"Remember the Ladies..."

redmosquito84

100 Pacer wrote:

redmosquito84 wrote:

Jay Z's is a lot smarter than you're giving him credit for. He knows that you'll automatically think that he's referring to a woman when he says, "bitch", but he's actually referring to a bitch - as in, a female dog. "We'll see how smart you are when the canines come. I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one." This isn't to say that he hasn't used derogatory language when describing women in the past (just listen to Big Pimpin'), but it is to say that he knows the listener is going to expect the worst from him and so he decides to outsmart them in this song. That's my take on it.

This actually made me laugh out loud.

He is referring to a woman when he uses the term "bitch" ("If you're having girl problems I feel bad for you son/I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one"). Of the 99 problems in the character's life, a bitch/woman in his life isn't a problem. The second verse in the song refers to the protagonist getting pulled over and refusing to be illegally searched by the police, so the K-9 unit is called in to sniff the car. You couldn't possibly be serious when you suggested he was rapping about a female dog, right?

You say you can read the lyrics and understand the story - so what's so funny? Everything you say above is correct. In the first verse he's setting you up - he says the word "girl" so you think he's talking about women [obviously he doesn't have girl problems because he's married to Beyonce ("Got the hottest chick in the game wearing my chain")]. He uses the word "son" to describe how the cop was speaking condescendingly to him. The cop doesn't have probable cause or even a valid reason for pulling him over, much less a reason to call the K-9 unit (which if I'm not mistaken is made up of canines - which are sometimes female, right?)...so, he's got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one. In other words, he's not going to get caught and he just outsmarted the cops...and you, the listener.

SolarWorld

meme wrote:

SolarWorld wrote:

Its quite funny when people get offended about something they know nothing about...

I think it's funny that out of four pages of nastiness I only got one attempt at explaining to me what it is that I knew nothing about.

Hip Hop culture and its relationship with women has always been a difficult one. If you dont grow up around people that call women bitches and hoes, you are going to have a hard time relating.

From my perspective
If I say, "That fucking bitch" or "That fucking asshole" I dont really see the difference. Im either talking about a woman or a man that I dont particularly like at that point in time.

So if I'm having women problems, and she is more than likely making me mad, the word "Bitch" might be used. Or maybe I'm describing to my friend the situation. "That bitch, that asshole...." etc etc. Its a negative light.

Jay is saying, I have so much stress right now, thank god I dont have women problems. And if he has women problems he's not going to say, "Oh that nice sweet beautiful woman is making me upset!" Do you understand the context of saying the word Bitch now? Especially in this song?

jrkemfort

meme wrote:

SolarWorld wrote:

Its quite funny when people get offended about something they know nothing about...

I think it's funny that out of four pages of nastiness I only got one attempt at explaining to me what it is that I knew nothing about.

It's not other people's job to explain this to you. You probably should have done that before you took the time to write out all of that nonsense. And really it doesn't even matter what Jay-Z was referring to. Some people just need to chill out, he's a fucking rapper, Pearl Jam is a rock group. They played a 4 minute SONG together. I don't think you're going to hear Eddie walking around calling women bitches now. Lighten up! And stop looking at celebrities to be your moral compass. It's music, enjoy it!

81

guess satans bed won't be played again anytime soon.

SolarWorld

redmosquito84 wrote:

In other words, he's not going to get caught and he just outsmarted the cops...and you, the listener.

Again, I really wish people could understand some of the brilliance in hip hop. I guess some are just too uptight.

RiddledWithMetaphors

meme wrote:

SolarWorld wrote:

Its quite funny when people get offended about something they know nothing about...

I think it's funny that out of four pages of nastiness I only got one attempt at explaining to me what it is that I knew nothing about.

When you rant for many paragraphs about how offended you would be if your son heard this song, you usually don't get an explanation but rather rants in return. Fair?

