#RickRoss&RapeLyrics

Hey everybody!! I know it's been awhile since I have given a post.  But I had to come back because these artists are showing out!! This month has been the month of crazy lyrics from main stream artists.  First, we had Beyonce telling all artists to Bow Down, B!tch3$ and after she was just telling the girls last year that "Girls Run the World".  Well, Keisha Cole was not having it and tweeted about the situation, which caused an uproar in the Twittersphere.  My review of "Bow Down": Garbage, plain and simple.

Source: www.medievalbeatz.com

But I'm not here to discuss my dislike for Beyonce's new single but to put Mr. Double Ds himself, Rick Ross, on blast for his latest lyrics.  On his newest single, U.O.E.N.O, Rick Ross raps:

“Put molly all in her champagne/She ain’t even know it/I took her home and I enjoyed that/She ain’t even know it.”

 Yes... you read correctly.  Rick Ross is rapping about date rape.  When Rick Ross was asked in an interview about the lyric, he said that it was a "misunderstanding" but yet he didn't explain what the lyric was suppose to mean.  Then he goes on to say that women are queens and the hip hop community doesn't condone that type of behavior (probably was told by his record label to do some clean up). 

My main thing is this: how are we suppose to interpret that lyric?  You drugged her drink and went back to the house and played Monopoly?  Rick Ross, please save that lame excuse of "misunderstanding" for your impressionable fans.  Now, even though some young, stupid person is going to hear this lyric and thinks that it is cool to drug females' drinks, I do not believe that everybody is going to start putting mollys in people's drink.  But when you take something that is very serious and rap about it like it's nothing you are doing something dangerous: normalizing it.  As a society, we should never get to the point that we become desensitized to the seriousness of rape.  We need to understand that rape has lasting effects on it's victims.  Many victims show their strength when they speak up about their situation.  We do not need rappers trivializing their unfortunate situation. 

Give me your feedback on the song.  Remember to follow me on Twitter, @EbonyMarieRe

 

#RockTheRedPump

Rocking my red flats!!

Hey everybody!! Right now in the U.S., African American and Hispanic women account for 80 percent of AIDS cases. This is remarkable considering the fact that they represent less than one fourth of the women population in the U.S.  Women make up half of the adults living with HIV worldwide.  Even though these facts are alarming, I do not want to spend the rest of this post throwing out facts and statistics about HIV/AIDS.  But I would rather talk about how important it is we take of ourselves.

Ladies, we are something else.  Even if we have the flu we must continue to work, do chores, take care of husbands, pay bills, and whatever else.  We do not stop.  This is why it is so important that we take care of precious bodies. 

One way to take care of ourselves is by knowing our status.  If you are sexually active, do not be afraid to get tested.  Knowing your status can be life saving.  Knowing your partner's status can also save your life.  If your partner is not willing to get tested or show you proof of their test then don't let them touch the goods.  Go to http://hivtest.cdc.gov/ to find a HIV testing location near you.

Wrap it up.  I know you all remember the BET commercials telling you to "wrap it up".  As corny as this commercial became it's message was clear: put a condom on!  The average price of a box of condoms is $6.00.  I understand that in this economy that might seem a little steep but compared to cost of medications for AIDS and the stress from having a non-curable disease $6.00 is not bad.  Remember, your life is priceless.  Men love to say they cannot feel anything when wearing a condom.  But let homeboy know that if he doesn't want to wear a condom then he can have fun feeling the inside of his hand.

Educate yourself.  When AIDS first hit the scene there were a lot of misconceptions.  Let's be clear, this is not a gay, black, white, or Hispanic disease.  Anybody can contract AIDS.  This disease does not discriminate.  We know how to protect ourselves from AIDS; we have to be willing to put that education in action.  Also, by educating ourselves we will not stigmatize those with the disease.  AIDS is not a bad person's disease or contagious. 

Do not be afraid to have conversations with your friends, daughters, cousins, and nieces about AIDS.  Emphasize the importance of protecting their bodies from the disease and how to treat others that have the disease.  Let's teach our young girls to value their bodies.  Teach them to stand firm in protecting their bodies. 

Thank you for reading this post and if you didn't get anything else out of this post please get this: Know your status! 

#ReallySVU?

Hey everybody!! The last few days I have been able to catch up on shows that I missed throughout the week.  One of the shows that I got caught up on was Law & Order:SVU.  Usually, I am on the edge of my seat watching this show but this episode I had to side eye it with all the energy I could muster up in my soul. 

I am aware that the Law & Order series get their scripts from real newspaper headlines, but not only was this episode obvious taken from the real life situation of pop stars Rihanna and Chris Brown and my I add, poorly written. 

First let's talk about the slang.  Beef cookie?  Is this what the youth are saying?  And what exactly is a "beef cookie"?  Oh, let's not forget the golden line "Get me my jew" where Caleb Bryant (the faux Chris Brown) is referring to his lawyer.  I do not have my own personal lawyer but I was not aware that that was the slang term for them.  Dear writers of SVU, please hang with black youth the next time you are going to write dialogue for them.  Yours truly, EBONY Eyes.

Besides the horrendous slang, the plot follows the Rihanna/Chris Brown antics to a tee: Micha (the faux Rihanna) going back to the abusive boyfriend, Micha and Caleb disregarding the restraining order, Caleb making a public apology for his actions to save his representation.  But then the story has Caleb (the faux Chris Brown) killing people!! I get this is a dramatic show but taking a real story and portraying the main character (who is representing a real well-known person) as a murder is pushing it a bit much, right?

I get it, SVU. You are trying to teach young women what happens when you stay in an abusive relationship.  I get it and I respect it.  But having Caleb kill Brass (the faux Jay-Z) is really reaching.  I will also admit that Chris Brown has not done a good job of ridding himself of a violent image but SVU had Caleb Bryant tattooing Micha's beaten face on his lower stomach.  Do the writers always let their imaginations run wild when they use these real headlines?  I just want to know. 

Besides this copy-cat storyline being 4 years too late, it was an interesting episode.  With the very dramatic storyline and poorly written script, it still provided an important lesson:  if you are in an abusive relationship get out as soon as you can. And I strongly agree with that lesson.  No woman deserves to be beaten and men should pay for their actions regardless of their social status. 

Stay tuned for a special post that should be up on Sunday!! Follow me on Twitter @EbonyMarieRe!!