Breaking Down Soulja Boy

February 2, 2009 by Marc Lamont Hill

soulja-boy-photo

A Boy Soulja
By Rodney Dugue
For a while, it felt almost righteous to ridicule Soulja Boy, the 18 year-old rapper from Mississippi, responsible for the inception of a decently destructive dance. To tell it, millions of kids, from all backgrounds, have patronized the teenage phenomenon culminating in a weird watershed moment in popular culture. Though, the teenager has breached general appeal, at the heart of it, he has become ostensibly our problem -a microcosm of black youth. To the professional black population, he represents the bane of black culture and proof black youth is poised to inherit barely a parcel of systemic progress.

Implicit to these concerns are institutional and historical overtures. To be clear, he threatens the legislation from which affirmative action was built; he has abused his success, offering little evidence he deserves it anymore than the next throng of impoverished teens or, if they are even entitled to it, in the first place. In his rise, the chemistry of success has become unbalanced and pared down, uninvolved with the process yet invested in the product. For these reasons, we cannot afford to continue rebuking Soulja Boy; since, black achievement is also invariably a statistical one, denouncing him is no better than abandonment. With growing evidence that Soulja Boy is now the face of black youth, his success reserves less celebration and more caution, a measure that looks to regulate, not marginalize, his success in the interest of greater return in the future.

My purpose in scrutinizing the 18 year-old should be made clear: what are the implications of his success for black youth? Apropos, what troubles me most is his legacy, a meaning that is certainly at large, if elusive. In trying to assign meaning to Soulja Boy’s legacy, invariably, another inquiry creeps up, inching closer to site of an unopened cultural wound: is all black success good? By “good” I mean is it worthy of observation; of admiration; of retention; of personal pride; and perhaps ultimately, worthy of emulation. If nothing, it is worthy of an appraisal.

As with any form of success, a market arises capitalizing on all parties: fans, detractors and those in the interim. The fundamental rule of any market is the presence of supply and demand. But, often, with black success, it does not reward its market. Instead, it feeds the market with inflated hope. This market, as you may recognize, is the sub-prime talent market which Soulja Boy comes from. The common denominator of this market is a lack of a formal education due to an indiscernible combination of decisions and circumstances, usually beyond the control of the subject. Clearly, a victim does not simply choose to become a victim. It is also part of a larger market, I like to call, the Black Market, where individual black success often leads to collective failure. In this market, black success is not unlike a bad investment; it is a lottery, awards one, slights the rest. It is not just Soulja Boy who is of this market; drug dealers, athletes, hustlers, rappers, unwittingly and to a degree, involuntarily, belong to this market and thereby keep it sustainable.

As a culture, it is their debt we bear and must understand.

Despite this reality of an impending Black Market, some have hailed Soulja Boy as an inspiration, a trailblazer, as some leader of the youth movement, the music industry’s secret weapon, all claims I find troubling, unnerving and unforgivable (veracity will not even be entertained, to benefit of the readers). In unambiguous terms, I’d like to suggest an alternate reality that he has been swept by the social winds of a Hip Hop draft whereby major record labels discriminate against black youth. All this to say, Soulja Boy didn’t become a rapper on his own; he was drafted to be one. If he needed help to become a rapper, it is, actually, less luck or what one would recognize as bad luck, he ended up as a superstar. Statistically speaking, he had a greater chance at becoming a doctor or a drop-out (on his own, mind you) and the myriad possibilities in between. It was not his destiny, however, to become a star, a truth that looks to strike down any sense of justified entitlement. There is little debate that he has irrepressibly become something else: a distraction to his problem.

To any seasoned economist Soulja Boy is fungible, he could have been anyone. And, here lies the problem with Soulja Boy’s success – it is not a model, it cannot be replicated with predictable results; it is a nomadic pattern, untraceable, that continues to trespass the far reaches of black privilege. It should be understood that he is not a prototype therefore there need be no cause or way to aspire to be him. To better understand, there is a fundamental difference between praying for a miracle and betting on one; attempting to emulate Soulja boy would qualify as the latter. Everyday miracles like Soulja Boy falsely appease this notion. The culture bubble is bound to burst with expectation, if it is not regulated.

