Watch out, Gaga -- there's a new Lady in town.

April 4, 2011 11:26 AM

With the assertion that her "Pussy Be Yankin'," 21-year-old Lady arrives on a scene set years ago by the likes of Lil Kim, in which female MC's tug back against the male dominance of a sub-genre by explicitly asserting their own sexual prowess -- a tradition some find liberating and others consider degrading.
posted by hermitosis (141 comments total)

And now the term 'lady' officially has no meaning beyond 'female.'
posted by The Thnikkaman at 11:30 AM on April 4, 2011 [5 favorites]

Frankly, I just love the song and video, I can't stop listening. I think there's room for all kinds of expressions of sexuality in music, and no one of them necessarily cancels out any other. Details like her silver/gold lipstick combo and her Chester Cheetah Hot Fries really make this a solid win for me.
posted by hermitosis at 11:32 AM on April 4, 2011 [6 favorites]

And now the term 'lady' officially has no meaning beyond 'female.'

That term's been expanding for a long while.
posted by mykescipark at 11:32 AM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

I'm pretty impressed by most of what's happening in her video. I will never be that confident, and my buttocks will never be that perfectly spherical.
posted by Help, I can't stop talking! at 11:33 AM on April 4, 2011 [12 favorites]

If there's only some way to get Rebecca Black to sing this.
posted by ao4047 at 11:35 AM on April 4, 2011 [23 favorites]

Oddly, all that came to mind when I was listening to that was how similar it was to a lot of early blues. Switch a few words for their male, 1930s counterparts, have an old guy with a guitar singing it, and what's the difference?
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 11:36 AM on April 4, 2011 [6 favorites]

If we could get Lady, Lady Gaga, and Lady Bunny in a studio together, I guarantee that the result would be cataclysmically enjoyable. And by "cataclysmically" I mean that it would probably inspire full-scale revolt and initiate the End Times.
posted by hermitosis at 11:36 AM on April 4, 2011 [15 favorites]

If dirty female rap is empowering, then Nicki Minaj is the empress of their dirty rap empowerment kingdom.
posted by msbutah at 11:37 AM on April 4, 2011

I love the idea of this song but the chorus has like 2 refrains too many and starts reminding me of annoying songs.
posted by mathowie at 11:39 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Her southern counterpart sings "pussy be rebbin'", of course.
posted by Forktine at 11:39 AM on April 4, 2011 [16 favorites]

This song be boring.
posted by vibrotronica at 11:43 AM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

Yes, the Chester Cheetah Hot Fries are a classy touch, as is the guy toting the extra large jar of pickles.

It doesn't go with the flow of the song but I'm still disappointed that there's no mention of two of my favorite phrases: "Snapping Turtle Pussy" and "Bite Back Pussy".
posted by BigSky at 11:44 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Also, how long till we have the parody "Pussy Be Stankin'"?
posted by BigSky at 11:46 AM on April 4, 2011 [12 favorites]

Ever since I heard this song over the weekend, I've been inserting "yankin'" before every mention of the word "pussy" in Lords of Acid's song "Pussy".

Hours of endless entertainment.
posted by PapaLobo at 11:47 AM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

I lack the vocabulary to properly express how much I dislike this song and the video.
posted by Fizz at 11:49 AM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

I yanked my pussy one time while doing squat-thrusts.
posted by nola at 11:52 AM on April 4, 2011 [12 favorites]

The greatest trick the Man ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. Yo pussy be yanking.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:52 AM on April 4, 2011 [6 favorites]

If there's only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton to sing this.
posted by rusty at 11:53 AM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

Complete version (some possibly NSFW images) of the "degrading" blog post has another two paragraphs that round out the article a bit more. Except the blogger has no answer to the question of balance between sexually liberated and verging on vulgar.

To this end, it seems both the "liberating" and "degrading" posts end with the same question - can female rappers get a break without rapping solely about sex?
posted by filthy light thief at 11:54 AM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Suddenly, that bit in Magnolia where Julianne Moore is screaming, "How dare you call me 'lady'!" makes retroactive sense.
posted by adipocere at 11:55 AM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

If there's only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber to sing this.
posted by hermitosis at 11:56 AM on April 4, 2011 [8 favorites]

I love the idea of this song but the chorus has like 2 refrains too many and starts reminding me of annoying songs.

