Language is a funny thing.
There are as many hard rules about it as there are soft understandings.
So, what happens when rappers end up having pretty serious discussions about name-calling?
Lupe Fiasco recently released a song titled “B---h Bad.” He invites fans to join him in analyzing the consequences of using the word “b---h.”
Some of his lyrics include:
“It doesn’t really matter if they have parental clearance
They understand the Internet better than their parents
Now being the Internet, the content’s probably uncensored
They’re young, so they’re malleable and probably unmentored
A complicated combination, maybe with no relevance
Until that intelligence meets their favorite singer’s preference
‘Bad b---hes, bad b---hes, bad b---hes
That’s all I want and all I like in life is bad b---hes, bad b---hes.’”
Fiasco is attempting to open up a dialogue about how young girls and boys are witnessing the usage of “b---h” in the overpermeating nature of pop culture.
“I think it’s something that’s very subtle — the idea of it, the ‘bad b---h’ — it’s very subtle but it definitely has some destructive elements to it,” Lupe said in a conversation with “RapFix Live.” “It has some troubling elements to it. Especially when you look at who it’s being marketed towards. That’s why we put the children in the video.”
The kids in the video are living in separate worlds. A young boy sees his mom singing along to lines like “N----s, I’m a bad b---h/ And I’m that b---h/ Something that’s far above average,” and the young girls see rappers praising dancers while yelling derogatory terms at them. Which of these worlds is OK?
Kanye West took to Twitter this weekend to open his own conversation about it.
He tweeted: “I usually never tweet questions but I struggle with this so here goes... Is the word B---H acceptable?”, “To be more specific, is it acceptable for a man to call a woman a b---h even if it’s endearing?” and “Even typing it in question form it’s still feels harsh?”
There’s probably never a great time to call someone a b---h. It’s a term that, traditionally, is used in a derogatory manner. Recently, though, female music artists such as Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj have been using it in songs, perhaps in an attempt to reclaim it for themselves. Language is also a complicated thing.
Does the conversation started by these two rap artists include the full scope of what’s respectable to call a woman? Or should it start with how women refer to themselves?
What we need to do is keep in mind who we’re calling what. Language is a helpful thing. It lets us label, describe and add detail. Just be careful of how you use it.
No one wants Kanye to go on another Twitter rant about anything, so let’s just keep it cool.
