>>lol I do that and will continue to do so, thanks.
>
>Kudos fam and I respect that. But I said that to point to the
>fact that criticism of Megan directly (when you yourself later
>admit is a symptom, not the cause) isn't how this should be
>done. This was Dr. Carr's (passive-aggressive) approach and
>then you drove this down in your OP:
>
>"she will have the stigma of college stripper attached to her
>public persona for the rest of her career, the same way male
>commercial rappers in the late 90s and 00s were seen as
>glorified drug dealers, murderers, pimps and thugs."
>
>This assumes...
>
>1) Black People can't just 'entertain' without it being a
>direct reflection of who they are.

I am assuming that certain audiences can't distinguish entertainment from reality. I'm generally stereotyping by age, not race. You keep saying that I think less of black people, I'm generally talking about impressionable youth of any ethnicity although the effect of stereotyping through "entertainment" on black kids may be different from that of white kids.


>
>2) That Megan was ever a stripper (she wasn't).

You are being naive if you think that this image she is portraying is not of a stripper, or stripper adjacent. I'm not saying Megan is a stripper, I'm saying her rap image is that of a stripper.

>
>3) Black rappers can't and don't grow. When to the contrary,
>Ice Cube, Snoop, Jay-Z, Nas, Scarface...all OG's who've grown
>over the course of their careers and represent very different
>things than when they started...and others have set various
>examples of black rappers growing beyond those stigmas.

I think you're being naive if you think that the entire gangster rapper image that those men introduced themselves as does not play a role in how they are perceived today. Also, your being naive about the perception of them at the time being broader than the image that they presented.

>>>I take offense to what you are ascribing to 'our culture'
>as
>>>if we cornered the market

This is what I am objecting to. I never said that our culture cornered the market on this shit. I said that white people are presenting the shit as if its exclusive to black people.

on degradation, sexualization and
>>>capitalism.
>>
>>Words I never said
>
>Were these not your words?
>
>"If a rapper's modicum of success is based on the tried and
>true method of promoting the most degrading elements of our
>culture and adopting them as some sort of badge of honor then
>yes, they will be scrutinized."
>
>While not a direct quote, based on the 'college stripper'
>assumption made and the slant to 'degrading elements', I
>deduced sexualization and capitalism were the basis for your
>position.

She's selling sex. Listen to her lyrics. Look at her image. She calls her fans, hotties. I dont' think she's cornered the market on selling sex and I don't even think she is solely selling sex, but her most popular songs are about sex.

>>-No, I'm saying that these things are being presented in
>white
>>mainstream media as exclusive to our culture.


It is clearly
>>not exclusive when you are within the culture, however, most
>>of these white media executives and the audiences that
>follow
>>them live in highly segregated communities and couldn't
>>separate megan from rapsody if they were working in the
>>cubicle right next to them.
>
>If you ever perused country music, you'd hear a lot about
>heavy drinking, guns, women and small town rural living. I'm
>sure the artist and executives that promote these artist don't
>all live that lifestyle but they recognize it as a money
>maker. As they do with 'trap' hiphop. Ultimately, what sells
>is the capitalists agenda.

And country artists are rebelling against these stereotypes!


>No one put a gun to anyone's head and said 'shake your a** and
>rap about money' or 'talk about selling drugs and shooting
>ops'. And no one put a gun to anyone's head and said 'you
>must listen to these messages'.

You're being naive again. Record labels and radio stations don't put a gun to your head, they put some money in your hand. Some people like Suge might put a gun to your head tho.

>
>But, people listen to it, gravitate towards it. Ultimately,
>people like action/drama and those themes provide it and black
>people do this in their own unique way which other's find
>provocative. There's money to be made in that and someone
>will always invest in it.
>
>Most media is white media. They are gonna promote what makes
>$$ and provocation is top of the list in entertainment (be it
>movies, music, books, recreation). But Black Media does the
>same thing when left to its own devices. Because $.

So we trading money for morals now. Sounds like some stripper shit. Glad you're being on the level.

>
>
>>I do think people are intelligent which is why I ask people
>to
>>pay attention to the shit that mainstream media is
>presenting
>>to us and have a critical eye on who is presenting it and
>why.
>

>We've been doing this for eons.

we who??? the people who are just finding out Cardi B has had plastic surgery?

It's not new and Megan isn't
>some sort of embarrassment
because she chose to do
>entertainment the way she is.

-Nobody is embarrassed by Trina. Nobody is embarrassed by Gangsta Boo. Khia was sort of embarrassing because her shit was very corny.

