Don’t be alarmed by the title of this post, it’s simply the name of a Lupe Fiasco song.  I was going to censor the title but then I figured I'd leave it because it is more attention grabbing.  As soon as I heard the song, I liked it (but not for the reason you’re probably thinking) and I knew I had to share it with some people.  I played it for a few of my friends but then I decided to write about it and see what people thought of the song as well.  For those who haven’t heard this song I’d like you to listen first before I share my opinion on it.


Here it is:

For a quick summary I’ll touch on a few points that stuck out to me.  In the first verse of the song Lupe talks about a young boy who has an undeveloped context of good or bad.  So when his mother, his number one protector and source of help, is in the car singing along to a song about being a “bitch” he believes that’s a good thing.  He thinks it is a good thing because not only has he related the word “bitch” with his mother, but his mother is relating it to herself as well.

Now the second verse of the song is about a group of young girls that are “malleable and probably unmentored” watching the music video of a song by their favorite singer.  Once again this song they’re listening to has “bad bitch” all over it, with the artist in the song repeating how all he wants is a “bad bitch.”  The girls aren’t paying attention to the artist, they’re paying attention to the woman in the video “acquiescent to his whims.”  All they see is the high heels, fat booty, long hair, slim body, and probably wearing next to nothing.  “They don’t see a paid actress, just what makes a bad bitch.”

Lupe Fiasco then brings the song full circle in the third verse when this young boy meets one of the young girls.  The boy thinks the girl is a bad bitch and the girl thinks she’s a bad bitch as well.  It would seem good since they both think the same thing, however, he is thinking of being a “bad bitch” as a form of disrespect but she thinks of “bad bitch” sexually.  The young boy just thinks she’s bad at being a bitch because his mother who he also sees as a “bitch’ never dressed like that.  She never had her breasts, her booty, or just her body in general out like that.  This girl to him is doing a bad job of being a bitch.  The last five lines of the song conclude the story so eloquently. They go:

“He caught in a reality, she caught in an illusion
Bad mean good to her, she really nice and smart
But bad mean bad to him, bitch don't play your part
But bitch still bad to her if you say it the wrong way
But she think she a bitch, what a double entendre.”

I think this song is great not because of the beat, the melodies, or even the artist (even though Lupe Fiasco is one of my favorite rappers and I like a lot for his work). I think this song is great because it makes you think.  It presents a very plausible scenario for the future based on what is going on today.  It makes me realize that you have to be careful what you feed your mind because a lot of that governs what your perception of what people do or in this case say to you.  Lupe Fiasco even touches on this subject when he says:

“Disclaimer: this rhymer, Lupe, is not usin' "bitch" as a lesson
But as a psychological weapon
To set in your mind and really mess with your conceptions
Discretions, reflections, it's clever misdirection...”

I think there isn’t much else to say about this song, but one thing I do know is that it brings up a lot of questions.  Some of them include what are your views on the term “bad bitch?”  For women who refer to themselves as bad bitches, what do you mean? For men who say they want a bad bitch, what do you mean? Is it ever a good thing to refer to yourself or someone else as “bad bitch?” For women who refer to themselves and their friends as bitches why is alright for you to do that, but as soon as a man does the same it becomes a problem?  I think this is somewhat similar to us black men referring to each other as “nigga,” yet we get mad when someone of a different race calls us by that term.

Now I’ll go on the record and say this, if I ever refer to a woman, or even anyone for that matter, as a “bitch” or any other phrase that involves that word it’s never a good thing.  If I do it’s either an off the cuff or knee jerk reaction or I was compelled to.  I can think of one instance where this happened and I’ll end this with a quick anecdote on that.

• I was in my house with my friends and a few girls were there hanging out with us as well.  We were all joking and clowning but these two girls kept referring to themselves as “bitch.”  The whole evening it was bitch this, bitch that, and so on.  After a while one of the girls started to annoy me (by being loud for no reason, and cursing unnecessarily...I don’t mean a few curse words here and there, I mean like every other word out of her mouth was a curse word...that’s a big turn off by the way but I digress).  As the night went on this increasingly got bad so once she addressed me I couldn’t hold it in, I snapped and said something along the lines of “bitch...calm down/be quiet” or something like that.  She snapped and swung on me.  I pulled a Muhammad Ali move and got out the way (pretty smooth if I do say so myself).
  

However, that right there is the epitome of why I ask what makes it alright for her to curse and refer to herself and her friend as a “bitch” but once I did it resulted in throwing blows?

For more instances of young women referring to themselves as bitches, all you have to do it go on twitter and search the term "bad bitch."

Thoughts, questions, opinions, and concerns anyone?

Magnificent Su

Around this time last year I put out my 1st highlight tape that consisted of clips from my last two seasons of college basketball at Rice University.  Well a year later and a year into my professional basketball career, we now have the 2nd installment of highlights.