RiddledWithMetaphors

meme wrote:

Some philosophers distinguish between “exit” and “voice” as the option one has when confronted with something they don’t approve of. “Exit” would be yielding to those who’d recommend “just stop listening,” “don’t renew your membership, I can’t wait to get your seat at the next show,” “They don’t owe you any explanation.” Voice is, I think, what I just did and something we all should do in an election year.

And sorry if all this sounded… well, bitchy.

Lecturing us on "exit" and "voice" is academia at its worst. Save us the lecture. It's all semantics. Look at what Pearl Jam stands for. Would they really support gangsta rap or conscious hip hop? I feel like there is an enormous cultural boundary here.

Taking offense oftentimes has to do with semantics and misunderstandings.

Drowned Out

mosquito bites, bitches

meme

jrkemfort wrote:

meme wrote:

SolarWorld wrote:

Its quite funny when people get offended about something they know nothing about...

I think it's funny that out of four pages of nastiness I only got one attempt at explaining to me what it is that I knew nothing about.

It's not other people's job to explain this to you. You probably should have done that before you took the time to write out all of that nonsense. And really it doesn't even matter what Jay-Z was referring to. Some people just need to chill out, he's a fucking rapper, Pearl Jam is a rock group. They played a 4 minute SONG together. I don't think you're going to hear Eddie walking around calling women bitches now. Lighten up! And stop looking at celebrities to be your moral compass. It's music, enjoy it!

You are accusing me of writing "all that nonsense". But you write: "It's not other people's job to explain this to you. You probably should have done that". I should have explained something to myself? It's called a debate: I say something that seems to me to be the case, and others say something that seems to be the case to them. And everyone learns in the process.

It does not seem to me that I wrote nonsense, or a rant, or a lecture. I was expressing an opinion bringing in evidence that appeared to me compelling giving some background on where I was coming from.

I thought this was what a forum was about. Now I see why people preferred to write their support in private...

MG79478

josevolution wrote:

So no one can come here and complain with out having all you kids gang up on her why don't you debate her on it prove your points instead all you do is act like clowns ......

Welcome to the 10C forums, if you go against the herd, they will gang up on you. I think that the results so far have been fascinating, because meme has the typical liberal mentality… that everyone is defined by what group they fit in to, and are somehow oppressed. If it was Mitt Romney who said something similar about women, the herd would be right there with you. But since their favorite band is involved, people feel differently.

For once, I actually agree with the herd. It’s just a song, and there are more important things in life to worry about. You’d probably have a hard time finding any song that didn’t offend someone. In fact that would be a fun board topic, listing every PJ song and who it might offend.

meme

MG79478 wrote:

meme has the typical liberal mentality… that everyone is defined by what group they fit in to, and are somehow oppressed.

Where did I say that? And didn't you just do that to me? Define me by the group I fit into?

nomarbc

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgrl58 ... blems_news

Your Camaro's hood

Man...I haven't jumped on this forum in a long time and now almost I regret it because I can't believe what I'm reading. PJ collaborating for a few minutes with one of the most successful and influential artists of our time on a song about racial profiling has brought out the worst in some of you. I've read everything from the old "rap is crap" argument (Seriously? What are you, my parents in 1988?), to discussing Stone's Ice Cube t-shirt in the 90s, to racist ebonic quotes (I said it...so many PJ fans are fratty douches and you know it), to quoting MLK Jr. Really? We taking this (and by "this" I mean yourselves) way too serious people. It's a great song...it was a great video (Rick Ruben was awesome in it)...it was a great festival and the collboration was a great way to celebrate it. I can dig how many people didn't love it, but this level scrutiny is hilarious.

