Generic Rap Song

January 15, 2004 11:19 AM

Generic Rap Song by Princeton student.An excellent undergrad piece that lampoons the current state of rap music. Includes a satirical rap song (complete with downloadable MP3, streaming audio, downloadable DivX video, and streaming RealVideo) and an analysis of each verse. Even an essay that compares the satire in the piece with some 200 year-old satire ("A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift). Amazing, accurate, and funny as all get out.
posted by timbley (52 comments total)

Wow, the lyrics are hilarious....especially the 50 Cent and Chingy parts. I'll download the song when I get home from work, but thanks for the link.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:31 AM on January 15, 2004

The video segment of this verse exaggerates Lil' Romeo’s age by placing him at Chuck E. Cheese, an attraction best known for 2 to 8 year-olds. Romeo shows off his nice clothes and expensive jewelry as he rides a merry-go-round. Along with making an attack on his age in general, this segment works to expose the philosophical enigma that is Lil’ Romeo’s existence. Seeing this 11-year-old thug on a Barney the Dinosaur ride is meant to leave the viewer is thinking, "Lil' Romeo doesn’t know if he's the kid he wants to be or the gangster his father has built him to be."
posted by Aaorn at 11:32 AM on January 15, 2004

About as funny as I'd guess most Princeton undergraduate English papers to be (not very). His class assignment seems to have centered on the definition of satire, which he struggles to grasp, failing. In fact his song is the most rank form of parody -- derision through imitation, without the exposure of vice. Worse yet, it is overwhelmingly witless.

Were I his English professor, I'd fail him for misusing "Generic" in the title. This piece is the opposite (he parodies a series of specific radio stars).

Also, I am kind of a grumpy asshole today! If you are finding any enjoyment in this song, please don't let me get in your way.
posted by damehex at 12:09 PM on January 15, 2004

1) A joke about a fat kid eating cake is not as socially objectionable as a white guy making a joke about black people eating fried chicken for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that obese people were never indentured slaves who were seen as less than human.

2) It's possible to be from Jamaica and not actually be black, despite what your friendly neighbourhood nation-and-race-are-the-same-thing pundint might tell you. Believe it or not, there are white people who are born in various locales around the world, even outside of North America and Western Europe. Now, I have no real knowledge of Sean Paul's upbringing, so it's possible he's not Jamaican, but the piece itself hardly presents any real proof above and beyond the fact that he is white.

3) An unfounded attack early in the examination of the lyrics, calling the rappers "delusional" because they're rapping about wealth is in poor form and serves only to discredit the writer(s) of the piece.

4) Also, I'm not quite sure I understand the criticism of 50 cent, as it's put forth in this piece. The first criticism seems to be that his good beat production is the product of working with Dr. Dre, a renowned beatologist, who majored in beats at the school of hard knocks. This is clearly not a hidden association and 50 Cent is not claiming to be producing these beats himself, which leaves one to wonder what the problem is with this. Rappers, by definition, rap; they don't necessarily, or even all that often, produce beats, even the best of them. It's not the same thing as a "musician" who claims to write their own music and clearly does not.

There also seems to be a strange reaction by many non-rap listeners to 50 Cent in regard to his tumultuous past. People seem to be up in arms over the fact that he was shot a number of times and has admitted to dealing drugs at a young age (10-12) in order to survive on the streets. This is often scoffed at and reduced to some inane triviality of "street cred"--on the other hand, when someone who is clearly not from the "street" raps about being from the "street" (see: Ja Rule) he is derided for it.

Some of the lesser parodies--Snoop's reduction to a for-shizzel-nizzel cameo appearance, Chingy's capitalization on a decidedly Ludacris-esque rap-style, etc.--are moderately funny but ultimately shallow and obvious parodies with no deep social conscience, despite the lofty claims made by the author(s).

Comparing it to A Modest Proposal because they both have some of the same features is like saying The Godfather and Encino Man are equivalent movies because they both have people acting on film. I am left to wonder if perhaps these claims, themselves, are not in fact a parody of a parody, but that might be giving it too much credit.

