It's Hard Out Here...
...for a mid-level user interface analyst.
UPDATE: Well, no. It's really OK.
But after three days of thinking, I had to comment on this year's "Best Song" Oscar winner, "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" by the 3-6 Mafia.
It's been Laura Ingraham's number one story since Monday, I think. Which, I think, does a huge disservice to both Laura's culture-war comrades as well as to her own audience.
The song is...how to describe it...
...how, inde...[yawn]...sorry, indeed?
How...does...odndlf....
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
[SCRATCH]
Sorry. While saying so against the backdrop of Oscar "Best Song" winners is the very definition of redundant, the song is deadly dull. It's a total nonentity.
I say this as a white guy who used to be a rap DJ (note to JB Doubtless; send all incredulous feedback here. I have liked a fair amount of rap, from old Run/DMC through the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, NWA, the DOC, De La Soul, Me Phi Me, and a bunch of others (mostly over a decade ago), so weight the comment accordingly; rap is ungawdly dull these days.
No, seriously. Not only is gangsta rap (and 3-6 Mafia are to gangstas what Vanilla Ice was to Frank Sinatra) these days is about as dangerous as "Barney", but there is nothing to distinguish "Pimp" from 99% of what you hear from every boom car on University Avenue:
- Anonymous black chick singer belting out the title line
- A bunch of central-casting "thugz" reciting cookie-cutter lyrics, identically, time after time
- Every urban music cliche, every song, all the time
Oh, and the woman who sang the title line, over...and over...and over again? When she tried to do the obligatory
obligato at the end (or, as it's known among the LA posse, the
Oblizzle-gizzle) (Patti Labelle, protect me from your followers)? Most comical musical moment of the year, and proof that maybe Ashley Simpson and Britney Spears are right to tape the crap in advance.
Worst part? The movie wasn't bad at all. Not great - but head, shoulders and ankles better than any rap movie since Eight Mile.
It's hard out here for a fan. Or a sorta fan.
Posted by Mitch at
March 8, 2006 07:11 AM
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(you ain't knowin)
I just looked up the lyrics of the "award" winning original. Yikes.
Posted by: Nancy at March 8, 2006 08:30 AMIt's hard out here for a Peeb.
Posted by: Kermit at March 8, 2006 09:15 AMMitch,
I think, if you relocate to Bangalore? or Mumbai? you could probably find something.... :-)
Posted by: RBMN at March 8, 2006 12:24 PM"I have liked a fair amount of rap, from old Run/DMC through the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, NWA, the DOC, De La Soul, Me Phi Me, and a bunch of others (mostly over a decade ago),"
You forgot my Name Sake, the Grand Master Flash "You wanna know why he's on top of the pile uh uh uh cuz he's got style!"
Yes . . . I have the album, that vinyl plastic thing for you kiddies out there!
Flash
Posted by: Flash at March 8, 2006 01:58 PMIt's still better than "You Light Up My Life."
Just sayin'.
Posted by: Jeff Fecke at March 8, 2006 02:21 PMFor me, it was more about the movie than anything else. The Oscar performance of the song (and the ensuing acceptance speech) were both insults to what was a pretty decent film. "D Jay" put the heart and soul into "Pimp," and I think that that is why it won for best song. It wasn't the lyrics or the beat, it was the character behind it.
Posted by: PC at March 8, 2006 03:19 PM
Posted by: carmelitta at March 8, 2006 10:44 PMHeart and soul. Yep, pimping is a deeply misunderstood profession. I'll have to remember to tell my kids the next time they see one.
Pimping is a fairly well understood profession, but it was in D Jay's struggle to get away from that life that the heart and soul came in. That's what the song is about... He feels stuck in a life that thrives on violence and harshness. He wants to get out, but he needs money to do that. Unfortunately, the only way for him to get more money is to stay in this life that's killing him.
Posted by: PC at March 9, 2006 07:37 AMWhat a pathetic rationalization. He needs more money. There are millions of people making a living in an honest, legal manner. The poor guy is caught in a life that's killing him - give up the Escalade with the spinners, the Chivas Regal and cocaine, the gold chains and fur coats. Get a friggin job.
Posted by: Kermit at March 9, 2006 08:26 AMCry me a river over da pimp.
OK... It's fairly obvious that you haven't seen the movie.
Posted by: PC at March 9, 2006 03:35 PM