Continuing on from the previous post about the portrayal of women, I've found an example of how language and slang in the hip-hop culture can not only influence young girls, but also young boys. Lupe Fiasco, an American rapper, lyricist and record producer who is known for being a pioneer of the "conscious hip hop", which is a movement in hip-hop that focuses on social issues. He has always had dislike for the hip-hop industry because it's indecency and misogyny.
Lupe has always written songs about stereotypes, religion, war, prostitution, poverty and education; but his 2012 single "B*tch Bad" is a song that has hit me personally and has made people in the industry and society think about the usage of the word "b*tch" and the effects it has on the youth of today. The songs tells of two different stories, a young boy and a young girl.
The first verse starts of will a young boy listening to his mother singing along with the radio to the lyrics "I'm a bad b*tch, something that's far above average". Now the boy, who doesn't know any better, is associating his mother, who is his number one source of nurture and love with the term "b*tch". The boy takes this term and sees it as a sign of respect, because that's the way his young undeveloped mind has interpreted it.
The second verse Lupe talks about little girls from the ages of nine through twelve watching music videos that have male rappers surrounded by beautiful women in close to nothing outfits, the rapper says "Bad b*tches, bad b*tches... That's all I want and all I like in life is bad b*tches". Since these girls are so young and naive, they don't realise that these women are just paid actress doing their job. So they associate the image of a "bad b*tch" with a sexually exotic young women with their favourite artist and assume that this is the "ideal women" they should aspire to become.
In the third verse, the little boy in verse one and the little girl in verse two are both grown up and have randomly met on the street. The girl is dressed provocatively like the women in the music video she watches. The line "And he thinks she a bad bitch and she thinks she a bad bitch. He thinks disrespectfully, she thinks of that sexually" is Lupe trying say, because the boy in verse one has a skewed perception of respect for women through his connection of his mother with the term b*tch, he views the girl disrespectfully. He believes she is a bad b*tch in the sense that she is bad at being a b*tch in his mind. His conception of a b*tch is his mother, who he shows respect to and the girl doesn't quite match up to his expectations of a “b*tch” so that’s why he calls her a bad b*tch using term "bad" in a literal sense. She views herself sexually because she is trying to reach the standard set by the music video actress.
"Bitch bad, woman good, Lady better, they misunderstood" is the chorus repeated throughout the song. It's basically saying to men and young boys that calling a female a b*tch is bad, calling her a woman is good, but calling a lady better and much more respectful. The song shows that there is a double meaning to this term and that different people interpret it in different ways and the usage of it has to be carefully thought about.
When I first heard this song I had a "Thank God" moment. It's about time someone in the industry come out and said "Hey! What going on here?". There's too many young naive children that believe every world that come out of their favourite artist mouth is Bible. Children are like sponges, they soak up everything they see, hear and listen too. They then apply all of that into a everyday lifestyle. I know artist are free to speak their minds and have freedom of speech, but they just need to be more careful about what they put out there and parents need to be better examples and focus on their children's behaviour and remove any negative connotation that will influence them down the right path.
Adults please please think about your actions when youth is involved. Try your hardest not to introduce negative influences to their undeveloped and malleable minds.
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