Conservative Student News

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If “gangsta” rappers are so tough and wise about the ways of the world, why can’t they come up with better stage-names for themselves? Am I really supposed to take someone named “Fitty Cent” seriously? How much credibility does a guy who gets his inspiration from pocket change really deserve? Frankly, you have to sound like a crap salesman with a mouthful of samples in order to pronounce that ridiculous name “correctly!”

It’s not just the laughable nicknames of these “gangsta” rappers that I find so annoying, I take issue with their absurd lyrics and album titles! Take, for example, the inspirational music found on the CDs of Ice-T: “Always Wanted to be a Ho,” “Pimp Anthem,” and “Somebody Gotta Do it (Pimpn’ Ain’t Easy!)” are just a few of the more cheerful songs he offers. This is a performer who named himself after a beverage equivalent to pink lemonade and we’re supposed to buy his vulgar music and swoon over his creative artistic abilities? I think not.

At least Snoop Dogg includes a touching number called “I Love My Momma,” in-between the moderately tender lyrics of “Downtown Assassins” and “Smoke Weed Everyday.” I thought the world was going to Hell in a hand-basket, but Mr. Snoop D – O – Double – G is really helping to turn things back around! In fact, maybe when Hell freezes over from lack of occupancy, I’ll give my thanks by buying one of Snoop’s CDs…

Rap did not start out this way. Rap, or hip-hop, originated in New York the 1970s and became a vehicle for racial empowerment for blacks and Hispanics. The rhythm and message of early rap tunes gave blacks an outlet to openly express themselves and their culture. Today, rap has evolved into a “musical ghetto for gangsters and pimps,” as lecturer and syndicated columnist, Brent Bozell III, points out on Townhall.com.

This transformation in the nature of rap music provoked Washington Post staff writer, Lonnae O'Neal Parker, to write her Oct. 16, 2006 column, “Why I gave up on rap.” Parker grew up as a young black woman in Chicago and experienced the power and freedom that rap provided her race during her high school years. She bemoans the fact that, recently, her 12-year-old daughter asked her: "You think every time you hear a black guy's voice it's automatically going to be something bad. Are you against hip-hop?"

Parker is not against rap—she loves true hip hop. What she is afraid of exposing her daughter to is the degradation of women, materialism and sexual stereotyping promoted by today’s rap artists. Need some examples? Parker has several at her ready: “At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, rappers Snoop Doggy Dog and 50 Cent embellished their performance of the song "P.I.M.P." by featuring black women on leashes being walked onstage. This past August, MTV2 aired an episode of the cartoon "Where My Dogs At," which had Snoop again leading two black bikini-clad women around on leashes. They squatted on their hands and knees, scratched themselves and defecated.”

Parker loves rap so much that she isn’t willing to watch it continue to deteriorate as it goes mainstream. She formed a group of other “first-generation hip-hop” moms who want to essentially take back rap. They distribute free T-shirts to young adults that counter some of rap’s most outrageous messages. Other black women are forming similar groups: Baltimore’s “Groove Squad” gathers dozens of women in clubs who are prepared to walk out together immediately if the music becomes offensive. The Squad’s leader, “JaHipster,” told Parker: "There's no party without sisters on the dance floor."

“Gangsta” rap is an insult to human intelligence, yet its popularity is sweeping the country and raking in millions! You would think that people would be embarrassed to say they listen to music by a guy named Ice Cube, but they’re not. Apparently, “Dead Homiez” is a real thrill and “I Wanna Kill Sam” is jubilantly entertaining! Four stars and two enthusiastic thumbs up for a CD all about the refined world of smoking, groping, leering, doping, mobbing, robbing, slaying, and maiming!

There are few things in life I find more repulsive and annoying than “gangsta” rap: Liberals who do not find gangsta rap revolting and gangsta rappers who are in fact liberals. P. Diddy and his ridiculous “Vote or Die” campaign are two excellent examples of such an irritation. Not to mention the fact that this left-wing, gang-bangin’ promotion of his is just further evidence that America has not won the war on drugs!

Vote or Die? What could P. Diddy possibly sing about if people weren’t dying all the time? Songs about prostitution, drug use, and crime just aren’t as meaningful if no one gets shot! So, I think what he means to say is “Vote liberal or I’ll kill you.”

If I have to see P. Diddy kissing the behind of another liberal politician, I’m going to lose my lunch. There is no way he truly believes that Hillary Clinton is the best dressed politician in Washington—he’s full of crap. But that would make sense since you can’t spell “crap” without “rap.”