I hate to link to urbandictionary but here -

For what it's worth I'm not completely on board with the notion that being a ringtone rapper is necessarily a bad thing given that it's a way to get a lot of money quickly in an industry where rich old white men decide who gets what, but the term exists for a reason and this fits like a glove (the glove be yankin').
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 11:56 AM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

Oh, to be a fly on the wall of Frito-Lay's Marketing Department ...
posted by grabbingsand at 11:56 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

If there's only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins to sing this.
posted by rusty at 11:58 AM on April 4, 2011 [11 favorites]

can female rappers get a break without rapping solely about sex?

There should be a Bechtel test for female rap.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:59 AM on April 4, 2011 [11 favorites]

I always liked this one. This one, less so.
posted by everichon at 12:00 PM on April 4, 2011

If there's only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen to sing this.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:00 PM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

"Gripping" or "a light tugging" sounds good to me, but "yanking" seems a bit unpleasant.

"Madame, your vagina is at a 9 right now... I need it at about a 6 or 7."
posted by BobFrapples at 12:00 PM on April 4, 2011 [13 favorites]

I think both genders have equal rights in making awful faux shocking songs.

Also, if anything, it seems Kei$sha, Gaga, Minaj etc. all seem to be perfectly nice and decent people in interviews, and often a lot more intelligent then their lyrics might show.

So.. it's an act, and one that apparently finds an audience.

I forget what the point is. So here's Janelle Monáe.
posted by Harry at 12:02 PM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

I won't be satisfied till I hear a Joanna Newsom cover. With a string section.
posted by everichon at 12:03 PM on April 4, 2011 [5 favorites]

I can't help but feel like we've zoomed ten years into the future, and this is really Willow Smith churning her way through body parts, having begun with 'Whip My Hair', saving the best for last.
posted by pink candy floss at 12:03 PM on April 4, 2011 [12 favorites]

If there's only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner to sing this.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:03 PM on April 4, 2011 [18 favorites]

Suddenly, that bit in Magnolia where Julianne Moore is screaming, "How dare you call me 'lady'!" makes retroactive sense.

Um, no. That scene (nsfw) makes perfect sense and always has.
posted by dobbs at 12:04 PM on April 4, 2011

For reference: Riskay.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 12:05 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

If we could get Lady, Lady Gaga, and Lady Bunny in a studio together, I guarantee that the result would be cataclysmically enjoyable. And by "cataclysmically" I mean that it would probably inspire full-scale revolt and initiate the End Times.
Please also include Ladytron and Lady Sovereign.
posted by knile at 12:06 PM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

If there's only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Harry Belafonte to organize dozens of diverse music stars into singing this as a charitable event.

Preferably focused on increasing the funding levels for music education in our public schools...
posted by hincandenza at 12:07 PM on April 4, 2011 [6 favorites]

There should be a Bechtel test for female rap.

A film passes the Bechtel test if two defense contractors have at least one conversation that is not about bribing a politician.
posted by atrazine at 12:07 PM on April 4, 2011 [29 favorites]

"Gripping" or "a light tugging" sounds good to me, but "yanking" seems a bit unpleasant.

I figure that's how you know this is more about her pleasure than the man's. For him, it's just an unforgettable experience that he can't stop talking about even years later.
posted by hermitosis at 12:08 PM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

in which female MC's tug back against the male dominance of a sub-genre by explicitly asserting their own sexual prowess -- a tradition some find liberating and others consider degrading.

How about just plain sad, regardless of whether it's females or males?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 12:08 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

If we could get Lady, Lady Gaga, and Lady Bunny in a studio together, I guarantee that the result would be cataclysmically enjoyable. And by "cataclysmically" I mean that it would probably inspire full-scale revolt and initiate the End Times.

Please also include Ladytron and Lady Sovereign.

Singing Styx's "Lady".
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:08 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

s/bechtel/bechdel/kthx
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:10 PM on April 4, 2011

"Pussy be Yankin" is a truly shit club song no one's going to remember in a couple of months. "Crush on You" has some of the best rhymes Lil' Kim ever made and is in my opinion a classic, and the production value on the video is way higher.
posted by phaedon at 12:11 PM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

Hey! I enjoy sex too!
Why, it's almost as if she can read my innermost thoughts!
posted by Ratio at 12:13 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

I can't help but feel like we've zoomed ten years into the future, and this is really Willow Smith churning her way through body parts, having begun with 'Whip My Hair', saving the best for last.

