 80’s & things hv only gotten more degenerate since then & women who are sick of not having a counterweight to the ratchet imagery are suddenly the bad guys? Can we not look at the state of the community & be honest tht there’s a negative correlation? 🤦🏽♀️
This! A real missed opportunity to educate.
You are playing respectability politics because if you weren’t you would know there are diverse representation in hip pop and you are more than welcome to go listen to them but yall don’t and complain about stuff you don’t like instead of promoting the one you do. It’s makes no sense, if ppl like redd ain’t for you then don’t listen so simple lol I know mad conscious Black woman rappers.
@@roxywyndham first off, I don’t listen to sexy redd or most of these other female rappers. I do support conscious rappers. It just kills me that most of them don’t get the exposure that these other degenerates rappers get. If wanting better representation for black women makes me an arbiter of respectability politics then so be it 🤷🏽♀️
Here is the thing hip hop came from the streets so it does and should reflect the streets. The problem falls down to when folks turn the streets into caricatures. And ya the perl clutchin is supper ironic.
I think the blog era (09-15) is the closest thing to being the best era other than the 90’s
Kendrick, cole, chance, Danny brown, wiz, odd future, mixtape Wayne, pro era, etc. it was a fire era for hip hop
I’ve seen it happen already. A couple of really, really good, long time, BEST friends have disappointed me. Not to the point of being bigots at least. Mainly in areas of trans peoples and sexuality. And, I think it can be chalked up to a lack of education But, gender roles as well to a lesser extent. On the other hand (while the minority) I have found dudes that I thought were gonna be problematic due to some off handed comment their wife or girlfriend may have made, we’re actually VERY woke and VERY progressive when discussing politics, race issues and trans issues. This made me happy to see that I wasn’t alone. I am most definately the most woke, progressive and empathetic of my friend group. Or so I thought. These 2 dudes are right w me on almost all issues. All the important ones at least.
As a black woman, I've never been comfortable with mainstream hip-hop. I was only allowed to listen to christian music and some sound tracks growing up. I'm 40.
Who switched the graphics of NLE & Polo 😂 3:04 and Ja as YoungBoy is jokes
I didn't think Round 1 was Sexy Redd, but damn you really hit me when you said Trina... Rap really been fkin around for years
Can we talk about some of the music that I hear some oldheads blast, especially those southern blues songs like “Side Piece” and “Cleaning Ain’t Cheating”? My mom and I would go on bus trips to casinos, and the bus would always play a southern blues cd, and let me tell you that a lot of those songs are raunchy compared to the rap songs that are played on the radio. My mom and I were shocked but we were laughing when we heard Big Cynthia’s “Cleaning Ain’t Cheating” being blasted on the bus. Most of the people on that bus were 50+, yet no one batted an eye.
I remember years ago before we started to go on bus trips, my mom’s car was having issues, and we had to ride with some we knew to get some auto parts. I remember she had this cd and I remember this one song. The beat was good, but when I listened closely to the lyrics, I was surprised but laughing. The song was called “Man with the Singing 🔔” by Frank Lucas (you can guess what the bell means).
I bet you that these same people who will play those songs will act like church saints whenever a rap song plays.
Thank you for putting me in my place bro I needed this intervention today! My homie had to grill me because I was super offended by sexy redd. Somebody mixed skee yee with Monica’s “so gone” and I lost my damn mind in the club!
I still think ice spice, Mariah the scientist and rubi rose are not true MCs and benefit from light skinned privilege. But there are some 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 new artists coming out in this new generations too.
Mariah the scientist is a r&b singer and she’s amazing
I don't think I agree that you have to be an "anti-woke" conservative or an "old head" to dislike the direction of today's rap OR believe it's having a weird effect on young audiences. The same way that p*rn creates strange expectations, why not music? We are at the point that entire careers have been built from lyrical pornography. I'm 32, but hell. If I was 16 and I only consumed this media, I would think it more important to learn to throw it back than balance a checkbook. Well, probably not, because I know my parents 🤷🏾♀️
Balance in all things. Absolute disinhibition is not healthy sure, but neither is absolute repression.
I think it's different in that a lot of (especially younger) people expect real life to be like porn for some absurd reason. I don't know if I've known too many people who thought music and its artists represented the real world in that same way.
In either case, the answer is the same: no media actually represents real life. If it did, people wouldn't use it as escapism or explicit fun in the first place. I can think it's foolish and silly that people might fall into that line of thinking, but it's not going to make me upset that either exist, personally.