Fans of the 18 year old rapper will argue, he is a genius, a boy wonder, a serious talent. I will generously concede only this, he is an aberration, a rare confirmation that the zeitgest hand-picks no one in particular. To be sure, the Soulja Boy story has been told before. Recall, the “Chicken Noodle Soup” phenomenon, an innocent-enough song authored by a Harlem duo consisting of Young B, a winsome teenager, and her DJ, Webstar. Like “Crank That” the song was only as good as its requisite dance. To the surprise and benefit of no one, the song was a runaway hit for some time, outlasting patience and clear logic. Then, it met the fate like so many novelty songs before it: obsolescence. Continued stardom was predicted, promised, prayed for, talked about until it became painfully clear, cultural relevance could not even be guaranteed. In this case, failures teaches a valuable lesson – miracles always happen but cannot be harvested from other miracles. A harsher assessment would be that black success, in the black market, in its infancy will abort itself unless it can survive.

The Soulja Boy problem can be dealt with and, in fact, has precedent. The NBA, like Hip Hop, recruits players in a similar fashion – it drafts them for a particularly rare talent. In this way, it stakes its greatest hopes on miracles – physical miracles, often. Unlike hip hop, however, there is a redeeming failure in their draft. Players who are not chosen as lottery picks or within the first couple of rounds, have almost every chance, as long as they are selected, at scoring a profitable contract. Still, the prevailing belief is that the lottery picks are the only real winners and therefore sought after, increasingly. Until recently, this logic was ensnared by the growing number of high school recruits, younger, better, and soon richer than the rest of collegiate field looking to enter the same draft.

This high school market went through the traditional boom phase namely that of Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Lebron, high school imports, all successfully making the transition and becoming superstars, along the way. Just as quickly, the bust phase arrived with a number of high school players underperforming or left undrafted, altogether. In spite of the collective failure of the majority of high school draftees, the individual success of a select few kept the market alive. In economics, this is called a highly leveraged market, as when a market operates on more than it has, which almost always precedes a market collapse.

To remedy this, David Stern, commissioner of the NBA, instituted a new rule requiring all prospective draft picks to attend at least one year of college before becoming eligible for the NBA. What David Stern accomplished was a way to regulate the success of a tiny minority of extraordinary anomalies who had leveraged the market effectively requiring potential draft picks to reach further, farther, higher and deeper – essentially, mandating miracles to make more miracles. Averted was the practice many draftees and teams had already begun: betting miracles against miracles, a disastrous principle central to the Black Market.

Hip Hop has their first high school superstar in Soulja Boy and must now look to regulate his success in the same way as David Stern by installing an age restriction on subsequent signings. This will mean a new generation of hip hop artists whom are wiser, older and not married to miracles. That Soulja Boy became a star is a miracle, but to imitate him would be to forget that he is just a lottery pick of the hip hop draft, a miracle that is not worth betting on. More and more, kids will want to be like Soulja Boy, less and less.

The author can be reached at rodney.dugue@gmail.com

Categories: MLH
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44 Comments

1. Blaxx wrote:

Seriously Doc? A Soulja Boy article?

February 2, 2009 @ 1:13 pm

2. timaree wrote:

i thought it was spectacularly well written and made a great point about the ephemeral nature of stardom now a days if nothing else.

February 2, 2009 @ 1:52 pm

3. Marc Lamont Hill wrote:

agreed, tim tim. incidentally, your column will run tomorrow. i got buried and couldn’t post it until now, and want to make sure that you get a full view from the readers.. mwah!

February 2, 2009 @ 2:07 pm

4. R.oB. wrote:

I think the author has a strong point.

In economics, this is called a highly leveraged market, as when a market operates on more than it has, which almost always precedes a market collapse.

Say word! Miracles, by their nature, are not repeatable and can’t be used as examples of the mundane. That’s what worries me about Obama when black people start talking about “no excuses” for young black folks. Possible is not the same as probable.

February 2, 2009 @ 2:38 pm

5. DCI74 wrote:

Hmm I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go here but decided to because I think this a very well-written piece and the author’s analysis really gives the reader a lot to think about.