2010: I whip my hair back and forth
2011: I wiggle my chin laterally above my neck
2013: I push my shoulders forward, then back, repetitively; they bangin'
2015: My arms reach up and forward, fingers hooked like terrible talons
2017: Each breast, of its own accord, points magnetic north, baby baby
2018: My bellybutton become outie, than returns to innie
2019: The Iliac crest of my pelvis fires fragments of bone forward, using organic railgun technology
2020: My pussy be yanking
2021: My thighs amass stardust
2023: The pores upon my calves open up, and exude a scent of cedar
2024: The arch of my foot shelters from wind and rain the myriad creatures which crawl upon the ground
2027: All my chakras align, in unison; I have become the whore and the virgin, the midwife and she who does not bear, the first and the last
2028: All my chakras align, in unison; I have become the whore and the virgin, the midwife and she who does not bear, the first and the last, Remix (feat. Gucci Mane)
posted by Greg Nog at 12:15 PM on April 4, 2011 [221 favorites]

For him, it's just an unforgettable experience that he can't stop talking about even years later.

Well played.

"...I looked dizzily, and beheld a wide expanse of ocean, whose waters wore so inky a hue as to bring at once to my mind the Nubian geographer's account of the Mare Tenebrarum . A panorama more deplorably desolate no human imagination can conceive. ... Just opposite the promontory upon whose apex we were placed, and at a distance of some five or six miles out at sea, there was visible a small, bleak-looking island ; or, more properly, its position was discernible through the wilderness of surge in which it was enveloped. About two miles nearer the land, arose another of smaller size, hideously craggy and barren, and encompassed at various intervals by a cluster of dark rocks."
posted by Ratio at 12:16 PM on April 4, 2011

This dick be impressed. But nervous.
posted by Decani at 12:19 PM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

If there's only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Harry Belafonte cortex to organize MeFi Music Challenge.
posted by Decani at 12:22 PM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

Great post for April 4th. I have been to the moiuntaintop, indeed.
posted by orthogonality at 12:23 PM on April 4, 2011 [5 favorites]

If there's only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Pomplamoose to sing this.

Or to go back in time and have nobody sing this. Ever.
posted by papercake at 12:24 PM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

Also for what it's worth, taken as what it is: a ringtone rapper singing about how she likes to fuck and she's really good at it - I think it's pretty great and as catchy as it needs to be.

The video is a fucking masterpiece though. The men in it serve the purpose that scantily-clad women would in another video: they're ornaments who are pretty much just there to provide eye candy and/or gratification of whatever sort to the singer and her entourage. It gave me a little thrill to see the standard visual language of music videos inverted so.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 12:25 PM on April 4, 2011 [13 favorites]

the difference between liberation and degradation is pretty much the same as the difference between theory and practice
posted by LogicalDash at 12:28 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Paging Chet Pussy. Will Mister Chet Pussy please pick up the white courtesy phone...
posted by djrock3k at 12:29 PM on April 4, 2011

If only there was some way to get Rebecca Black, Jonathan Coulton, Justin Bieber, Henry Rollins, Leonard Cohen, William Shatner, Harry Belafonte, cortex, Pamplemoose and Spongebob Squarepants to collaborate on a cover of this.
posted by unSane at 12:30 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

I don't mind songs about sex, from male or female singers, but I prefer when they use some subtle double entendres. I mean, at least make an effort.
posted by rocket88 at 12:30 PM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

If there's only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Pomplamoose Weird Al 'Yank"ovic to sing this.
posted by pointystick at 12:31 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

I guess equality means being equally full of shit.

It's not really the lyrics (per se) that annoy me*. It's that a video nominally about female "empowerment" is just the same old T&A.. only this time it is on the other side of the leash, so it must be good, right?

It (the video portion) just kind of strikes me as Virginia Slims progress.





*I actually wouldn't have much/any beef (hah) with a very sexual song sung from a female POV, in whatever genera, this particular song.. meh.
posted by edgeways at 12:33 PM on April 4, 2011

I would very much enjoy reading the lyrics to this song.
posted by swift at 12:36 PM on April 4, 2011

I thought How Many Licks was the definitive song of this genre.