@@RevShifty and that makes sense. The problem is (as you said) that the ones who do believe in the realities of these things are children. They can't even tell the difference between filtered, airbrushed, continuously altered photos of clothed people. Everything they hear and see is fabricated, but they emulate it nevertheless. That's why that 16 year old girl was twerking in an Ice Spice video. And one search of her Instagram shows content that appears more mature than a teenager. In that and other instances, I think the visual and music go hand in hand. It's really just teaching transactional behavior tbh. And not the "I do something nice for you, you do something nice for me" type. In hetero world, women (and girls) are baddies who secure the bag by sexualizing themselves and men (and boys) secure clout by making these baddies submit in public and perform endless sex acts in private.
@@diandriasmith889 I knew media didn't represent the real world by 10-12 years old. Before I even discovered most forms of media even existed, and was mostly limited to TV and the occasional magazine. Was I just that weird of a kid? That's literally what started my whole anti consumption streak, because every damned where I looked was just people trying to sell me more bullshit (heavily manicured images, silly products, fake lifestyles, etc) and it got old fast. That streak has never left me; if anything it gets stronger year by year because it's all just so ever present now. And I obviously discovered how that plays into societal expectations and social norms as I grew up.
I don't really use social media outside of TH-cam, but chasing clout and going for easy rep/clicks doesn't mean they necessarily buy all this as reality, as much as they're able to tell the whole world that they're learning that sex sells. That definitely sounds like a problem, I'm just not sure it's the same problem many people might think it is at first. It means they're learning people (including themselves) can easily become commodities, and I don't know if that could ever lead anywhere positive.
I mostly think that if this degree of social media use and being terminally online had existed when any of us (or even our parents) were kids, we'd have done much of the same stuff and left just as much of a record as it all. Kids being dumb and mostly inexperienced with and not recognizing the complexities of real life is kinda their whole thing. It's just that some of them can be seen doing it from across the globe instead of just across the block or neighborhood now.
Personally, as a middle GenZ-er, I feel like the difference between the girls today vs. earlier girls (Nicki, Kim, Foxy, Eve, Trina, Remy) is that there was a certain amount of respectability and classiness with the earlier girls. Like, yes Kim and Nicki rap about the same things as the current girls, but it wasn’t all that, they have clever lyrics, punchlines, and personalities outside of the music. Sexxy Red showed up to one of her shows in a bonnet and onesie, that’s my take
"& your parents...are shook." 😆😭😭😭
Sometimes, i find his takes to be completely disingenuous. Whatever happened to the old saying, if you knew better you'd do better? Sexxy red is in the long line of women who only can sell one thing, and her dusty self has maybe another 6 months before we forget her. But before she leaves it's her turn to hear about herself. Yes we all have raunchy lyrics in the past, but it wasn't the only thing being sold. And the one's who only had that? Didn't last. It's a problem EVERY time it happens, and it will keep being a problem until we fix it.
But sex *always* sells. I'm not going to blame the person taking advantage of that, I'm going to look at a society that still sees all things sexual as both taboo and best kept hidden and easily marketable and a guaranteed way to make a good paycheck. Sex is just the quickest and easiest way to draw attention, I'm not going to fault someone for using that to their advantage.
Yet another wonderful example of "watch the whole thing before ya comment"
I listen to you on my walks. Not in the best of health (don't smoke, kids) so I walk daily. Least a 5k. Started doing that around the time I saw my first video of yours. You've been a constant ✊🏻
Well early on ngl I'm saying "but....bruh... just cause you did something yesterday is no reason to do it today.", and I stand by that, but at about the 8:44 mark I'm glad I watched the whole thing.
I still have thoughts, but I'ma marinate on this one.
Hands down my favorite creator on a dying platform (TH-cam). Still loving your recommendation for NEBULA.
Cheers.
Edit: and as one of the younger gen-x'ers, suggest we were the first to grow up with hip-hop as a constant (born in 76), but not really important to the overall point here. Bless.
Here's an idea, hear me out; Furry Hip Hop. I mean *really* give people a reason to lose their shit.
I mean, I heard furry country and that shit could stop a horse's heart.
I’m from a small town. Can’t believe you remember 2 Live Crew. I remember their early days copying mix tapes & friends going to shows & then makes tapes because of censorship & bringing them to house parties.
FD's Light Work is quickly becoming my favorite content on any platform
Whenever I feel old at my new 30s self, I watch a f. d signifier video and I feel so much younger
I have no problem with a black entertainer making money legitimately. But I'm sorry, in the modern era they've commodified our music to the point where they've made artist like Sexy Redd the pinnacle for black women rappers overall. It feels industry pushed like crazy. Im staring down 40 hard ass hell and I've grown up in Miami FL with Uncle Luke, Trina, Trick Daddy, and a plethora of local rappers with wild ass lyrics. With the that being said i just can't co-sign this shit and neither can my wife. Especially with 2 young daughters of our own in the modern era. I hope that young lady makes all the money she can from her music. I just won't be listening, and neither will my family.
This! My mom will complain about new music then put on “Da’Butt” like they not saying the same thing just to a funk beat