First off SB is not the face of black youth but he’s definitely one of the faces. Secondly he has proven himself to be undoubtedly a flash in the pan, one hit wonder (or blunder) whichever you prefer. Real quick, can anyone name his second single after Crank Dat? Yeah exactly! Bonus question, what was the name of his recently released second cd? Yeah my guess is no one knows the answer to either (without a quick Google search) which solidifies his flash in the pan status. SB is the poster child of the instant celebrity, American Idol, Youtube world we live in right now. He did the impossible, he caught lightning in a jar but that light is damn near gone but the question remains, what is his legacy and how does such legacy impact how the rest of “us” are viewed? I agree with the author that SB didn’t solely create himself but he was definitely one of the key architects in crafting his image and style of music. This is not the 60s and 70s when many music artists were pretty much puppets in the game, having their careers formed and managed with very little of their own input. Times have changed and with the wealth of information available up-and-coming artists know more about the music business than ever before so the responsibility doesn’t fall short of the one in front of the camera.

February 2, 2009 @ 2:46 pm

6. timaree wrote:

something occured to me while reading your post, DC. it’s kind of beautiful, actually, that someone like soulja boy can have an opportunity to quickly blow up and make enough money to put towards a legitimately secure future. one silly, misogynistic song and wonky dance could potentially set him up with a house, college education and a nest egg.

the problem is only if he thinks his success is just the beginning and he squanders his chance to invest those gains.

i think of new york from flavor of love (and her own shows) and how it seems like she’s legitimately convinced her stardom is going to continue to increase. while i admire her ambition, drive and confidence, i pray she’s saving some of that VH1 loot for later.

February 2, 2009 @ 3:36 pm

7. Cézsar wrote:

I don’t care much for SB but, the author, and those who share his apparent “deep sense of hurt, affliction, shame, embarrassment and indignation” at the success of this young boy – whom they don’t know and would have never lifted a finger to help in his life, and just as easily dismissed as a statistic should his life have ended up in failure – really need to chill, re-visit their own definition of self, and place themselves more meaningfully, currently & progressively within the 2009+ World fabric.

YOU are not Soulja Boy; Soulja Boy is not YOU. Soulja boy is a human being whom you do not know, and in all probability have never met. The color of his skin is incidental to his being; he could have been any other color. He doesn’t represent you; hell, he doesn’t even represent the individual members of his own family (the same holds true for all of us). This begs the question, why do his detractors (almost 100% of them Black) feel such deep resentment toward this young boy?

Could it be because they hold the same exact view of yourself that others have been accused of wrongly and politically manipulatively holding of Black people in general: The notion that all Black people are the same? For if they did not hold that view, why would they so viscerally and primally reject this young boy, whom they do not know? Or perhaps it’s because they infantilize non-Blacks and under-estimate their intelligence enough to feel the need to draw a distinction between the various shades of Blackness everytime, for their benefit, as if they (non-Blacks) cannot see? I think they can.

You can’t pick and choose what Black success you appropriate for your own benefit. If Obama’s success is yours, which it is not (but I understand the appropriation), then so too is Soulja Boy’s. Otherwise, you must find new & sustainable sources of esteem, pride, and confidence internally, other than the very untenable & ultimately self defeating racial identity politics in which the author of this piece seems heavily invested. Untenable & self defeating because the raison detre of racial identity politics must be, has to be, the creation of a master race, and we all know what that means for all other races. This applies fully and equally across the entire racial spectrum.

So by all means, make your point about success and how to avoid the pitfalls of failure (as viewed through traditional status quo lenses), but for God’s sake leave the poor boy alone. You go so far as to begrudgingly acknowledge the miraculous nature of his improbable success and yet completely vilify him and refuse to treat him with one iota of respect. I find that behaviour very suspect. If you feel as if he did it the wrong way, then put yourself forward, like Obama, and show people the right way. Dissing him incessantly only teaches people how to diss; it doesn’t teach them the right way nor does it teach them creative ways forward.

This is not a defense of Soulja Boy. I don’t know him and I don’t even like his music. But given the fact that this boy’s worst crime to humanity is being successful (as defined in the most modern context), I felt as if this article was OVERKILL, unnecessary, misdirected and misguided. And so I had to say something.

February 2, 2009 @ 4:36 pm

8. Cézsar wrote:

EDIT: *view of themselves

February 2, 2009 @ 4:53 pm

9. DCI74 wrote:

Exactly timaree and I see firsthand how the success of someone like SB completely jades young people. They focus so much on the outcome they are completely uninformed and uneducated about the process. I have kids constantly telling me they want to be rich, they want to be famous, they want to be successful but are dumbfounded when I ask them how, how are you going to be rich or famous or successful? They want to pay for the buffet but have no idea how the food ended up on their plate and that is one of the problems the success of a SB or a reality TV “star” brings to light.