At best, it reminded me of an average Saturday Night Live piece.
posted by The God Complex at 12:12 PM on January 15, 2004

That should read pundit.
posted by The God Complex at 12:14 PM on January 15, 2004

ah. now i thought the whole thing was a satirical attack on princeton students.
posted by andrew cooke at 12:18 PM on January 15, 2004

Lord that was amsuingly terrible. I did like the Sean Paul bit though ^_^
posted by Mossy at 12:25 PM on January 15, 2004

The video sucked. Definitely Mad TV-grade material. More amusing than the video is reading through the essay that tries to explain why the video is a satire in the same sense that "A modest proposal" is a satire. The writer is wrong - the video's a parody, the essay's a satire. I also thought Princeton Students were supposed to be able to write coherently, but I suppose these aren't ordinary Princeton students.

Anyhow, if they were trying to write a satire in Swift's style, the video should have been so objectionable that it would have been almost painful to watch. I would suggest adding vulgar ethnic slurs and mass murders, references to slavery and cannabalism, and a total sense of obliviousness that the events in the video are anything but the natural state of things. It's very possible to go through half of Swift's "A Modest Proposal" without even realizing that it's a satire, and being just horrified (that's what happened in my freshman english class in high school, I was the only one who "got the joke" before the teacher told us it was a satire.) This video, however, is so transparently a parody, and so lacking in purpose (does it say anything truly important? Fuck no! Does Swift's writing say anything truly important? Fuck yes!) that it really doesn't fit the parameters of the assignment.
posted by Veritron at 12:40 PM on January 15, 2004

I suppose the confusion between satire and parody is accurate. Still, in second year, there was no way I would have had the time (or ability) to put forth the obvious effort this required. I give them an A on effort alone. Much better than the icy hot stuntaz.

And, come on... "J'Lo" is cute. Admit it.
posted by timbley at 12:41 PM on January 15, 2004

so God Complex, you didn't like it, huh?
posted by xmutex at 12:42 PM on January 15, 2004

just to play for the home team for a mo (i'm a white male graduate, after all) - doesn't swift (i haven't read anything he's written, afaik) have it somewhat easier? he's a Respected Cultural Icon. i wonder if his contemporaries criticised his heavy-handed parody, pointing to whatever people were reading at school then as a good example of what satire should be (hmm - so i'm assuming swift didn't invent the whole genre?)

maybe i'm confused too about the difference between satire and parody - is there really a clear line? (and can i toss in the observation that i'm also confused by arts students that see clear distinctions like this in the arts and then declare that all scientific knowledge is relative and arbitrary, but that's another (tedious) thread...(sorry))

she is cute. but she does have a big bum. these things matter.
posted by andrew cooke at 12:54 PM on January 15, 2004

Large buttocks are pleasing to me, nor am I able to lie concerning this matter.
posted by timbley at 1:06 PM on January 15, 2004

Large buttocks are pleasing to me, nor am I able to lie concerning this matter.

That's what I thought when reading this, Timbley. I can't decide which one is worse.
posted by eastlakestandard at 1:10 PM on January 15, 2004

A worthwhile chuckle. Thanks, timbley.
posted by squirrel at 1:37 PM on January 15, 2004

Oh lord timbley, that link is priceless. It's got me looking at the latin dictionary on my desk and feeling guilty. Dammit.

J Lo reminds me of Willow from Buffy for some reason. Odd.
posted by Mossy at 1:37 PM on January 15, 2004

haha, this is why i come to metafilter. really funny. i especially liked the snoop verse:


Fo shizzle dizzle
P-Yizzle’s in the hizzle
Wit the Snoopy D-o-double-gizzle
I’m addin izzles to wizzes all dizzle… so they don’t have to rhyzzle
Buy my “Girls Gone Wizzle” Vizzle… it’s the shizzle

posted by jcruelty at 1:51 PM on January 15, 2004

i skimmed through this seeing as though it was clear early on that what was supposed to be satire was simply jim carey on "in living color" impersonating vanilla ice many years ago. even though i just breezed through it, two things stuck out:

first -- sean paul is from jamaica, and yes, it's possible to be from jamaica and not be black. the motto of the country is "out of many one people" after all.

second -- how is "i love you like a black dude loves fried chicken" a satirical take on "i love you like a fat kid loves cake?"

oh how my blood boils.
posted by h00dini at 2:07 PM on January 15, 2004

It's also interesting to note that the authors used "black dude" where the original artist (50 Cent) would most likely have used "nigga".
posted by botono9 at 2:22 PM on January 15, 2004

I couldn't help but comparing these playa's approach to academia with my own. They go to a highpriced and respected private university where writing crude forms of parody passes for satire. I attend a underfunded and unheard of state university where we are expected to write essays that show our understanding of the terms "parody" and "satire" and show how Swift is the latter. Swift, in A Modest Proposal is making a critique of the way Britain was running the Irish economy and reducing the Irish to virtual serfdom. His proposal was to sell and eat the poor children in order to provide food and profit. Swift then contrasts his suggestion with an actual solution - to create an independent Irish economy, but dismisses this idea as spurious and inferior to the industry of making children into link sausages. That is satire. What, if anything is this "rap song" criticizing? particular performers? The media industry? The form itself? This isn't a critique, it's a ham-handed parody.

