Young Money

Drake dropped the new video for his latest single "Over" just a few days ago and as an advocate for his lush throaty rap I feel it's my duty to share it with you.



Currently "Over" is working out as a bit of a grower: it certainly doesn't strike me with tingles of excitement in the way that "Best I Ever Had" did and yet there's something soothing about the streaks of light juddering in the video, the constant builds, the shrieks of the strings. To be honest, Drake could do a voice-over for Pingu and I'd still love it.

On a Young Money note, Barbie wannabe and Usher groupie Nicki Minaj recently attracted some venom in the form of a Guardian music blog on "the rise of the titillating female rapper".
I read this piece with interest and can't help but agree with the author: it seems that "the shift in expectations of women has led to a new reality: a successful female artist must not only be talented, but also able to titillate the gaze of an assumed male viewer."

Don't get me wrong: I massively enjoyed Minaj doing it for the girls with Young Money and doing it to get the girls with Usher, her lyrics are blinders and her delivery slicker than your average, but Latoya Peterson makes a fair point. Not only are women like Minaj (and Kelis before her) asserting a large degree of male aggression in their approach, their overt sexuality in the pelvic grinding, wide eyed blinking and cleavage shots favoured by the former surely only serves to enforce weak female stereotypes rather than breaking new ground and providing the pop world with strong female role models. Where's Lauryn Hill when you need her eh?

Peterson's conclusion resonates strongly: "while the same tropes still hold, one can only hope that eventually the increasing female representation in rap will lead to women challenging the norms of the male-dominated space, not just performing in it."

Let's just hope that there are women out there who, rather than being inspired to strip to teeny tiny knickers and get their boobs out, are inspired by the likes of Minaj to prove that there are women who can be successful without becoming a cheap gimmick of an age old stereotype.


© Miranda Thompson 2010
DISCLAIMER: The video links hosted on my blog are not being presented as my own. If you believe that the copyright in your work has been violated through this post, please contact me through the blog.

Get Yo Freak On

New Usher, and godddayum it's hot stuff.



Lolloping with the fierce intensity of a panther on the prowl, this tune is fit and doesn't it bloody well know it. It's all about the sapphic for Usher this time around, with the essential premise being that if girls want to get down and dirty with him, they've got to be prepared to get down and dirty with each other. I'm absoutely loving the heavy beats of the bassline, highlighted by the dark, grimey shadows of the video, which traces Usher's latest conquest's introduction to his sex dungeon (to put it plainly).

For some reason music videos for songs about menage a trois really love hanging girls off monkey bars ...a not so discreet reference to the sexual playground available to those who come in threes.

Nicki Minaj of Young Money fame pops up to spit her pimping part, and my, does she have a classy turn of phrase:
"Excuse me little mama but you could say I'm on duty
I'm lookin for a cutie a real big ole' ghetto booty
I really like your kitty kat and if you let me touch her
I know you not a bluffer.. . I'll take you to go see Usher"

With badger striped hair like that, who could refuse?

The track is also structured around a reworking of the classic "Living For the City" by the legend himself, Stevie Wonder, a tune I'm afraid to say I hadn't heard before stumbling across Usher's efforts. Have a listen and see if you can match the two up



© Miranda Thompson 2010
DISCLAIMER: The video links hosted on my blog are not being presented as my own. If you believe that the copyright in your work has been violated through this post, please contact me through the blog.