Far too many kids and by default their parents are all looking for the shortcut to success. I was teaching a creative writing class last month for MLK day and I asked the kids what they wanted to do as grownups and all but one had very realistic and tangible goals. There was one young man who said, “mr. I want to be a music mogul,” and of course my immediate response was “well do you know what a mogul is” and of course he had no clue. As the conversation continued it became clear that he not only knew very little about the music business but he also wasn’t even musically inclined, not that that is a prerequisite but I think you see where I’m going with this. His whole perspective was zoned in on the end but he was clueless as to the means to get there. He wanted all the stuff moguls have but had no idea how they got that stuff. Being famous, rich, or successful are not jobs but the fruits of labor and that is one of the problems fast successes will create.

Ceszar when I hear artists like SB spouting lyrics about ‘supermanin’ or supersoakin’ that hoe’ and little clueless kids are singing because the beat is hot, I don’t have to know him personally to have a problem with that. When you juxtapose those lyrics with the insanity of Maury Povich DNA shows featuring primarily people of color along with the increasing rates and HIV/AIDS for young black people under 25, you’re damn right I have a problem with that and make zero apologies. When popular artists have the world in the palm of their hands and they chose to squander it when they are influencing millions of people, yeah you guessed it I have a problem with that. I am not a hater but a responsible man who sees everyday how artists impact the lives of young people. It is not cute to see a 9-year-old singing Crank Dat and having no idea how vulgar and misogynistic the lyrics are they are repeating. Quick quiz: in the last 20 years how many rappers have used their success to encourage responsible sexual behavior among young black folks under 25? Answer: three, that’s right three in the last 20 years (Common, Lil Wayne, Ludacris). So my issue with SB has less to do with his music because personally I think it hot overbaked garbage but that is still no excuse to make such a disgusting song and then camouflage it by creating a kid-friendly dance. For all that supermanin’ and supersoakin’ there’s not one reference to a condom and I don’t need to know him personally to have a problem with that because I’m dealing with that lack-of-condom use everyday and I don’t have anywhere near the sphere of influence as SB.

February 2, 2009 @ 6:41 pm

10. Cézsar wrote:

Yes, and you can get that message through to kids without painting SB (who’s just a kid himself) as the devil incarnate. That’s all I’m saying. The capitalism genie is already out of the bottle. It has given us many SBs before him, it will give us many SBs after him; it has given us Rod Blagojevich and it has given us the global financial crisis.

In a sense, SB is doing exactly what he has been carefully taught to do by society. I say that not to excuse the obvious travesty of the fundamentally flawed Western approach, but to highlight its endemic nature. So endemic it is and so addicted its proponents are, that the solution to the global financial crisis according to world leaders, is apparently, quite stunningly, to throw more money at it…

SB might not know much but he knows that there is a market for what he does because he has watched those who came before him. And any capitalist worth their salt will remain governed by the laws of demand and supply. As long as there is a market, all that can be sold must be sold, so says capitalism; and that includes debt. Don’t pay the debt, sell the debt. And when no one else will buy it because trust has gone, get the government to buy the debt; and when the government can’t pay its accumulated uber debt, raise taxes and inflate prices to get the citizens to pay the debt; and when that well runs dry, well…invade a few more countries and “spread democracy”.

My point is, the system, however unwittingly, has been designed to consume itself, just like a starving body turns on itself for sustenance and thus loses weight, ultimately leading to death. So, a much better approach would be to seek to change the system, as opposed to SB. With a bit of guidance, SB can use his success very meaningfully; he is obviously still growing, let’s not forget.

February 2, 2009 @ 8:57 pm

11. DCI74 wrote:

You can make excuses for him if you want to (remember he’s just a kid) but I don’t play that shit. As a performing artist I know damn well I am responsible for every word that comes out of my mouth and he is no different. He is sole author of that song, no one wrote it for or about him. All I am saying is up to this point none of his lyrics promote any type of responsible behavior and unless you are an extremely smart 14-year-old you aren’t even his core audience and neither am I which is my primary point. His core audience is dying due to irresponsible sexual activity so to make a song about that same irresponsible behavior is insane and ignorant. And be clear I feel the exact same way about these corny singers and rappers that use their music to promote ignorance and violence.

Music is not just music and its impact cannot be understated. But see he has already proven himself to be a one-trick pony so yeah he may still be growing but his career is already almost over, the chances of him having another hit record is very slim and the chances of him being around long enough to show any further growth is even slimmer.