It's sad to think this is what passes for course work at one of America's top universities. I wouldn't really care if they were just having fun, but the fpp seems to imply that they may have down this within confines of a classroom setting.

Yo'
posted by elwoodwiles at 2:59 PM on January 15, 2004

I didn't like this free content and it's important to me to explain to you why.
posted by Hildago at 3:18 PM on January 15, 2004

I would suggest adding vulgar ethnic slurs and mass murders, references to slavery and cannabalism, and a total sense of obliviousness that the events in the video are anything but the natural state of things.

*takes notes*
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:21 PM on January 15, 2004

Also, that video has a writhing coed touching herself on, I think, a day bed or a sofa. I frankly don't see what you guys are bitching about.
posted by Hildago at 3:25 PM on January 15, 2004

My o my, relax. this is just an undergraduate paper. I wrote worse stuff at the beginning of my studies at uni.
posted by heimchen at 3:26 PM on January 15, 2004

I didn't like this free content and it's important to me to explain to you why.

Because it reflects poorly on us as a whole if we let poorly-executed satire pass as in any way clever. Now stop complaining about my freely supplied content, you scamp. Besides, it's no different than commenting negatively on absolutely anything ever posted here.
posted by The God Complex at 3:35 PM on January 15, 2004

That was absolutely terrible. My friends and I recorded a more funny song about our other friend who got drunk and passed out one time. I feel like I'm totally blind or something but I can't seem to find the description of the actual assignment... is it on there somewhere? It doesn't say what grade they got... I wouldn't assume this is an example of Princeton's best work.
posted by swank6 at 4:13 PM on January 15, 2004

Jonathan Swift's "Modest Proposal" is satire.

Weird Al Yankovic's "All About the Pentiums" is parody.

Princeton students don't get to write for the Harvard Lampoon.

Next week: charting "comedy", "humor", "wit" and "term papers" on an intellectual index.
posted by wendell at 4:44 PM on January 15, 2004

I'm with Hildago. I don't see how some of y'all can get so worked up about a bunch of undergrads who did a sendup of rap music.

With all the throbbing blood vessels in this thread, and all the references to which hoity-toity school it came from, one might gather that there's a chunk of classist resentment here. Bring it to the ballot box.

I wonder how differently the responses here would have been if these guys had been from Podunk U. Don't bother to hammer back with NO DIFFERENCE, just remember to breathe.
posted by squirrel at 4:44 PM on January 15, 2004

Because it reflects poorly on us as a whole if we let poorly-executed satire pass as in any way clever.

Whereas sounding like the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons makes the community appear devilishly urbane.

"They owe me!"

Besides, it's no different than commenting negatively on absolutely anything ever posted here.

So why are threads like these always angrier and more bilious even than political threads? Why is it that when some amateur humorist produces free content for you, it's ok to act like a jackass if you don't like it, whereas if CNN produces a piece, we have to maintain community standards or else it gets hauled in to metatalk? (sometimes).

I'd say there's a double-standard here, that somehow it's more acceptable to pick on posts like this than on others.

And the bottom line is, of course, that if you don't like something, you're not obliged to tell everyone what you think about it. Posts are not necessarily referendums on the quality of the content. For example, this thread could have been about the state of the music industry, or whether the students were wrong in their conclusions about it, but instead it ended up being a lot of unnecessary noise.

One other point: threads like this discourage people from sharing what they find funny. I'd rather people felt free to post things than afraid that they were going to be piled on by people who disagreed with them.
posted by Hildago at 4:54 PM on January 15, 2004

I didn't like this free content and it's important to me to explain to you why.

No criticism without compensation!
posted by inpHilltr8r at 5:00 PM on January 15, 2004

Because it reflects poorly on us as a whole if we let poorly-executed satire pass as in any way clever.

Whereas sounding like the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons makes the community appear devilishly urbane.

Zing!
posted by squirrel at 5:11 PM on January 15, 2004

Princeton students don't get to write for the Harvard Lampoon.