Tiny desk has had:
H.E.R.,>Summer Walker (RNB)
Lizzo
Brittany Howard (A country singer)
Ari Lennox (RNB)
Rhiannon
>Giddens, (FOLK)
Nicole Bus (RNB)
Tasha Cobbs Leonard (Gospel)
Georgia Ann Muldrow, (can we get back to black youth)
Leikeli47 (the girl who raps with a facemask, tho i am a fan)
Nao (more rnb)
Cécile McLorin Salvant (i see you've given up on youth culture)


Also, some of these artists do get play on broadcast radio, cordoned off on rap and rnb stations away from top 40, rock, and jazz although they make music across genres.

>So based on that lineup, I'd say this particular form of
>'white media' has given a platform for a wide variety of black
>women entertainers for the world to discover and enjoy.
>Singling out Megan as some sort of beacon was just lazy in my
>opinion.
>
>>I ascribe a great deal of power to persuasive advertising,
>>marketing, peer pressure, and brand identification. I assume
>>that a small percentage of people under the age of 24 who
>are
>>coming from certain backgrounds are more susceptible to the
>>most negative messaging that is coming from white owned
>media
>>and are not always aware of the consequences of their
>actions.
>
>So...again, we are back to black people not being intelligent
>enough to recognize "persuasive advertising, marketing, peer
>pressure, and brand identification" enough to make up their
>own minds as to what they prefer to consume?

No it's about what people are being paid to promote, like you said earlier.

>
>Like, you don't think we know there are other options (lol
>hell NPR's Tiny Desks provides a nice list alone)?


This is
>like saying, if a network targeted an add aimed at black
>people which they hoped to provoke blacks to eat fertilizer, a
>large faction of black people would be susceptible to it.

Popeyes thanks you.

>While I don't discount that there is power in the entities you
>listed, I don't deeply discount personal choice and
>accountability. I listened to NWA growing up and still went
>to college and never joined a gang or shot anyone. Most of
>the people I know who listened to NWA didn't either and I
>think we're in the majority.

Your college going self is not in the majority. Tell me, did the misogyny of NWA, snoop dogg, too short, geto boys, dj quik, mc eiht affect you at all?

>
>>More words I never said. Never mentioned her lyricism. I
>>think she's very lyrical and I'd rather listen to Megan than
>>Rapsody anyway.
>
>Fair. However, my point was, it's ok to have the options
>without feeling some sort of guilt over choosing to listen
>to/consume Megan's preferred choice of entertainment.
>
>
>>Spoken like a true libertarian! I don't only ask Megan to be
>>responsible about the shit she says, who she says it to,
>when
>>she says it, and how she says it.
>
>Is this responsibility leveled to every entertainer, no matter
>gender, race creed or color? Do you hold all artist, no
>matter the medium, to this level of standard?
>
>I definitely expect people
>>who have provided her with a platform to be responsible for
>>what they are promoting and presenting. My complaint is
>>actually not even about Megan thee Stallion, it's about
>white
>>owned media.
>
>Then why was the OP a highlight of her performance on NPR
>(which typically has a very diverse make up of artist) and not
>a critique of Lyor Cohen, 300 Entertainment or Atlantic
>Records Execs? Why not start the narrative there, put their
>names in the public eye and create enough noise to force them
>to address some of these concerns.
>
>Megan chose the words, chose the career, chose the topics,
>ok'd the outfits. At any point, she could have said no.
>These are things she 'wants' to do. She will grow and change
>as she gets older hopefully but that's where she is right
>now.
>
>>There are several approaches. One is to present the fact
>that
>>the hypersexualization of black women in commercial hiphop
>is
>>a consistent trope that encourages impressionable young
>women
>>to engage in anti-social behavior and programs men to
>believe
>>that women are only good for sex and should be manipulated
>>into positions where they can be trafficked.
>
>Again, we are back to black people not being intelligent
>enough to recognize "persuasive advertising, marketing, peer
>pressure, and brand identification" enough to make up their
>own minds as to what they prefer to consume.
>
>I can watch John Wick murder 100 people and realize that
>murder is wrong. I can watch Menace II Society and realize I
>don't ever want to be in a gang. I can watch/listen to Megan
>thee Stallion and still respect the women in my life,
>understand that her message is entertainment only and I can
>teach my daughters the difference too.
>
>*Shrug*
>
>Another approach
>>is to, like you said, create alternative sources of media,
>>alternative identities, and to educate people on the
>bullshit
>>that white media does. Another approach is to consistently
>>educate young men on their responsibility to avoid
>>dehumanizing women into sexual objects and degrading
>>themselves by only thinking with their dicks.
>
>All valid a better and don't require tearing down a black
>woman.
>
>


America has imported more warlord theocracy from Afghanistan than it has exported democracy.