February 2, 2009 @ 9:10 pm

12. Cézsar wrote:

One more thing: you can’t possibly believe in the notions of self determination, independent thought and personal resposibility, and then blame SB for the actions of all others. Those two positions are absolutely irreconcilable.

If he didn’t have proper parents to inspire these things in him from the get go, then act like a parent toward him NOT an adversary.

February 2, 2009 @ 9:15 pm

13. EminemsRevenge wrote:

As a little kid i saw the Rolling Stones on Ed Sullivan and KNEW i wanted to be a musician…then the Jackson Five came out a couple years after my cousins in England sent me a copy of the Stones “Honky Tonk Women” with this cover: http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f399/EndingCredits/rollingstones-honkytonkwomen-1.jpg

My English cousins also send me an album by this Jimi Hendrix cat BEFORE he Monterey Pops it, so by 1970 i’m cusping on being a teenager and decide to Ziggy Stardust/Funkadelic it at an amateur night at the Apollo and my band gets booed off the stage because WE were a few years ahead of the curve…..

YOU are sounding like Winton—while i was a bit ahead of my time, i was no different than Coltrane [and NO...i wasn't as good] or Miles or Tupac or anyone else INTO the music!

i used to think Tupac was bogus…

February 3, 2009 @ 1:52 am

14. bj mac wrote:

Never knew that souja boy was so popular, just thought he was famous??? Lil weezy now he’s popular

February 3, 2009 @ 4:48 pm

15. anita wrote:

he’s a child…

February 3, 2009 @ 7:21 pm

16. ~JJG~ wrote:

This was an interesting read, but I am disappointed that the author failed to address parental responsibility in this SB phenomenon. Where were the parents when SB was feeding our youth sautéed shit? We should have rebuked SB sooner, rather than later, but instead we allowed our little girls and boys to do the dance on the playground (for far too long).

SB is a little boy/child-like, but I do believe we should still hold him responsible and challenge him to develop in to a more fruitful member of his community.

February 3, 2009 @ 11:10 pm

17. R.oB. wrote:

Anita, just broke the whole thing down in 3 words. Mad props.

February 3, 2009 @ 11:27 pm

18. james wrote:

jjg, my son had “crank dat” as his wake up song for about 4 months, then he moved on. thank god. that song is/was/and will be forever terrible.

as a parent, i am always critical of and involved with the music my children listen to, but i don’t believe in setting some art and literature off limits simply because i believe it’s trash or contains foul langauge.

i have, however, particularly when it comes to television shows and movies, set limits based upon age appropriateness. for example, my 11 year old daughter is not allowed to watch degrassi without me present, because of its highly realistic content. but she is allowed to watch south park episodes because of its entirely cartoonish nature.

keep in mind, any kind of art–good, bad, or ugly–can inspire the perfect teachable moments. discussions about profanity, arguments against bad behavior and where it may emanate from, and how i expect better and more out of my children; all of which may occur over months full of satirizations, endless teasing, and perhaps even some stupid gyrations on the floor, just to get my points across.

February 4, 2009 @ 12:06 pm

19. ~JJG~ wrote:

James, I applauded you for being critical of and involved with the music your children listen to, but “Crank Dat,” is/was/ and will forever be inappropriate for children to dance and sing to.

When a guy friend of mine told me the COMPLETE meaning of that song, I was in utter shock. As an adult, I did not want to verbally repeat the meaning of the song. I am convinced that many parents allowed a 17 year old rapper-boy bamboozle and hoodwink them into permitting their children to listen to his song that is disguised as nursery rhyme. Dayum! If you are an adult and you choose to listen to that song then that is your business, but it is inappropriate for children. Period.

Also, I find the notion that SB’s song is art…laughable. Music is very powerful. It speaks to your mind, body, and spirit!

February 4, 2009 @ 12:52 pm

20. james wrote:

jjg, if you had to have “crank dat” explained to you, how many children do you think got what the song was about?

February 4, 2009 @ 1:16 pm

21. ~JJG~ wrote:

James, I knew the song was vulgar but I did not get the “superman” part, but I did get the super soak part.

Ok, so are saying it does not matter because children did not understand the song. Believe you, me, children (13-17) understood that song and you have to know that the older ones explained it to the younger ones.

