January 23, 2008

What do poor Blacks think about genetics? And more about rap

To judge from the lyrics to "From Her Mama (Mama Got Ass)" by Juvenile, it would seem that they believe strongly in the role of genetic differences when accounting for phenotypic differences. The title is misleading, since most of the lyrics refer more to personality and behavior than physical traits.

I stopped paying attention to rap music around 1993, when Snoop Dogg's solo debut Doggystyle proved a major disappointment. I never bothered listening to political or social commentary rap, aside from buying a Grandmaster Flash CD. The Sugarhill Gang got the idea right, and that strand of rap (through Young MC and Sir Mix-a-Lot) finally died out in 1992 when Dr. Dre released The Chronic. I really liked that album at first, actually, and can still sing "Dre Day" and "Ain't Nuthin' but a G Thang" from memory, with pretty good imitation of their voices, I might add. But I was just trying things out, and being more of a charmer than a fighter, I didn't end up liking gangsta rap.

However, I overheard Juvenile's "Back That Ass Up" in college, and it sounded goofy enough to set it apart from thug music, in the same way that "Baby Got Back," er, stood out from the nascent gangsta trend. And of course, music that's only part-rap, like OutKast, I like all right. Still, on the rare occasion when I see what's on rap music TV (usually when some kids in the dining hall tune in to MTV or BET), it still resembles the bad '90s stuff.

I've been meaning to write a post comparing the different types of rap music, based on which reproductive strategies the males follow -- the polygynous sneaky fuckers (Sugarhill Gang, LL Cool J, Andre 3000, etc.), the polygynous harem-guarders (thug / gangsta rap), and essentially no monogamous mate-guarders. It accounts for the differences in the emphasis on displays of dancing skill vs. violence, in how goofy and joking vs. serious and confrontational the attitudes are -- in general, how peacockish vs. gorilla-like they are. Of course, it also accounts for the similarities, such as an emphasis on sleeping with as many women as possible.

As far as I know, when rap music is exported, it's mostly the gangsta strain that infects the population -- almost always a non-African and non-macho culture. South Asian males make horrible gorillas, but are naturally good dancers and jokesters, so it's a shame that they didn't pick up more on the OutKast type of rap. And East Asians just have no business imitating rap music of any kind: they are the monogamous good dads, which is antithetical to rap.

Then there is the social commentary / voice of the oppressed rap, which catches on wherever people realize that they cannot achieve first-world standards of success. What reproductive strategy is that? The loser male, who has no viable strategy but to lash out in envy at those who have bettered him. Yeah, some of the artists themselves are more leader / prophet types, but by and large, those who are really into it -- as well as any political / social commentary sub-genre, like the punk band Crass -- are bitter losers. Lighten up, it's just pop music!

7 comments:

  1. The monogamous protector types of blacks go into modern gospel music, which is a pretty big genre within the community, though not popular outside it. They too have their own stock characters that you can recognize pretty well. Most of the males are military or ex-military and work at things like air-con installation or directors of mall security and such like. They tend to be really involved in community organization and always talk about things like "positivity", "education" and "community"(though not really "social activism" per se, as they tend to be socially conservative and heavily involved with churches). A good example of the archetype would be Will Smith's dad. If you're going to be talking about archtypes I think they should be included in the matrix.

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  2. The loser male, who has no viable strategy but to lash out in envy at those who have bettered him. Yeah, some of the artists themselves are more leader / prophet types, but by and large, those who are really into it -- as well as any political / social commentary sub-genre, like the punk band Crass -- are bitter losers. Lighten up, it's just pop music!

    You clearly are a talker, because you like playing nonsense games with words. Loser implies there was a 'game' in which these 'lesser males' had some reasonable, or even poor, chance of winning. I assure you that while most 'bitter losers' don't have any idea just how much things are rigged against them, they are fully aware that America is a rigged, aggressive class-structure.

    Let's start with one of you own delusions, having gone to a school for rich people. You've made some suave comment about how the graffatti on the school for rich people was less crude than the graffatti on the poor peoples school. Well, maybe if their brains were deliberately put through a meat-grinder, including forced drugging, of course, Mr FancyPants would show more crudeness. And let's not forget the horrific behaviour of teachers cherished in non-rich people schools! According to one ex-teacher, one poor seven year-old said "I am a Loser" after merely one/two years of attack by those teachers. She also reported many other interesting comments the vile animal teachers said directly to students. A slightly smarter seven-year old would think, "she doesn't want to help me, she wants me to fail", thus becoming your stereotypical "bitter loser". Let's throw in some forced humiliation and real physical abuse... and maybe Mr FancyPants would develop some problems to. But, you say with a smile, this isn't DELIBERATE. Or maybe you'll even say that the child can refuse ritalin and god-knows what else, if you feel you can get away with it. I can only answer with a dead-eyed stare.