What do you mean by this?
posted by oaf at 5:14 PM on January 15, 2004

Has anybody got Triumph the comic insult dog's new album? Now thats just mean.
posted by Mossy at 5:16 PM on January 15, 2004

Whereas sounding like the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons makes the community appear devilishly urbane.

It was a joke, which I'm sure you actually picked up from my calling you a scamp and pointing out the irony of you decrying my free content.

So why are threads like these always angrier and more bilious even than political threads?

This one definitely isn't.

Why is it that when some amateur humorist produces free content for you, it's ok to act like a jackass if you don't like it, whereas if CNN produces a piece, we have to maintain community standards or else it gets hauled in to metatalk? (sometimes).

First of all, the fact that's it free doesn't mean it isn't open to criticism. People who write academic papers rarely get paid, but that doesn't mean they're free to run at the mouth about whatever they want, with little or--as is the case often in that paper--no factual basis, without anyone saying anything because they were so nice to produce it for free. We're talking about a juvenile parody that, among other things, insinuates that Sean Paul isn't Jamaican because he's white.

So you think we'd be better off if everyone guffawed and those who didn't enjoy it just shut up? That's fine, and you can continue to operate under that guideline if you'd like. Personally, though, when something like that is posed to the community as "amazing, accurate, and funny as all get out", I have little or no problem with people assessing the work and critiquing it.

As for CNN, please tell me you're joking. I don't know where you'd possibly get the idea that people don't disagree with a CNN piece and/or critique the style of its presentation. If someone posted an op-ed piece full of factual inaccuracies and thinly-veiled ignorance I'd certainly be fine with people taking it to task.

or whether the students were wrong in their conclusions about it,

So because they happen to realize that the top 40 music industry sucks, for the most part, we just give them a free pass regardless of the content of what is presented?

One other point: threads like this discourage people from sharing what they find funny. I'd rather people felt free to post things than afraid that they were going to be piled on by people who disagreed with them.

Usually I agree with that, but I didn't, and don't, think this is a simple case of either funny or not funny. It's not a little flash presentation. It's a paper putting forth ideas and it happens to use humour as part of its medium. That's a very different thing, in my mind.
posted by The God Complex at 5:55 PM on January 15, 2004

jesus, some of y'all sound very insecure with regards to the princeton thing. who cares if students from princeton did this vs students from podunk u?
posted by jcruelty at 5:57 PM on January 15, 2004

i fail to see how the god complex is acting like a jackass. he had some complaints about the "satire" and addressed them, instead of just churning out a snarky one-liner. i appreciate that, and i have to say that after reading what he has to say i wholeheartedly agree with him.
posted by joedan at 6:34 PM on January 15, 2004

hmm, well. I actualy lauged at the song and the video, although it's obviously a parody, not satire.

I also thought the girl they got to be J-lo was fucking hot.
posted by delmoi at 7:10 PM on January 15, 2004

i fail to see how the god complex is acting like a jackass

I meant to use the general "you", not referring to TGC or anyone else specifically.
posted by Hildago at 7:18 PM on January 15, 2004

It was a joke, which I'm sure you actually picked up from my calling you a scamp and pointing out the irony of you decrying my free content.

And I'm sure you don't mind me telling you it wasn't a very funny joke, considering the thread we're in.

Ha ha, no, actually I was joking too, and was also joking in the last sentence. Comedy is tough on the web.

don't know where you'd possibly get the idea that people don't disagree with a CNN piece and/or critique the style of its presentation.

Don't know where you got that idea either. People disagree with CNN pieces all the time. I'm simply saying that it seems to be more acceptable to be nasty when it's somebody's personal site, which to me seems backwards.

So because they happen to realize that the top 40 music industry sucks, for the most part, we just give them a free pass regardless of the content of what is presented?

No, what I'm saying is that broaching the topic gives metafilter a chance to defend or attack that position, or discuss any number of other things, rather than just saying "it wasn't funny" or "it was funny," which is what we did. Wasted opportunity, and wasted by bitching and moaning, which is doubly annoying.

insinuates that Sean Paul isn't Jamaican because he's white.

Oh, please. That's not why people are in here complaining about it. They're complaining because they didn't find it funny. But a lot of people don't find a lot of things funny, and why do they think everyone deserves their opinion about it?

Usually I agree with that, but I didn't, and don't, think this is a simple case of either funny or not funny. It's not a little flash presentation. It's a paper putting forth ideas and it happens to use humour as part of its medium. That's a very different thing, in my mind.