Oh, and there's this, which is just not sexy at all.

But this is.
posted by Harry at 12:36 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

This reminds me of one of those SNL parodies.
posted by freakazoid at 12:40 PM on April 4, 2011

The video is a fucking masterpiece though. The men in it serve the purpose that scantily-clad women would in another video: they're ornaments who are pretty much just there to provide eye candy

Meh. In the male equivalent of this kind of video, the men are dressed. These women are scantily dressed and the camera zooms in on their boobs and asses many times. The women are still providing the eye candy in this one. I'd watch it again to double-check my facts but....no.
posted by iconomy at 12:40 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Give me The Baltimore Whores (SLYT) anyday.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:42 PM on April 4, 2011

Honestly, my first thoughts were of pubococcygeus muscles and Angela Viracco's music video from The Last Dragon.
posted by Dodecadermaldenticles at 12:42 PM on April 4, 2011

The video is a fucking masterpiece though. The men in it serve the purpose that scantily-clad women would in another video

Perhaps you're thinking of Ride a White Horse. That's someone else.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:42 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

The video is a fucking masterpiece though. The men in it serve the purpose that scantily-clad women would in another video: they're ornaments who are pretty much just there to provide eye candy and/or gratification of whatever sort to the singer and her entourage. It gave me a little thrill to see the standard visual language of music videos inverted so.

Really? I didn't notice a dearth of scantily-clad sexually available women in this video. The fact that they dropped a couple of dudes in there alongside the hot fries as a sort of halfhearted feminist lip service is hardly revolutionary. It's an attempt to have your cake and eat it.
posted by milk white peacock at 12:42 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Men don't flash muscles and bare torsos in their videos? Seems to me they often do.
posted by hermitosis at 12:43 PM on April 4, 2011

These women are scantily dressed and the camera zooms in on their boobs and asses many times.

True. What jumped out at me though was not the clothing but the levels of agency displayed; this is why the entirety of the sentence you quoted said

they're ornaments who are pretty much just there to provide eye candy and/or gratification of whatever sort to the singer and her entourage.

The womens' relationship with the viewer is the same old horseshit it's always been but what I'm talking about specifically is the role the men play in the visual narrative.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 12:44 PM on April 4, 2011

Ode to Kegel muscles.
posted by youarenothere at 12:49 PM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

Never have the Youtube comments had such a wide range between genius and "Klan rally's over there, pal."
posted by norm at 12:50 PM on April 4, 2011

I don't understand. What does it mean for a pussy (get that bit) to be "yankin'"? Is she talking about the musculature of her ladybits? Is she saying that she has a really strong vagina? Isn't that something that a fellow prefers to find out for himself?
posted by tigrefacile at 12:51 PM on April 4, 2011

Honestly, my first thoughts were of pubococcygeus muscles and Angela Viracco's music video from The Last Dragon.

I was thinking of a completely different video from The Last Dragon for a moment and came to the conclusion that what this world really needs is a woman rapping about how her vulva's got the glow.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 12:52 PM on April 4, 2011

Switch a few words for their male, 1930s counterparts, have an old guy with a guitar singing it, and what's the difference?

Male counterparts?

"Go on, paint up, powder up, put on your swellest clothes
Men: go and get 'em by the score
Neglected girls shouldn't worry
That's what God made sailors for!"
--Sophie Tucker

"I got a bumble bee
don't sting nobody but me
I got a bumble bee don't sting nobody but me
And I tell the world he got all the stinger I need"
--Memphis Minnie

Isn't this a scandal that comes around just about every generation, if not every decade?
posted by KirkJobSluder at 12:53 PM on April 4, 2011 [7 favorites]

I don't understand. What does it mean for a pussy (get that bit) to be "yankin'"?

It's probably derived from 欣 健 so, reading a bit allusively (as I believe is appropriate), so the intended meaning is most likely "joyous erect person".
posted by Wolfdog at 12:56 PM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

Metafilter: the whore and the virgin, the midwife and she who does not bear, the first and the last.
posted by jquinby at 1:05 PM on April 4, 2011

I'm disappointed that this track didn't have a big Miami bass to it. Guess I like my pussy deep.