    Then there was the housing bubble, a massive wealth transfer from the people without houses to the people with houses. That is, from the young to the old.

    Then there is, for anyone who has had the fortune to encounter our "free-market" health-care without insurance... or for that matter even those with insurance. I was charged 2000+ dollars for eight stiches. I had to wait over five hours for this questionable service. Of course, you get the dumb-know-it-all-punk look when you ask how much time you have to wait. Or the cost of the 'service'. Oh they have so many super-secrets. And they must have gotten tired of people refusing the unnecessary "treatments" they add on to pad the bill. You know, tetanus vaccination for a dog bite, and IV drip for no reason, and x-ray... because there might be 'bone-fragments'. So now hospitals in my area have established a 'level-of-care' bill. It DOESN'T MATTER NOW if you refuse all the nonsense, they are still going to charge you anyway! It's remarkable that a low-class person would feel bitter over the theft of a months pay by well-off cheats. He had a Game, and he Lost. Because he is a Loser. Not sure what Game actually happened, but some Game must have.

    He should have had insurance you say with a smile. And he should have gone to a better school. Though how HE could have changed that is a bit odd. And he should have been born earlier to avoid the housing problem, or waited longer to buy than his parents/grandparents.

    I can only answer with a dead-eyed stare.

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  3. Spike -- Yeah, I was trying to think of "good dad" musical types, but most pop music isn't very monogamous. Country music is a mix of all three: trying to charm and bed lots of women, threatening other males with violence (going to jail, etc.), and crying over how bad life is. But good call on gospel music.

    Obvious78 -- don't sound so down, I'm sure things will pick up for you soon enough!

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  4. So, uh, what do poor Blacks think about genetics?

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  5. here's a start on some guys i don't think fit in your categories:

    "Three months, she call ‘I feel I'm runnin a fever'
    Six months, I'm tellin her I desperately need her
    Nine months, flu-like symptoms when shorty not around
    I need more than to knock it down I'm really tryin to lock it down
    Midnight we hook up and go at it
    Burn a stogue and let her know, sweetheart I got to have it
    She tellin me commitment is somethin she can't manage
    Wake up the next morning, she gone like it was magic" - Mos Def

    "Check it out, yo, the situation is ill
    Went from lovin' and trustin' one another to just payin' our bills
    From holdin' hands in public to displayin' the grill
    We need a resolution, yo, I'm sayin' for real
    Wanna treat you with the right respect
    Tryin' to play a bigger role than the nigga who just writes the checks
    And standin' at the door, wanderin' from right to left
    Tryin' to decide if it's right to step and just bail with it
    For so long I feel like we tried to gel with it
    And done invested to much to say the hell with it
    2000 miles from home, tryin' to call you
    To tell you 'bout the road and all the presents I bought you
    But tensions in the room everytime that I walk through
    And every other day another argument sparks you
    We don't smile no more and you ain't easy to talk to
    It's funny what you makin' my heart do
    We got to work it out, yo, for real" - Phonte

    "Yo, yo, check it
    It's important, we communicate
    and tune the fate of this union, to the right pitch
    I never call you my bitch or even my boo
    There's so much in a name and so much more in you
    Few understand the union of woman and man
    And sex and a tingle is where they assumin' it land
    But that's fly by night for you and the sky I write
    For in these cold Chi night's moon, you my light
    If heaven had a height, you would be that tall
    Ghetto to coffee shop, through you I see that all
    Let's stick to understandin and we won't fall
    For better or worse times, I hope to me you call
    So I pray everyday more than anything
    friends will stay as we begin to lay
    this foundation for a family - love ain't simple
    How can it be? Anything worth having you work at annually
    Granted we known each other for some time
    It don't take a whole day to recognize sunshine" - Common

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  6. Hippies had a lot of social commentary music and many of them were college students who in the 1980's became hard core yuppies?

    Did they over come their "loser" genetics/mentality?

    LOL

    How would you define a loser? You talk about women a lot? Do you have one? If you don't have a study woman do you have study regular sex partners? Most alpha males I know do not just have a good education or good job. That is all secondary to their intelligence and personality, which tends to attract women and make other things easier for them to achieve.

    Not having a woman(s) is typically a signal of a beta-male.

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  7. The natural inference is that hippies who became yuppies were not losers to begin with -- the social commentary stuff was just a fashion statement for them, which they got over quickly. I'm talking about committed fans or artists -- again, like Crass, a punk band with hippie roots, but that stayed stuck in the hippie-ish rut.

    As for my relationship status, I face the paradox of choice.

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