At the risk of sounding like the old woman yelling, “Get off my lawn!” I think it’s time we get all the way real about mainstream rap music and our boys. After years of being a dedicated hip-hop head, loving rap music like it was my first boyfriend, and spending countless dollars buying music, Source magazines, and concert tickets, I can no longer cosign the music I grew up on as suitable for our boys, especially when they’re young. Turn on any popular urban radio station today and you’ll hear songs about busting it open, pulling down panties, disloyal hoes, and killing the competition—literally. And while rap music has been hyper-violent, overly misogynistic, and sexually explicit for more than two decades, as I mentioned in my article for MommyNoire, there used to be a balance. At the same time Snoop Dogg proclaimed “b*tches ain’t sh*t,” Pete Rock and CL Smooth dropped T.R.O.Y., one of the most reflective, and beautiful, songs in hip hop history. And when west coast groups like NWA shined a bright light on the gang-infested streets of Compton and South Central Los Angeles, other artists talked openly about love, crushes, and putting ladies first. Back then hip-hop didn’t have one popular sound, but rather a diversity of textures and experiences that permeated through the music. Today, however, that’s almost absent from the radio. Today most songs seem to be about sex, partying, and spending obscene amounts of cash on designer wares. Because of this, I don’t even bother listening to (urban) radio when I’m in the car with Le Kid. At 8, he’s far too impressionable for me to risk his little ears being assaulted by b*tches and n*ggas and hoes and murder—there’s enough of that on the news. When Le Kid and I are in the car we listen to This American Life, Brains On (an AWESOME science podcast for kids), RadioLab, NPR, or XM Satellite’s Chill channel. And when I want to hear something with a little more bass, I switch to urban radio but patrol it like a hawk, listening closely for hints of inappropriateness. While I don’t knock the young men and women who use rap to “write their way out the hood,” I don’t have to allow Le Kid to listen to it. At least, not yet. So while he’s young and impressionable, rap is out. And when he starts sneaking his own music into his headphones (uh, like I did), we’ll talk about what he’s listening to and why what sounds good to him may not always be good for him. But in the meantime, I’m keeping the radio off, because when it comes to raising healthy brown boys, De La said it best, “The stakes is high.” What’s your take on rap and brown boys? Do you police the music your boys listen to? Share your take in the comments section below! Share...