Quoth her Hotlanta predecessors, "Don't even bang unless you plan to hit somethang."

Any remixes of this out yet? (Though the little bit of strummed guitar in the background did make it a nice shift from the House of the Rising Sun sample in the NHS rap I was just listening to).
posted by klangklangston at 1:09 PM on April 4, 2011

Harry, that is one hell of a sexy video. hoocha!
posted by papercake at 1:10 PM on April 4, 2011

Oooh, I love music videos in which women are aggressively sexual in this empowered (rather than servile) way. My favorite is Ride. I will talk your ear off about the powerful feminist statement Ciara makes in that video if you let me.
posted by prefpara at 1:13 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

My brain keeps trying to parse "Pussy Be Yankin'". It's gone through several contextual permutations and keeps ending up at the same result: vaginal tentacles. Seriously, all it makes me think of is Japanese lady squid porn. "My Pussy Be Yankin', so you best keep your distance."

As a statement, "Pussy Be Yankin'" ranks even with "No Poop in that Ass*" on the scale of eroticism. Both contain suggestive nouns: "Pussy" and Ass", but both fail miserably on the adjective, reducing the statement as a whole to disgusted confusion.


* I totally made that up, but I could see it entering popular parlance.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 1:28 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

2010: I whip my hair back and forth
2011: I wiggle my chin laterally above my neck
2013: I push my shoulders forward, then back, repetitively; they bangin'
2015: My arms reach up and forward, fingers hooked like terrible talons
2017: Each breast, of its own accord, points magnetic north, baby baby
2018: My bellybutton become outie, than returns to innie
2019: The Iliac crest of my pelvis fires fragments of bone forward, using organic railgun technology
2020: My pussy be yanking
2021: My thighs amass stardust
2023: The pores upon my calves open up, and exude a scent of cedar
2024: The arch of my foot shelters from wind and rain the myriad creatures which crawl upon the ground
2027: All my chakras align, in unison; I have become the whore and the virgin, the midwife and she who does not bear, the first and the last
2028: All my chakras align, in unison; I have become the whore and the virgin, the midwife and she who does not bear, the first and the last, Remix (feat. Gucci Mane)

3535: Doing and saying things now in daily pill form.
4545: No teeth or eyes, due to lack of chewable items and nobody looking at each other.
5555: Arms and legs no longer functional, replaced by "some machine".
6565: Gender roles and reproduction replaced by "a long glass tube"
7510: Singularity
8510: Godhead/ apocalypse
posted by Artw at 1:32 PM on April 4, 2011 [11 favorites]

The difference between men and women rapping about their sexual prowess is:

• Men: Their videos feature lots of sexy, half-naked women bumping and grinding
• Women: Their videos feature lots of sexy, half-naked women bumping and grinding

Hey, wait a minute!
posted by Foam Pants at 1:34 PM on April 4, 2011

can female rappers get a break without rapping solely about sex?

She did it.

Example 2.

So did they.

And her. (disclaimer: I have no idea what that song is about.)

I'm sure there are others.
posted by oddman at 1:39 PM on April 4, 2011

It's also worth noting that this song is part of a grand tradition of Pussy Popping songs (Luda, 2 Live Crew, six million weak pimpin' mix tapes).
posted by klangklangston at 1:50 PM on April 4, 2011

It used to be that all that was required to get me to the yard was a milkshake.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:51 PM on April 4, 2011 [15 favorites]

These women are scantily dressed and the camera zooms in on their boobs and asses many times.

I know. It was awful. Awful, I tell you. I had to chastise my dick quite brutally. I believe it would have been even more insupportable had the rampant salaciousness not been leavened with irony and sass.
posted by Decani at 2:09 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

If we could get Lady, Lady Gaga, and Lady Bunny in a studio together, I guarantee that the result would be cataclysmically enjoyable. And by "cataclysmically" I mean that it would probably inspire full-scale revolt and initiate the End Times.

Please also include Ladytron and Lady Sovereign.

What about Ladysmith Black Mambazo? Well, it's got "lady" in there somewhere.

