I LISTEN TO WHAT THE F**K I WANT

I’ve been a music fanatic since my the first memory I can recall that I heard it. One of the best memories as a kid was new music releasing, begging my dad to buy it for me because streaming didn’t exist, and then going outside with my friends talking about the music. Good, bad, and in between. Being at school talking about Juvenile 400 Degreez. Talking about Missy Elliot albums and videos. I remember hearing “Crush On You” by Lil Kim on the radio for the first time and it was the flyest shit to me as a kid. I was obsessed with that song and then when I saw the video for the first time and all the different looks Kim had and the confidence she moved with it was history. Me and my peers talked about everything in the culture. All the Hip-Hop & R&B records. All the musical guests on “All That.” Every video we saw on BET and The Box. It was basically debate shows in the streets and in school. What’s good? What’s trash? Talk about it. Move on to the next. Simple. 

I’m not saying it doesn’t exist now. It still does but times have changed. Sensitivity is at the forefront and now people are telling others what they can and cannot listen to. 

Long story short, if a woman made the music that means I cannot have any feeling about what she created or even listen to it. There’s also me being questioned playing artists who are women in my car that brought us here to this post. There’s the combination of men questioning me with their fragile masculinity and think I should just listen to nothing but murder and drug raps by men in my car and there’s women trying to tell me what’s for me. Basically all humans are annoying. 

This reminds me of the “Cancel Culture” weird people believe in. I don’t believe in cancel culture cause no one truly gets cancelled unless you do some Weinstein type shit but the older I get I notice if I have a different thought or opinion I get criticized more for not thinking or agreeing with everyone else. I would understand if I seek people out who like something I don’t and force my opinion on them then yes that’s bogus but my opinion or feelings are posted on my shit and people throw subliminals at me and take it too far. I’m just talking about music. Skill set. Composition. Production.  Nothing more. There are songs and projects that I relate to and subject matter hits me on a personal level but still feel the music wasn’t good. It’s called rational thinking. My overall thought won’t take away the good things or the message being expressed. Take Ab-Soul’s last album. I liked the message and it’s powerful but the music wasn’t great. 

If I feel like riding around the city playing “Jobs” by City Girls (Which I have done and still do on many occasions) then that’s what the fuck I’m going to do. I don’t care what anybody thinks. Telling me “It’s not for you. Why are you listening to this” is some narrow minded weirdo shit. One. Caresha ate that hoe. Two. It’s a good fucking song. I’M LISTENING TO MUSIC! They’re talking about scamming and shaking they ass. I do not partake in either activity but what does that have to do with me listening and critiquing the music? I’ve grown up listening to women rapping and singing sexually charged and scamming lyrics my whole life. Mia-X, Adina Howard, TLC, Gangsta Boo, Kut Klose, Mokenstef, Monifah, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, I can go on all day. What’s the difference between me listening to “Jobs” by City Girls and me listening to “Sho-Nuff” by Tela and 8Ball and MJG? Literally nothing except the artists gender. Women are in a position of power in one song. Men are in position of power in the other. Both songs have the same subject matter.

Imagine thinking Goodfellas is made for criminals so only criminals can critique the film. You’re not a criminal so it’s not for you. Martin Scorsese made Goodfellas for people who appreciate film. If you’re a criminal or not you can watch the film and come to a conclusion on how you felt about the art.   

It goes the other way too. You can’t tell a woman she can’t have an opinion on music because something was not made for her. Women hear murder in hip hop music everyday it is clearly music not made for them but that doesn’t remove their ability to determine if the music is good or not. Thinking that way puts music in a box and removes emotion from it. Music isn’t black and white. Art isn’t black and white. It literally resides in a gray area. If we’re going to apply the “It’s not made for you” rule then I don’t ever want to hear anyone say music is art ever again. I never see someone say a painting isn’t for you or a photography exhibit isn’t for you. Why? It’s because saying that would handicap the art.

I couldn’t imagine someone telling me that Paula Scher’s or Gunnar Stahl’s art is not for me. Man what? Fuck on somewhere. We’re the only culture that does this shit. We apply rules to the dumbest shit and play gatekeepers to the most irrelevant shit with each other but we don’t do that for the things that matter in the culture and that’s why we don’t fucking own our culture and our shit get pimped out the most. 

I don’t have time for this gatekeeping gender shit people are trying to push on art. It’s already bad enough that it’s a never ending war everyday on social media about it and people dedicate all their time and energy to the dumbest cycle of arguing but I’m not letting that shit come into how I listen to music. Fuck all that. I don’t give a fuck if a man made it. I don’t give a fuck if a woman made it. Is the music good? That is my priority with music. It’s my priority when going to concerts. A person could be rapping about calculus or Valentino heels. I don’t care. If the music good and I want to hear it live I’m pulling up. 

Nothing Janet Jackson has created has been for me. The Velvet Rope was not made for me. Control was not made for me. I have 2 hard copies of the Janet album. I have 3 hard copies of Control. Why do I have multiple copies of albums that were not made for me? Hmmm? I don’t know, maybe because the music is fucking great and I like listening to music? Keyshia Cole first album getting played. Mary J. Blige discography getting played. They don’t make music for me either. No artist man or woman makes music for me in my opinion and they shouldn’t. Just make what you feel and release it whenever you want. What makes music interesting is the perspective of the artist. I don’t focus in hard on the subject matter. I literally would not have rapped ever in my life if it wasn’t for Left Eye in TLC. She is one of my biggest influences. She has never created anything I related to or created anything for me. I just loved how great she was at what she did. I loved how you she created music. 

What we not going to do is allow me to only talk about music only if I think it’s good but tell me not to talk about music if I think it’s bad. That is fake and I don’t subscribe to that. If I feel somebody music is not it they’re going to get these jokes. I keep the same energy for anything I make. Once I put it out to the world it’s out of my hands. Feel how you want to feel about it. I am unbiased. I’ve criticized Hov music. I’ve criticized Mary. I’m a fan. A fan who actually PURCHASES the music he talks about. That is the difference. I actually CARE for the culture I critique. 

People love when you real until you’re real towards something or somebody they’re biased about but I’ll rant about that another day. Rant over. 

Peace