Today’s Guilty Pleasure goes to awful rap music.

I rarely, if ever, purchase rap music and I don’t often attend rap concerts. If I do, they are free of charge like the one I’m helping out with tonight at work.

However, there is something about crunk ignorant and raucus rap music. I mainly like to listen to it while working out but sometimes I just revert back to my former self and feel the need to drop it. Remind you, this is often while in my apartment, sometimes in my car, and always on the elliptical machine.

These songs are totally values incongruent. They are mysogynistic, homophobic, racist, sexist, and really just contain every problem in the world that one can name BUT the beats are amazing. Therefore, I work to block out the lyrics while I focus on the music in the background.

My latest favorites are Juicy J’s “Bandz A Make Her Dance”,  2 Chainz “No Lie” and “Birthday Song”. Go ahead and give them a listen. I dare you not to move. I also dare you not to cringe should you listen closely to the lyrics.

I’m often embarrassed when people find out I know these songs. I become concious should they come on my Spotify while I’m in the office. I just know that these songs aren’t carrying any piece of a positive message. We don’t need any additional objectification of women in the world.

Before I took a sociology class songs like these were on a regular rotation in my music collection. But, I know better and I still can’t help but TurnUp to these songs. Some people might think, “I mean, they are only songs.” However, I know that there are women and men in the world who take their cue on male/female interactions based on these songs. There are women in clubs and on stages right now with little clothing  dancing to these songs that believe this is the only way to attract male attention and that the size of their breasts and butt determine their value in society. I know that I have a Little Sister who looks at music videos and has friends in her high school who think they need to engage in sexual behavior and act like the women the men rap about in these songs. Sometimes this can lead to consequences like teen pregnancy and low self esteem.  I know so many wrongs about these songs. Why do I continue to listen?

Total guilty pleasure. Perhaps I’ll choose something different on my upcoming turn on the elliptical.

Later y’all.