The only thing I don't like about this song is that it features yet another singer that sounds like a goddamn 13 year old. Yick!
posted by NoMich at 2:18 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

If there was only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Pomplamoose Weird Al 'Yank"ovic Gordon Lightfoot to sing this.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:20 PM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

I feel like the issue becomes a lot more interesting when the song in question isn't terrible.
posted by Dr.Enormous at 2:29 PM on April 4, 2011

I would be frightened of it yanking too hard.
posted by unSane at 2:40 PM on April 4, 2011

My new favorite part of this video:

That stack of money she waves around? One of the beefcakes carries it in on a platter. No garnish or anything. Like, "Here is the $11K madame requested. Will there be anything else?"
posted by hermitosis at 2:40 PM on April 4, 2011 [7 favorites]

If there was only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Pomplamoose Weird Al 'Yank"ovic Gordon Lightfoot Taylor Swift to sing this.
posted by norm at 2:42 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

I believe it would have been even more insupportable had the rampant salaciousness not been leavened with irony and sass.

I'm not seeing either the irony or the sass.
posted by iconomy at 2:54 PM on April 4, 2011

I'm not seeing either the irony or the sass.
posted by iconomy at 10:54 PM on April 4

We will now hold a short service of mourning in your honour.
posted by Decani at 2:57 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

If there was only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Pomplamoose Weird Al 'Yank"ovic Gordon Lightfoot Taylor Swift John Ashcroft to sing this.
posted by edgeways at 3:00 PM on April 4, 2011 [6 favorites]

It's possible those are in fact unironic Hot Fries. But the idea that these ladies could have WHATEVER THEY WANT brought to them and they'd still choose to eat pickles and Hot Fries in their "evening" wear strikes me as the product of a very sly sense of humor.
posted by hermitosis at 3:01 PM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

If there was only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Pomplamoose Weird Al 'Yank"ovic Gordon Lightfoot Taylor Swift John Ashcroft Noël Coward to sing this.
posted by Grangousier at 3:19 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

If there was only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Pomplamoose Weird Al 'Yank"ovic Gordon Lightfoot Taylor Swift John Ashcroft Noël Coward Eve Libertine to sing this.
posted by whir at 3:31 PM on April 4, 2011

I wish Lady well in this and all her future endeavors, but what I'd really like to learn more about is the women featured in this video who aren't Lady.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:39 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

That's funny, I've been listening to nasty female rappers this week.

It was around before Kim:
Bytches With Problems
Hoes With Attitudes
posted by PHINC at 3:57 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

And so it came to pass that in 2011, all new song titles were taken from iPhone text message autopredict errors.
posted by tumid dahlia at 4:14 PM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

If there was only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Pomplamoose Weird Al Yankovic Gordon Lightfoot Taylor Swift John Ashcroft Noël Coward Eve Libertine the rotting corpse of Grover Cleveland to sing this.
posted by NoMich at 4:18 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

If there was only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Pomplamoose Weird Al Yankovic Gordon Lightfoot Taylor Swift John Ashcroft Noël Coward Eve Libertine the rotting corpse of Grover Cleveland BEA ARTHUR to sing this.
posted by hermitosis at 4:27 PM on April 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

This little classic seems relevant.

The sexist, misogynist, patriarchal ways of thinking and behaving that are glorified in gangsta rap are a reflection of the prevailing values in our society, values created and sustained by white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. As the crudest and most brutal expression of sexism, misogynistic attitudes tend to be portrayed by the dominant culture as an expression of male deviance.

...

One cannot answer them honestly without placing accountability on larger structures of domination and the individuals (often white, usually male but not always) who are hierarchically placed to maintain and perpetuate the values that uphold these exploitative and oppressive systems. That means taking a critical looking at the politics of hedonistic consumerism, the values of the men and women who produce gangsta rap. It would mean considering the seduction of young black males who find that they can make more money producing lyrics that promote violence, sexism, and misogyny than with any other content. How many disenfranchised black males would not surrender to expressing virulent forms of sexism, if they knew the rewards would be unprecedented material power and fame?

hooks' piece is on misogynist gangsta rap, but the point that songs like this are much less expressions of the artist's "real feelings" than they are products the artist knows will sell is, I think, transferable. Society creates the conditions within which an artist can be popular, and the savvy artist knows what they have to do to be heard and to make money. This kind of art is less about self-expression than it is about business.
posted by skwt at 4:52 PM on April 4, 2011 [5 favorites]

If there was only some way to get Rebecca Black Jonathan Coulton Justin Bieber Henry Rollins Leonard Cohen William Shatner Pomplamoose Weird Al Yankovic Gordon Lightfoot Taylor Swift John Ashcroft Noël Coward Eve Libertine the rotting corpse of Grover Cleveland BEA ARTHUR Kenny G to sing this.
posted by anigbrowl at 5:05 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

If we could get Lady, Lady Gaga, and Lady Bunny in a studio together, I guarantee that the result would be cataclysmically enjoyable.