Either it's a serious scholarly effort, in which case the humor content in it is unimportant, or it's a dopey little college web humor, in which case, cut it some slack. Can't have it both ways.
posted by Hildago at 7:38 PM on January 15, 2004

reading the lyrics, it was funny. but the actual song is HORRIBLE.
posted by mcsweetie at 7:48 PM on January 15, 2004

i don't think anyone here expressed any insecurity about it being from princeton....the main point is that this was an obviously serious final paper that was posted here as an example of "accurate satire", when it's neither accurate, nor satire.
posted by h00dini at 7:55 PM on January 15, 2004

They're complaining because they didn't find it funny.

I thought the song/video was funny (for the most part) but including a paper spelling out the "satire" and doing a poor job of it killed it for me.
posted by turaho at 8:00 PM on January 15, 2004

Oh, please. That's not why people are in here complaining about it. They're complaining because they didn't find it funny. But a lot of people don't find a lot of things funny, and why do they think everyone deserves their opinion about it?

That's why it's not funny. Satire--or in this case parody--isn't all that clever, even funny, if the basis of the humour is both inaccurate and often logically invalid or unsound. At least that's why I didn't like it: a lot of it rubbed me the wrong way. Trust me, I normally don't travel around threads centered around something funny in order to let everyone know how lame I thought it was.

Either it's a serious scholarly effort, in which case the humor content in it is unimportant, or it's a dopey little college web humor, in which case, cut it some slack. Can't have it both ways.

I think it was #2 parading around as #1.
posted by The God Complex at 10:26 PM on January 15, 2004

The God Complex, you make some good points. I guess your original comments just seemed out of proportion, particularly in the context of the critical comments of some others.

I don't see how undergraduate creative projects trigger the rigor-enhancer in some people's critical faculties. What tips you off that it's time to sit up and expect greatness? Is it the undergraduate part? The creative project part?

Personally, I have the oposite reaction.
posted by squirrel at 10:39 PM on January 15, 2004

Can't we all just agree that the chick in the video is hot?
posted by xmutex at 10:41 PM on January 15, 2004

I don't see how undergraduate creative projects trigger the rigor-enhancer in some people's critical faculties. What tips you off that it's time to sit up and expect greatness? Is it the undergraduate part? The creative project part?

I think it was the whole look-how-great-this-is thing and then reading it with increasing disappointment. Also, I'm an undergrad myself, so I'm probably harder on them than I should be. It just rubbed me the wrong way is all.
posted by The God Complex at 10:47 PM on January 15, 2004

Can't we all just agree that the chick in the video is hot?

Word.
posted by squirrel at 10:48 PM on January 15, 2004

Off topic trivia: Since Sean Paul's ethnic status seems to have been made into an issue - his surname is Henriques, a rather distinguished Jewish family. Apparently his father's forebears are Portuguese Sephardim, who emigrated to the island in the 1600s.

[insert obligatory reference to popular Portuguese Mefite here]
posted by jack_mo at 4:33 AM on January 16, 2004

obvious
posted by Dr_Octavius at 6:18 AM on January 16, 2004

The easiest way to generate 30+ comments on a thread in Metafilter is to suggest that the FPP is either "funny" or "original" or "creative".

Of course, 75% or more of said thread will be negative, but at least people are reading your stuff, and more importantly, commenting on it.

Which, of course, is the *REAL* reason that most people post a FPP for in the first place, isn't it?

I always feel kinda bad for the posters that their FPP only have single digit comments.

For those of you who are about to squawk about how that runs contrary to what MeFi is supposed to be, I'd agree, but everyone knows that's not what actually occurs.
posted by Ynoxas at 8:04 AM on January 16, 2004

Okay, so how many of you are still feeling the burn from getting rejected by Princeton?

Sheesh, get over it already. ;-)

Word.
posted by Fofer at 1:35 PM on January 18, 2004

You know what is funny? I don't even understand how metafilter's "point" (what is FPP?) system works. I guess if I get more comments on my post, then that is good in some measured way. But I see nothing on my profile, and nothing anywhere else that seems to tell me how good my links are. At least on linkfilter, there is an obvious "experience points" counter. On Mefi, I have no clue how good my post is.
posted by timbley at 9:33 AM on January 19, 2004

FPP means only Front Page Post. Matt dislikes the use of the term FPP for just the confusion you're expressing, timbley. As in life, there is no point system, as far as I know.
posted by squirrel at 9:43 AM on January 19, 2004