This week, when I was listening to my podcast, “Still Processing,” they talked about a song that I have not given much thought to, pretty much ever. First of all, this podcast rocks because they talk about our culture and how it impacts us on a daily basis. Specifically, they were talking about the song Pony by Ginuwine. When you really analyze the lyrics, yes, it is a guy interested in having sex, but he only speaks about having intercourse in a consensual manner.
Why does this matter? Well, first of all, this song is incredibly popular, disproving the fact that songs using respectful rhetoric cannot be popular in the main stream. Secondly, this song is old. The entire song talks about if the girl is interested then it will happen. It came out in 1996. In 2018, we are talking about consent so little, so imagine how much less it was discussed in the 90’s. Yet, this song still defies all odds and becomes a catchy hit with respect meanings. Never listen to anyone that tells you that things were different back then. This song is proof that, ten years ago, people were still capable of being decent human beings too.
So why, then, do we consistently hear songs all around us that are not only disrespectful, but sometimes, when you truly listen to the lyrics, they are downright horrific? For example, the Future and Rick Ross song, “You Don’t Even Know It.” In this song, Rick Ross straight up says “put a Molly in her champagne she don’t even know it.” He is outright talking about drugging a girl without her having any awareness of what is happening. It goes on to say, “I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it.” So not only is he talking about drugging a girl, he is also talking about having nonconsensual sex and enjoying it. May I also add this song made number 20 on the Billboard 100 list.
If nothing else, let this be a lesson to critically analyze the music you consume more closely.