3legged dog

Your Camaro's hood wrote:

Man...I haven't jumped on this forum in a long time and now almost I regret it because I can't believe what I'm reading. PJ collaborating for a few minutes with one of the most successful and influential artists of our time on a song about racial profiling has brought out the worst in some of you. I've read everything from the old "rap is crap" argument (Seriously? What are you, my parents in 1988?), to discussing Stone's Ice Cube t-shirt in the 90s, to racist ebonic quotes (I said it...so many PJ fans are fratty douches and you know it), to quoting MLK Jr. Really? We taking this (and by "this" I mean yourselves) way too serious people. It's a great song...it was a great video (Rick Ruben was awesome in it)...it was a great festival and the collboration was a great way to celebrate it. I can dig how many people didn't love it, but this level scrutiny is hilarious.

Welcome To America!!! Where u can rant without getting ur head cut off or jailed for life! Embrace the freedom of expression, good or bad.

Your Camaro's hood

3legged dog wrote:

Your Camaro's hood wrote:

Man...I haven't jumped on this forum in a long time and now almost I regret it because I can't believe what I'm reading. PJ collaborating for a few minutes with one of the most successful and influential artists of our time on a song about racial profiling has brought out the worst in some of you. I've read everything from the old "rap is crap" argument (Seriously? What are you, my parents in 1988?), to discussing Stone's Ice Cube t-shirt in the 90s, to racist ebonic quotes (I said it...so many PJ fans are fratty douches and you know it), to quoting MLK Jr. Really? We taking this (and by "this" I mean yourselves) way too serious people. It's a great song...it was a great video (Rick Ruben was awesome in it)...it was a great festival and the collboration was a great way to celebrate it. I can dig how many people didn't love it, but this level scrutiny is hilarious.

Welcome To America!!! Where u can rant without getting ur head cut off or jailed for life! Embrace the freedom of expression, good or bad.

Thanks for the civics lesson! Clearly, I'm engaging in the process. Thanks again!

Ledbetterman10

rival.

81 wrote:

guess satans bed won't be played again anytime soon.

sucking satan's dick.




:nono:

PJ_Soul

:fp: :fp: :fp:

fortyshades

Dear Meme,

I truly understand your feelings. I really do. I am an anthropologist, I understand the importance of words and believe in females rights and emancipation. (And I agree that in some hiphop songs females are portrayed in a very objectifying way.) But I do think you are over analyzing this and approaching this too narrowly. After read the diff. interpretation of the song, I do think the words are used in a conversation between a so-called cop and "drugdealer"; it is even unclear who is using this specific word. (I saw the interview with Jay-z, but don't give too much credit to it. Saw interviews with Ed Vedder where he gave misinformation - on purposely - about his songs.) Looking at the lines after it, it seems like the cop is stating this specific word.

In this sense it reminds me a bit of the unedited version of Money For Nothing of Dire Straits, with the lines "The little fagot with the earings and his make-up". Dire Straits got called homo-phobic, discriminatory etc., while the point of the song was the complete opposite. It was sung from the perspective of (what?) movers and *their* perception of rockstars and artists. In a sense Dire Straits were criticizing these sentiments and people who seem to think that for artists "the money is for nothing and the chicks are for free" and that they are all "gay".

Now Dire Straits is not PJ, but you get my drift.

Sometimes political incorrectness is used to make in fact a political correct statement.

goldrush

I don't think we can read too much into the collaboration - it's not as if the 10 Club has changed the Women's Apparel section of the shop to B*****s Apparel is it?! Jay-Z has said in his book that the bitch in the song refers to a police dog, not a woman and the story of the song fits in pretty well with WMA.

It may be a small point but we should also remember that nobody in PJ (that I could see anyway) sang backing vocals on it so nobody actually said the word. If Jay-Z had changed the lyrics to one of his biggest songs (at a show that he put together) just to appease a non-rap crowd then his fans would probably have raised issues about his integrity as an artist.

I really liked the collaboration on Sunday night. I'm not a huge Jay-Z fan but I've got a few of his albums and to be honest '99 Problems' is, musically at least, the best song they could have done together. The riff in that song http://youtu.be/DRWfYsb-lTU is pretty cool and when you have a kick ass rock band with 3 guitarists playing it, it sounded great.