I was talking to Rick James once and he told me the difference between white artists and black artists.

He said, “Do you know what the black artists want?”  I said no, what?

He said, “Black artists want respect.  That’s what all the gold is, that’s what all those people following them around is.  That’s respect.  They’ve never had it and they want it.”

Then he asked me if I knew what the white artists wanted.  I told him no, I didn’t. 

He said, “Women and drugs.”

Now, I know what you’re thinking -- What the hell were you doing talking to Rick James?  I was getting an education.

Rick had a point.  He was right, in the most general of terms, as to what the mindset of a black artist was compared to a white artist.  The black artists were using music, specifically rap, as social commentary, as a way to lift themselves up from the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

The white guys were just scanning the huddled masses, looking for strippers.

However, that was a while ago, and it looks like things have juxtaposed.  (Or at least the black guys are looking for strippers, too.)

I was watching MTV the other day (Something I normally don’t do, but it was a slow news day.), and was shocked by what I saw.  I was pretty sure I was watching the Cherry Pie video.  I mean, chicks were all over the place; on the ground, spinning around a brass pole, ripping their clothes off, getting doused with water…

All in all, not a bad video. 

However, it was a rap video, not a Warrant retrospective.  And the next video was pretty much the same.  And so was the next one.  And the next… 

And we’ve just come full circle.

I’m not sure at what point social commentary decided to focus solely on a woman’s ass; maybe it was Sir Mix-A-Lot, but that’s really not the point.

The point here is this: What the hell is going on, guys?  Are we going for the lowest common denominator?  Are we looking for a little Jerry Springer factor? 

We all know sex sells.  I mean, that’s a given.  But when that term was originally applied, I’m pretty sure they were talking about the artist’s sex appeal and not his favorite position. 

Again, it’s all about the lowest common denominator.  But the problem is that the lowest common denominator is the easiest thing to get to and the hardest thing to get away from.  And that’s where we are, kids.  We’ve pretty much reached bedrock here.  (We’re gonna need blasting caps to go any lower.)

I hate to sound like my parents, but no good can come from this.  Here’s the bad news; most of us believe whole-heartedly that if it’s on television, it’s gospel.  Hell, the damn thing may as well be a High Definition Burning Bush, or “HDBB” for short.

And every image, no matter what you might think to the contrary, carries with it a certain amount of legitimacy simply due to the fact that it’s coming from the HDBB.

Let’s face it; young minds are impressionable minds.  (Hell, I’m a grown man and my mind is still practically freakin’ play doh.)

So, a word of advice to the rap stars: If you don’t want to see your form of self-expression go the way of the dodo bird and big-haired 80’s rock, you may want to concentrate your efforts and your rhymes on something other than that chick’s ass.

Bottom-line, these kinds of images were the death knell for 80’s music.  You could only see Tawny Kitaen do so many cartwheels over David Coverdale’s Jaguars before ADD set in and your hand searched for the remote.  And rap is heading that way in a big way.

Maybe you should do something about it, because in the immortal words of Rick James, in the end it’s either all about respect or all about women and drugs.

Your choice.

That’s my two cents, now gimme my change. 
 

Chuck DiMaria is Los Angeles based musician and antiMUSIC columnist. Check out his website ChuckDiMaria.com for more of his writings, MP3s and more (be sure to read about his adventures in online dating!!)

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