Misogynist Lyrics Still Not Novel or Groundbreaking

Their inclusion on the Pitchfork bill spurred Coleen Norton, Prevention and Education Manager at Between Friends Chicago and other advocates to take action. Rather than picketing the concert with signs, which would have provided Tyler and his band of Angry Lost Boys with the scary foil they so wanted to confront, they handed out fans and distributed information to those interested in learning about the services the organization provides. Norton considers their efforts a success. She says,

We passed out 7,000 fans throughout the weekend and were constantly getting thanked by people for being there. We really didn’t get any negative feedback from anyone who came up to our booth or table. We had some great conversations with people about their lives, their work, and also about how they felt music and violence have an impact on their lives (good or bad). We ran out of sign-up sheets because so many people wanted to get more info about our organizations’ services and volunteer opportunities. It was pretty obvious to us after speaking to so many that there was discomfort felt at the fest while Odd Future was playing. Some folks who had never heard of them walked up to our table after their set to voice that discomfort.

Curiously, the kids of Odd Future brought Colleen and friends a peace offering on the morning of the group’s set on Sunday: cupcakes. Of course, once they got on stage, they advised the anti-domestic violence advocates, which they called “protesters,” to suck their dicks. And the crowd went nuts! Norton wasn’t bothered. She seems to give the group the benefit of the doubt:

I genuinely don’t think they were trying to be bullies. They’re probably good kids. I’m not going to overanalyze what the meaning behind the cupcakes were, but a lot of people did tell me their opinions about what they thought. Some people said “oh that was super nice of them. They were trying to show peace.” And then there was the other end of the spectrum where someone said she thought it was similar to the cycle of violence where the abuser gives flowers after a big fight. So everyone can have their opinion about that because they didn’t actually say anything to us other than that they are not mean. I think they recognize that they were getting a lot of publicity drawing attention to the violent imagery in their music so they were trying to balance that image. I’m fine with that because, as we’ve been saying all along, our goal was to provide resources and talk to people about their experiences. Our goal has never been to get anyone to stop playing their music.

Chalk it up to children not knowing any better. Ladies and gentlemen, the future of hip hop!

Look, Odd Future WTF BBQ or what the fuck ever they call themselves can rap whatever they want- it’s a free country and everyone has the right to express themselves…just as I have the right to judge the way that they choose to express themselves. They’re treading on well-worn territory here and yet somehow manage to be both boring and obnoxious simultaneously, like a little boy who keeps flipping you off from the back window of a school bus that’s going just slow enough to make you late to work.

Why do we keep falling for this old, tired trap? What sort of bizarre cultural amnesia infects us so that we forget every two years that someone literally just wrote a hit song about beating up a woman? Most people wouldn’t defend the music of a white power group or someone who sang about raping little boys, and even Eminem got in trouble for his homophobic lyrics.

What does it say about our society that women and the feminine are the last acceptable target group for overt hate in popular music?

Image via AP