February 4, 2009 @ 1:30 pm

22. DCI74 wrote:

Exactly james and JJG, you both highlight exactly what I was saying. The song is disgusting and most of the people that were enjoying it, adults and children alike, had and many still have no idea what the song was really about. So it’s hard to just back, look the other way and say “he’s just a child” if you understand the meaning of the song and toddlers are dancing around talking about supersoakin somebody, just because it sounds cute, colorful and innocent doesn’t make it so.

February 4, 2009 @ 1:30 pm

23. james wrote:

dci74, i just thought the song sucked, but not because of its vulgar content. it just sucks. that’s all. my son liked it for a few months, and its’ probably still in his pod. however, i can assure you his character has not been tainted by this particular song in the least. he hasn’t been supermanning any of his eighth-grade hoe-mates. i may even have a little dvd footage of him and his sister dancing to the song, but i won’t be posting it on youtube anytime soon.

jjg, most teenage boys are filthy, rotten, and disgusting. they do and say a lot of vulgar and mean things. my son spent a dollar on soulja boy. as far as i know, it hasn’t happened since, and probably won’t happen again. god willing.

February 4, 2009 @ 1:59 pm

24. james wrote:

dci74, incidentally, going back to our previous discussion about language, i must say i find it curious that you seem to object pretty strongly to the mastubatory lyrics of teenage pop song, but have less worries about entire communities chanting, in times of great tragedy, generalized hate slogans of “fuck da police.”

February 4, 2009 @ 2:12 pm

25. DCI74 wrote:

james, in what thread did you get the idea that I am less worried about “entire communities chanting, in times of great tragedy, generalized hate slogans of “fuck da police?” “ Nowhere in the thread with the Oscar Grant video did I cosign that chant, nor did I post it as my perspective. I did however say I understood the source of the phrase and didn’t think the chanting of it can be considered the initiation of riotous behavior. If you recall I likened it to the chants I hear at the abortion clinic up the street that has never had a riot in the 7 years I’ve worked nearby.

My issue with SBs lyrics is very, very simple and basic. You have a teenage boy performing a disgustingly sexually explicit song but the lyrics are full of slang most people don’t know. The simple nursery-rhyme delivery accompanied by a dance made the song attractive to little kids all the way up to uninformed adults, so now you have millions of people mostly children, singing about supermanin’ and supersoaking hoes having no idea what that means but they go along because it’s aurally appealing and the dance looks cute to them. Meanwhile sexually irresponsibility is running rampant in the very community that loves his music the most and that is my issue. A song written and sung by a teen about irresponsible sexual behavior disguised as a lighthearted kid-friendly song being repeated by the same group of people adversely affected by said sexual behavior. I work with young people so I am always going to be passionate about what I see impacting them because unlike adults they are much more likely manifest that impact in their thoughts, attitudes, and behavior. There is no way I can compare an adult chanting NWA to a 9-year-old singing Crank Dat when the child hasn’t even fully developed their cognitive thought process. As an educator and researcher they don’t come close to correlation.

February 4, 2009 @ 3:30 pm

26. james wrote:

dci74, thanks for the clarification. while there appears to have been at least one study linking degrading sexual lyrics to sexual irresponsibility in teenagers, i’m not buying the study entirely. i’m more inclined to believe that home environment, self-esteem, peer-pressure, and the community standards have a greater effect on the sexuality of teenagers than dirty and suggestive lyrics.

i wonder what timaree would have to say about this, being our resident sexologist.

February 4, 2009 @ 4:21 pm

27. Blessing wrote:

DC – I would like to also add Salt n Pepper to the list of rappers that encouraged responsible sexual behavior among young black folks… They broke it down in “Let’s Talk About Sex”!

February 4, 2009 @ 5:51 pm

28. DCI74 wrote:

“i’m more inclined to believe that home environment, self-esteem, peer-pressure, and the community standards have a greater effect on the sexuality of teenagers than dirty and suggestive lyrics.”

