There seems to be a dangerous trend these days, a current running through society, especially prevalent (or at least, at it's most obvious) in rap music and "status updates" on the Facebook. I'm referring to the concept that making statements about one's wealth, abilities, talents, charisma, or good looks is a good thing to do.
Example: I first considered this when hearing the song "All the Above," in which a rapper (named Maino, apparently, which I just learned by looking up the lyrics) boasts of the things he currently is, and the things he will become. Meanwhile, T-Pain gives us verses that say pretty much the same thing, through his robot singing or whatever it is. I heard this song referred to as "one of the most inspiring songs of the summer" during the summer of 2009. (Which was a while ago, and I apologize it took me this long to get my frustration directed into these words).
On first glance, it could be misconstrued for being inspiring. First, we get T-Pain singing about being a ghetto survivor, and then we get Manio telling us:
"See me come up from nothing,
To me living my dreams..."
Okay. So we have a first person Horatio Alger tale. I see. Then we get:
"I done been to the bottom,
I done suffered a lot..."
He started off in the hole. Things were bad. I get it. Next:
"I deserve to be rich,
Headed straight to the top..."
Wait, what? You deserve to be rich? First, why do you deserve to be rich? Second, is wealth really an indicator of your worth as a human? Third, why do you need to express this in song form? And aren't you concerned that it may drive others away if, in your quest for riches and power, you write songs about how you deserve riches and power? Doesn't that sort of make you come across as a little narcissistic?
Let's see what he says next:
"Look how I ride for the block,
Look how I rep for the hood,
I get nothing but love now
When I come through the hood"
Okay. Everyone loves him. I guess his arrogance isn't bothering them. Next?
"Getting this fortune and fame
Money make all of us change..."
Oh, maybe he isn't that proud of his decaying morals resulting from his newfound wealth.
"The new benz is all white,
Call it John McCain
How the hell could you stop me?
Why in the world would you try?
I go hard forever,
That's just how I'm designed,
That's just how I was built
See the look in my eyes?"
Ummm. Hmm.
When did this become acceptable, this concept that one should brag about how great they are, how much money they have, how they deserve even more money?
And this certainly isn't the only rap song that does it. It's in nearly every one of them, Jay-Z and Kanye West telling us how they are number one, everyone look at them, etc.
I have more to write about this. This is only the beginning of my thoughts on this trend, what some people call self-glossing, douche-bragging, etc. It's just very, very clear that in our current society, narcissism has replaced humility, and blinding arrogance and fierce determination dominate lives, at the cost of one's character. Just look at people's Facebook pages-- I did not get a chance to even touch on that in here, as "All the Above" took up a lot of this, but so many people use their Facebooks or Twitters or whatevers for nothing but bragging and trying to thrust themselves into the eyes of others.
But, as I first considered this upon hearing "All the Above," that's where I must begin in my complaints against it. And I can only think that things are constantly getting so much worse.
When did modesty become such an irrelevant value?
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Boasting/bragging has been a theme in hip-hop/rap from the very beginning. Similar to how drinking whiskey and lamenting on lost love is a common topic in country music. When it is done artfully, as it is often done by Jay-Z (at least early in his career), it can be triumphant. But most often it is not. When it is done poorly and commercial in nature (product plugs in Top 40 hip-hop/rap is rampant) the message becomes shallow and insincere.
ReplyDeleteI believe Jay Z said it best in moment of clarity: I dumb down for my audience/And double my dollars ... If skills sold/Truth be told/I'd probably be/Lyrically/Talib Kweli
ReplyDeleteUltimately, it's a problem of economics. For some reason people buy that shit, which leads critics to have to justify the consumer's poor taste, which encourages more people to make an awful product.
Personally, I blame Ronald Reagan.
I realize that boasting and bragging have always been central to hip hop... and I think that's one of the reasons that a lot of hip hop sort of sucks. I think that it should never be mistaken that someone talking about how awesome they are is inspiring or impressive. It might be impressive how poetic they are, or how creative, or how fast they can rap... but if they are really good at those things, then they should have something better to rap about. If Jay-Z has nothing better to say than how awesome Jay-Z is, then I'm not interested, and I don't think people should encourage that. Not only is it not actually impressive or inspiring to hear someone boast, but it makes it worse that he encourages younger people to imitate him and talk about how talented they are, although most of them don't even have the talent of which they attempt to boast.
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