Only if they did a cover of "Lady" by Styx.
posted by jonmc at 5:13 PM on April 4, 2011

skwt: This kind of art is less about self-expression than it is about business.

I know I'm a music-industry cynic, but until the Marxist revolution succeeds, show business is likely to always be a business. Did anyone with a clue really believe that an oversexed Italian housewife would give you "everything" if you "Come ona (her) House"?
posted by KirkJobSluder at 5:40 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Only if they did a cover of "Lady" by Styx.

Or, indeed, Dark Lady by The Scorpions.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:43 PM on April 4, 2011

Oddly, all that came to mind when I was listening to that was how similar it was to a lot of early blues. Switch a few words for their male, 1930s counterparts, have an old guy with a guitar singing it, and what's the difference?inspired this cover
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:55 PM on April 4, 2011

i cant believe nobody has commented on her awful helium voice
posted by liza at 6:06 PM on April 4, 2011

liza: "i cant believe nobody has commented on her awful helium voic"

I was just about to comment on that. Cripes that was annoying.

I couldn't finish the video for that, never mind that the song basically sucked. How many times do you need to repeat that your pussy be yankin' anyway?

That's why I like Queen Latifah's track U.N.I.T.Y.:

U.N.I.T.Y., Love a black man from (You got to let him know)
infinity to infinity (You ain't a bitch or a ho)
posted by bwg at 6:22 PM on April 4, 2011

This is shit.

I said it yesterday, I'll say it again - you can download Dominique Young Unique's two free fucking albums - that's the best damn girl rap you can get right now. An 18-year-old nobody from Tampa with mad skills - I've listened to it like 1500 times now and I never get tired of it.
posted by fungible at 6:29 PM on April 4, 2011 [15 favorites]

Only if they did a cover of "Lady" by Styx.

Or, indeed, Dark Lady by The Scorpions.

Why would all these various creative "ladies" need to cover men's songs? I'd be more interested in what they came up with on their own.
posted by hermitosis at 6:33 PM on April 4, 2011

Oddly, all that came to mind when I was listening to that was how similar it was to a lot of early blues. Switch a few words for their male, 1930s counterparts, have an old guy with a guitar singing it, and what's the difference?

linked it wrong. Tik Tok blues cover i inspired
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:00 PM on April 4, 2011

I'd be more interested in what they came up with on their own.

Even if written and performed by a woman, one might say that "Pussy Be Yankin'" is mostly defined by male expectations and anticipations, as much as a Styx or Scorpions song about what they love about women.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:09 PM on April 4, 2011

you can download Dominique Young Unique's two free fucking albums - that's the best damn girl rap you can get right now.

I'd favorite this multiple times if it let me. It's not the best thing I've heard in my entire life, but it is damn good. I hope she gets some exposure and breaks out.
posted by Forktine at 7:39 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wow. Way to miss a joke, guys.
posted by jonmc at 8:24 PM on April 4, 2011

Even if written and performed by a woman, one might say that "Pussy Be Yankin'" is mostly defined by male expectations and anticipations, as much as a Styx or Scorpions song about what they love about women.

