"You know what? I think it just got a little easier out here for a pimp." - Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart's comment at the Oscars was accurate: a song valorizing pimps' lives mainstreams them as culturally hip. But few are saying anything at all about the lives of the women and kids they beat, rape, and exploit-to-death.
Today, the Black Pimp has replaced the Black Panther as role model. “Gangsta pimpology” in the USA permits the formerly colonized/enslaved man to vent his fury on the women and girls of his community. The image of the cold, in-charge pimp with his stable of ‘ho’s' has been accurately described as “toxic cultural product” that perpetrates ongoing harm (Abu-Jamal, M. (2001) Stolen Culture, http://awol.objector.org/mumia/stolenculture.html).
Before I post the words to the song about pimping that won the Oscar in 2006, here are some words from the brilliant actor, rapper, and performance artist Sarah Jones:
Title: your revolution - Sarah Jones
Release date: 2000
Credit: Words - Sarah Jones, Image - Christoph Wilhem/& Tobias Geye
Link: http://www.sarahjonesonline.com
your revolution
your revolution will not happen between these thighs
your revolution will not happen between these thighs
the real revolution
ain't about booty size
the Versaces you buys
or the Lexus you drives
and though we've lost Biggie Smalls
your Notorious revolution
will never allow you to lace no
lyrical douche in my bush
your revolution will not be you
killing me softly with Fugees
your revolution ain't gon' knock me up
without no ring and produce little future MCs
because that revolution will not happen between these thighs
your revolution
will not find me in the
backseat of a Jeep with LL
hard as hell
ya know, doin' it & doin' it & doin' it well
ya know, doin' it & doin' it & doin' it well
your revolution will not be you
smackin' it up, flippin' it, or rubbin' it down
nor will it take you downtown or humpin' around
because that revolution will not happen between these thighs
your revolution will not have me singin'
ain't no nigger like the one I got
your revolution will not be you
sending me for no drip drip VD shot
your revolution will not involve me feeling your nature rise
or helping you fantasize
because that revolution will not happen between these thighs
and no, my Jamaican brother, your revolution
will not make you feel boombastic and really fantastic
have you groping in the dark for that rubber wrapped in plastic
you will not be touching your lips to my triple dip of
french vanilla butter pecan chocolate deluxe
or having Akinyele's dream
a six-foot blowjob machine
you wanna subjugate your queen;
think I'ma put it in my mouth
just 'cause you made a few bucks
please brotha please!
your revolution will not be me tossing my weave
making believe I'm some caviar-eating, ghetto mafia clown
or me givin' up my behind just so I can get signed
or maybe have somebody else write my rhymes?
I'm Sarah Jones, not Foxy Brown
your revolution makes me wonder, where could we go
if we could drop the empty pursuit of props and the ego
we'd revolt back to our Roots, use a little Common Sense, on a Quest
to make love De La Soul, no pretense...but
your revolution will not be you flexing your little sex and status
to express what you feel;
your revolution will not happen between these thighs
will not happen between these thighs
will not be you shaking and me faking between these thighs
because the revolution, that's right, I say the real revolution, you
know the real revolution, when it finally comes, it's gon' be real.
***********############**************############***************############***********#######
On the other hand, here are the reactionary words to the Oscar winning song,
It's hard out here for a pimp:
You know it's hard out here for a pimp (you ain't knowin)
When he tryin to get this money for the rent (you ain't knowin)
For the Cadillacs and gas money spent (you ain't knowin)
[1] Because a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)
[2] Will have a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)
[Djay]
In my eyes I done seen some crazy thangs in the streets
Gotta couple hoes workin on the changes for me
But I gotta keep my game tight like Kobe on game night
Like takin from a ho don't know no better, I know that ain't right
Done seen people killed, done seen people deal
Done seen people live in poverty with no meals
It's fucked up where I live, but that's just how it is
It might be new to you, but it's been like this for years
It's blood sweat and tears when it come down to this shit
I'm tryin to get rich 'fore I leave up out this bitch
I'm tryin to have thangs but it's hard fo' a pimp
But I'm prayin and I'm hopin to God I don't slip, yeah
[Chorus]
[Djay]
Man it seems like I'm duckin dodgin bullets everyday
Niggaz hatin on me cause I got, hoes on the tray
But I gotta stay paid, gotta stay above water
Couldn't keep up with my hoes, that's when shit got harder
North Memphis where I'm from, I'm 7th Street bound
Where niggaz all the time end up lost and never found
Man these girls think we prove thangs, leave a big head
They come hopin every night, they don't end up bein dead
Wait I got a snow bunny, and a black girl too
You pay the right price and they'll both do you
That's the way the game goes, gotta keep it strictly pimpin
Gotta have my hustle tight, makin change off these women, yeah
[Chorus]