Sex, drugs and rock&roll hip-hop?
NOTE: This article contains mature themes and coarse language. Credits to: http://www.urbandictionary.com/ for the definitions of urban terms, http://www.metrolyrics.com/ for the lyrics and http://en.wikipedia.org/ for the charts information. A special thanks to my cousin Stefany for some ideas of songs :)
I was listening to a music countdown on the radio recently and I was wondering why some songs were making the top of the charts... Yes, the beat is great, the artist is popular and the song is catchy. But are the lyrics a criteria when it comes to voting for your favorite song? I don't think so. Let me show you why.
Let's start with a song that is famous for the original dance moves: Crank Dat by Soulja Boy. You may even sing the words, but you shouldn't. The "Superman Dat Hoe" part... Well, even if the rapper has a Superman sign on his jacket in the clip, it is totally not related to the superhero. Actually, a "hoe" is a woman that is "easy". The Superman part is when a guy is angry at a girl and sticks a blanket on her back. When she'll wake up, she'll look like Superman. Then, the "Supersoak" part means that a guy totally covers a girl while ejaculating on her, like with a water gun. So, the song is not about some dance moves or a superhero at all. It's about a guy having sex with an easy girl. Believe it or not, the song was the number one song in the Billboard Hot 100 for 7 weeks in 2007.
Next! Low, the popular song of Flo-Rida for the movie Step Up 2. The song was the #1 in the Billboard chart for 10 weeks! It refers to a special type of dance... The girl in that song is getting low. In fact, it means that that girl is shaking her ass to the floor. Then, the singers says: "Work the pole, I got the bank roll (...) I prefer them no clothes". Does that mean that he considers the girl as a prostitute?! This part is probably the worst: "Shorty was hot like a toaster, sorry but I had to fold her, like a pornography poster, she showed her (chorus)". "Yeah, she was worth the money"... Sad.
Now, let's move on to another hit song, that spent 17 weeks in the top 10 of the 2005 Billboard chart: Temperature by Sean Paul. That singer has the ability to sing really fast, making it very difficult to understand the lyrics. But if you pay attention, you can hear the words. He starts by saying "Five millions and forty naughty shorty... Baby girl, all my girls..." Ok, so first he thinks that all the girls are belonging to him, just like pieces of meat. Some allusions to sex in songs are not evident, but this one couldn't be clearer: "and girl I... wanna be the papa, you can be the mom... Oh, oh!". The rest of the song is also related to that subject. In the end, Sean Paul concludes by: "But down in Jamaica, we give it to you hot like a sauna".
More recently, Timbaland is a good example of what I want to demonstrate. His hit The way I are stayed for 19 weeks in the Billboard Top 10. The beginning of the song is alright, just some dialog. Then, suddenly: "Baby if you strip, you could get a tip (...) I'm about to strip and I want it quick". The typical example of the necessity to plug some sex thoughts in the middle of a song. Right. Later in the song, Timbaland says "I rent a room in a house (...) I ain't got a motorboat but I can float your boat". Finally, the end of the song is the worst part of it: "Once you get a dose of D.O.E. you're gon' want some mo'(...) When I make it I want you back". D.O.E. means Dead On Ejaculation. The guy hasn't make out for weeks and stocked, so the girl dies by ejaculation. Just take a look at his new song "Scream" and you can guess what the title is related to, judging by the lyrics of his other song.
Now, I'm going to talk about some songs that are big metaphors to describe some thoughts or acts. I'm not going to explain everything in details here, I think you can guess by yourself. First, Shut up and drive by Rihanna (not really a hip-hop song, but anyway). This song is about cars, isn't it? "I've got class like a 57' Cadillac"? No. Absolutely not. "My engine's ready to explode, explode explode (...) So start me up and watch me go, go, go", "we can go all night", "Get you where you wanna go, if you know what I mean", "Shut up and drive", etc, etc. Then, there's the 50 Cent hit: Candy Shop. This one is absolutely horrible, I could give a hundred of examples from the songs, but here are the most obvious: "I'll let you lick the lollipop", "Keep going 'til you hit the spot", "Got the magic stick", "Wanna show me how you work it baby", "Give it to me baby"... The rest of the song is too disgusting. Just check it out by yourself: here.
There are so many examples! I talked more about sex-related songs here, but there are others refering to drugs. Next time you vote for a song or buy a single, consider the lyrics. That way, you'll encourage the singers to produce some intelligent songs.