Oh kinda like how "The Notebook" was written by a man?
posted by hal_c_on at 9:12 PM on April 4, 2011

She's no Louise Bogan (very NSFW lyrics)
posted by LucretiusJones at 9:18 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Nor is Lucille Bogan. Oh, edit button, how I wish for thee.
posted by LucretiusJones at 9:20 PM on April 4, 2011

Her pussy may or may not be yankin', but she's got all the presence of a Ramen noodle. Lady needs lessons.
posted by eugenen at 10:09 PM on April 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

It's no Shave 'em dry (NSFW)
posted by zippy at 11:12 PM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

(Doh, searched the thread for the title, not the artist)
posted by zippy at 11:13 PM on April 4, 2011

The Ladies will perform "Lay lady, lay" in an advertisement for Lay's Potato Chips.
posted by zippy at 11:18 PM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Nice tater reference, there.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:22 PM on April 4, 2011

This is why I like Nicki Minaj, when I hear her on the radio her wordplay usually makes me laugh. It's refreshing to not hear about something other than being really good at sex (Rhianna.) but if it's not that then the other thing women are allowed to say is "I am superior to other women." Even though Nicki Minaj does that she gets a pass because she does it in a way that amuses me.
posted by amethysts at 12:51 AM on April 5, 2011

Another fine "lady" ringtone song: Khia's Be Your Lady. She wants to have my baby, meet my mother, cook me dinner, and fold my clothes. Indescribable.
posted by Theiform at 2:48 AM on April 5, 2011

Otherwise talentless wannabe pop star promotes raunchy song to grab fifteen minutes of fame? Colour me shocked. Whatever will they think of next?
posted by joannemullen at 4:31 AM on April 5, 2011

And, those of us working with young, African American students, attempting to prepare them for the world they are about to enter, watch this and think that the cultural pressure to be this type of woman is too strong to overcome.....
posted by tomswift at 4:44 AM on April 5, 2011

I know there’s a Nina Simone cover of it linked upthread, but here’s Bessie Smith doing Sugar in My Bowl. Any advance on 1931 in the “nothing new under the sun” stakes?
posted by him at 5:25 AM on April 5, 2011

It gets really weird when German Industrial/EBM stops talking about war and tanks and starts taking on this topic.

Shaven cunts fuck much more horny! (sfw)
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 6:26 AM on April 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

@zippy I just got to this thread and it took all my strength to read its entirety before I posted Shave Em Dry. It is my favorite favorite favorite!
posted by psylosyren at 8:19 AM on April 5, 2011

@LucretiusJones I really did read the thread all the way through. I too looked for the title, not the artist. Oop.
posted by psylosyren at 8:25 AM on April 5, 2011

I have no idea how this woman got her cat wedged into her yanker, or why.
posted by malocchio at 8:25 AM on April 5, 2011

the cultural pressure to be this type of woman is too strong to overcome.....

They can't all become Condoleezza Rice...
posted by hermitosis at 8:52 AM on April 5, 2011

And her. (disclaimer: I have no idea what that song is about.)

I'm sure there are others.

Monie Love: "Makin sure you get the full entire view of who's to blame at the end of the game"

Da Brat: "hittin switches like Eric on the solo creep"

MC Lyte: "the word ultimate, i'm here to take the title"

Shaven cunts fuck much more horny! (sfw)

I want to work where you do.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:26 AM on April 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just to explore the historical context the, video for Totally Nude Island, by The Superions is four minutes of vintage cheesecake and beefcake (brief clips of B&W nudist videos.)
posted by KirkJobSluder at 3:04 PM on April 5, 2011

Smell the Glove.
posted by Scoo at 3:31 PM on April 5, 2011

I prefer this.
posted by emhutchinson at 6:28 PM on April 5, 2011

Um, is the backing track the riff from "Jolene"?
posted by oinopaponton at 8:25 AM on April 6, 2011

I see Khia got mentioned. Trina should be in here too.

I said it yesterday, I'll say it again - you can download Dominique Young Unique's two free fucking albums - that's the best damn girl rap you can get right now.

Oh Rye Rye and Azealia would beg to differ!
posted by cashman at 1:01 PM on April 6, 2011

Okay, I don't know if anyone is still reading this, but yesterday was my birthday and so my friends and I decided to paint our top lips silver and our bottom lips gold before going out, just like in "Yankin." I tweeted a pic to Lady, and she not only responded, she wrote me asking where we got our lipstick.

Best. Birthday. Ever.
posted by hermitosis at 4:21 PM on April 8, 2011 [7 favorites]

I think Twerk is better but then again I also miss Foxy Brown - Hot Spot was my JAM.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 1:50 PM on April 9, 2011

I don't think anyone has yet mentioned Shunda K or her former (awesome) group Yo Majesty.
posted by mrgrimm at 3:22 PM on April 11, 2011