How is a home environment constructed? Where does peer-pressure come from? How are community standards determined? The answer to all the 3 is by and from the people and the people are impacted by what they see, read, do and hear. Nobody lives in a vacuum, we are all impacted by the media, which, impacts how we manage our homes, families, social, and employment lives. I hear you james but it always strikes me as odd when people want to understate the power of music. If music had no power to move the masses, you wouldn’t see regional slang become national and global, corporations wouldn’t bother connecting with music artists because it wouldn’t be a quality investment but we know that to be completely untrue which is why a Jay-Z can endorse Heineken and sales go up, Beyonce can endorse Pepsi, Pharrell and HP, Common and Cadillac and the list goes on and on. So yeah all of those other factors also impact behavior but it’s a complete fallacy to think that music artists have a minor impact in behavior and attitudes among both youth and adults. Personal and parental responsibility are just a few factors and let’s not forget that all children at some point rebel against their parents in some way, shape or form so the factors influencing their behavior goes far beyond what mommy and daddy say assuming we’re talking about parents with their heads screwed on straight. If the community, family or parents are mentally deficient or sick that will affect the community standards, the parents and the family. One factor doesn’t live autonomously from the others.

February 4, 2009 @ 5:54 pm

29. DCI74 wrote:

Indeed that song came out in 1990, almost 20 years ago Blessing (I remember it like it was yesterday…). Salt-n-Pepa were the first female hip hop artists to make a song explicitly about safe sex.

February 4, 2009 @ 6:00 pm

30. james wrote:

dc, i think you’re certainly onto something there: condom marketing seems woefully inept, and has yet to find a steady stream of celebrity endorsements.

February 4, 2009 @ 6:34 pm

31. DCI74 wrote:

It does make you wonder why there are so many other corporations lining up to connect with the hip hop market yet few condoms companies are being promoted.

February 4, 2009 @ 9:01 pm

32. Cézsar wrote:

I hear you DC, but are you seriously suggesting that we place the mantle of moral leadership of an entire nation on this particular teenager’s shoulders? I move that that sounds rather ridiculous. Dude is having way too much fun to pause and consider everyone’s emotional and moral sensibilities. That’s what kids do. I wonder if even he fully comprehends all of what he says.

James has a good approach with regard to educating kids. Your case can be made without demonising him (check Obama V McCain). Demonising him actually adds to his appeal. You are right, music is highly addictive and powerful…and people will go to whoever it is that can provide them with a fix. Tupac left the world in cold sweats when he left, and people where searching for some thug, any thug, with some rhymes…and along came 50.

Jay did a good job of blending the essences of Pac and Biggie and that kept the world high for a while, but dude aint increasing his potency and the world is looking for a stronger fix now. The same reason SB gets any airplay is the same reason Lil Wayne gets any airplay: they are the only ones stepping up to the plate. People will ingest or inject whatever’s there because they need that fix. It will take a stronger, more conscious artist with a more potent vibe to permanently divert and concentrate the minds of all the music fiends out there from the less than pure high they are currently receiving. No amount of complaining or demonising will…only an alternative. (I urge you to refer to the last 8 years in American politics, with special attention to the last 2)

With regard to demonising versus enacting creative ways forward, ponder on this quote by Dick Gregory at the SOBU 2008: “…but my mama, my mama was so busy teaching me bout the devil, I’m a grown man before I found out the beauty of God.” He continued, “I don’t need to speak about the filth, the filth speaks for itself.”

February 4, 2009 @ 9:25 pm

33. Cézsar wrote:

Watch the Dick Gregory clip here – www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=JgSymvZLpOw – absolutely electrifying!!

February 4, 2009 @ 9:35 pm

34. DCI74 wrote:

To paraphrase Jay-Z, Cezsar did you read my line or just skim them? None of comments said anything about placing “the mantle of moral leadership of an entire nation on this particular teenager’s shoulders.”

Please read again.

February 5, 2009 @ 10:11 am

35. Cézsar wrote:

I deliberately used the point-making technique of hyperbole there to drive my point home; the point being, let’s keep things in perspective. I hear you though DC. Our difference is in approach NOT substance.

February 5, 2009 @ 10:44 am

36. bcplanning wrote:

Aw c’mon, there have always been dumb rappers and dumb rap songs with dances. If you go back to the early 80’s, late 80’s, early 90’s, late 90’s, I can find you dumb songs on par with “Crank Dat”

The only thing that is scary about Soulja Boy’s rise is the lack of other images to counterbalance his stupidity. For every “Blue Cheese” song there was a “You must learn.” We need more non-club hip hop to be in the mainstream today but no one can ever stop the next Soulja Boy from coming.

February 5, 2009 @ 4:24 pm

37. Mario wrote:

As a 19 yr. old black male in college I kind of feel left out when ppl like Soulja Boy are called the face of black youth. We are not doing that bad. There are other young black stars out there such as Corbin Bleu and Keke Palmer that we can talk about.