This 2nd highlight tape consists of clips from a couple of games that I played while I was in the NBA D-League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.  I added a couple of sound effects and some background music this time to make it a little more interesting to watch since the last time around some people said it was too plain.  I wasn't as good with my video editing software back then, so seeing as this is my second go around creating this video I did a lot of playing around with the software.

I'd appreciate some feedback on this.  Anything and everything is appreciated.  From the highlight clips themselves to the videography, sounds, etc.  Also since the background music isn't mine, I have to give credit to Jay-Z and Kanye West for their contributions (I'm sure they appreciate the shout out).

Without further ado...enjoy.

Thanks

Magnificent Su

One thing that those who are close to me know is that I'm a music head and that doesn't even begin to describe the type of relationship I have with music. At one point in time, before my old computer crashed, I had over 15,000 songs on my hard drive.

I don't know exactly how it all started but the earliest I can remember is when I got my first computer in high school. All I did was download music.  I used all of the money I could save up to buy something or anything related to music. Those things ranged from Walkmans, to CD players, even the very first iPod.  To this day when it comes to my music, I'm willing to pay a few extra bucks to make sure that I get the best or close to the best music accessories to enhance my listening experience.  Even when I got my car, the first thing I did was upgrade my sound system.

I'm so engrained in music that some of the relationships I have with my good friends got started or got strengthened because of the same or similar music interests.  Some even got strengthened because either one of us introduced the other person to new music.  My personal favorite is when we both see something in one artist that we believe the general public doesn't seem to see.  Two examples of such relationships are as follows:

• I have a good friend that I went to school with, they have since moved to another city and are working and making moves with their life.  However, we could go weeks sometimes even months at a time without talking and I'd check my phone randomly and they would have sent me a text just to see if I had listened to a new single, album, or mixtape that just came out.  Sometimes they’re just telling me to check out some new music that they like and a lot of times it is something I like or it is something I was going to end up telling them about in the near future.
  

• Another one of my close friends introduced me to The Weeknd.  I enjoyed his music on first listen and since that day every time we hang out or are around each other and I'm in charge of the music this is our conversation...Me: "What do you want to listen to?" Them: "You already know."  I think the next time we’re hanging out, I’m not even going to ask I’m just going to put it on.
  

Of course I can’t forget the part of music that makes you think and makes you wonder.  I love songs like that because it gives me a different point of view on certain issues (the first song that comes to mind when it comes to music that makes you think is the song “Why” by my favorite artist Jadakiss).  I also have a soft spot for songs that seem to have the perfect words to describe what it is you’re trying to say or have been trying to express for a while.  A perfect example of that can be seen all over twitter today.  A lot of people tweet lyrics and of course some of it has nothing to do with nothing, but there are some that just seem to hit home.  Some express love, despair, tragedies, and success or in the words of Charlie Sheen “winning.”  These artists just seem to know how to put the right words together to describe exactly what it is they’re talking about.  It’s like they make it so that you can identify with them.  As of right now I think Drake takes the cake when it comes to that.

I couldn’t talk about music without addressing how it affects me playing basketball.  I think this is when I feel the effects of music the most.  On days where I feel down or just out of it, I listen to hype music (that’s what I call it) to get me going.  Hype music for me is usually fast paced, heavy bass, and overall lives up to the name and hypes me up; it gets me going.  Some other days I’m already really hyped up and I feel like I need to dial it back a little bit so I can better concentrate on the task at hand.  In those times I listen to slower paced and soothing songs, but one constant theme in all the songs I listen to before I step on the court is success.  I make it a point to try and stay away from songs that talk about things other than succeeding.  I don’t know what it is, I guess I just like the energy talking about success brings.

Finally, I’d like to talk about my music test.  By the way this is strictly my opinion but I’m sure there are people out there that would be inclined to agree with me or see where I’m coming from with this.  In my opinion, the true and ultimate test of a good album, mixtape, playlist, any compilation of songs, or sometimes even a single song is how it sounds in the car while you’re driving.  If I can’t listen to it while I’m just riding around and gettin’ it (cue 2 Chainz!!!!) then I think it’s not that good or just flat out bad.  An album that has passed that test and has that stamp of approval right now is Nas’ recent album Life is Good.  I have it on in my car right now. I don’t skip songs at all I just let it play.  Whenever I leave and come back I just pick up where I left off and when the album ends it starts right back over.

In conclusion, I think that pretty much covers all the bases as far as me and my relationship with music.  However, I have a few questions that I’d like to get some feedback on.

Is your relationship with music anything like mine?
What do you think of my music test? It’s not crazy or weird is it?
What is your music test?
What is your process of deciding if a song, playlist, mixtape, album, or music compilation is good or bad?
When is your favorite time to listen to music? (I don’t have a favorite because I listen to music all the time)

I have a lot more but that’s it for now.

Thanks

Magnificent Su