February 5, 2009 @ 6:57 pm

38. DCI74 wrote:

Indeed Mario. I have been working with teens long enough to know that just because mainstream media says “(insert name here) is the face of black youth” doesn’t make it so. Perception and reality are 2 completely different things.

February 6, 2009 @ 1:56 pm

39. natural nubian wrote:

whew! ok, got thru the thread (always a day late & dollar short, i know, i know), but here goes my turn in the b’shop chair:

SB is indeed a child. i haven’t the slightest idea what he meant by ’superman’, but i do finally get the ’supersoak’ part. one word: nasty. to essentially argue SB is merely a product of his environment/influence is whack. cezsar your #30 comment had me fall out my chair. SB WROTE THE DAYUM SONG! so he knew good-n-well what every word meant! issue is that nowadays too many blacks would rather have their realities washed and assuaged away instead of facing their situations. “our” music provides this escape, but at what cost? it seems to be costing our community validity, compromising our children’t future, and ultimately respect. i don’t see all black ppl as the same, but when somebody like SB steps onto the scene and has such influence & ability to infiltrate to the degree he reached w/his music, the only thing that makes me sad is that i can see why as a child the only thing he couldn’t possibly grasp is just how major and addictive his silly song could become.

and here’s something to chew on: everytime somebody argues how silly it is to be responsible as a musician, that artists shouldn’t have to be accountable for their music (which by the way imagine if everytime a car company/chinese toy manufacturer also got a pass and didn’t have to take responsibility for their product…), i think back to the shooting in the las vegas strip club by Pacman Jones. At the time, Pacman was simply “making it rain” with his cash that led to a club shooting. SB is so young, and his song is so contagious to the same youth that more than likey do not fully comprehend what his lyrics reflect, I would not be phased (but God forbid) if there is a criminal case involving a young couple that involved uninteded ’supersoaking’ and somebody ends up dead or in jail.

February 6, 2009 @ 2:35 pm

40. DCI74 wrote:

very nice nn.

February 6, 2009 @ 6:01 pm

41. Gerard Baptiste wrote:

Incredible piece by this writer…Keep speaking the truth…

February 6, 2009 @ 6:29 pm

42. Cézsar wrote:

“cezsar your #30 comment had me fall out my chair.” – natural nubian

^Thanks. I hope you got the point though…about doing (in the form of presenting an alternative) as opposed to complaining (and in effect wasting time).

If what you say about validity and respect is true, then the very idea of an Obama would indeed still be a distant pipe dream. Obviously that has been proven to be false.

I hope that you are not implying that “…if there is a criminal case involving a young couple that involved uninteded ’supersoaking’ and somebody ends up dead or in jail.”, that it would be SB’s fault. I hope that’s not what you are implying because surely, you must see the obvious and inherent logical flaws in both the presumption and conclusion.

Quick question(s): Should the media get a pass everytime they opine, satirize, and/or parody a public figure? After all, their creation, or product if you will – the news story, is offered to the public for consumption in the full knowledge that it can be taken to heart by the public and prima-facia by the intellectually lazy, misconstrued, and therefore not only psychologically harm said figure but adversely affect public perception and actions. Should they forsee, as you suggest SB should have, how big (and negatively impactful) their news story could become and therefore not report it at all? Should we all stop speaking now in fear of how big and negatively impactful our words might become?

Even in the presence of absolute personal responsibility, your words and actions are still at the mercy of human motivation – a very complex realm indeed. Just look at the Bible for God’s sake. If you know better, then DO better. It must be enacted, complaining doesn’t work.

February 7, 2009 @ 3:27 pm

43. T. M. Abbott wrote:

I believe in at this time such subjects warrant the utmost attention as they focus on our youth. I barely see any black youth in the downtown cities, from Ohio to Illinois particularly; which are thoroughly heartland states to be sure, who are not vulgar and profane on stark public display. It is dishearting to realize it IS the music that has greatly encouraged this behavior. What’s worse is that the argument as to whether or not the recording industry has enacted a conspiratorial agenda against black youth waxes valid.

February 26, 2009 @ 12:29 pm

44. rikkita wrote:

hey this is rikkita and i 11and in the 5 grade and have friends that love u

December 15, 2009 @ 7:04 pm

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