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The fact that the line is associated with Jay-Z (it's an Ice-T lyric he stole) AND people think it's actually about a dog is one of the most impressive PR accom

The fact that the line is associated with Jay-Z (it's an Ice-T lyric he stole) AND people think it's actually about a dog is one of the most impressive PR accomplishments in music. Bravo, Jay-Z's PR team in the #metoo era.

post_break 3y ago
Ok? https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jay-zs-decoded-excerpts-the-best-bits-91363/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jay-zs-decoded... Don't care for his music, the person, but my point still stands that you can't be held up for a drug dog at a traffic stop is a real thing you should know and according to Jay Z himself it's exactly what it's referencing. Whether he stole the hook or not doesn't really matter in this context, and has nothing to do with #metoo, I don't even know where that fits in as well. https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/239513-court-rules-cops-cant-hold-suspects-to-wait-for-dog/ https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/239513-court-ru...
- kyleyeats 3y ago
  Here is a question: Do you think he had millions of dollars of incentive to lie about this? Regardless of the truth or what you think the truth is. Do you think he had an incentive to lie?
  - mecsred 3y ago
    Here's a question: do you think you're asking leading questions? Regardless of the answer you expect. Do you think ignoring the points in the original comment and asking a question about something we can only speculate on is leading?
  - post_break 3y ago
    Here is another question, besides yourself, who else is concerned about the authenticity of some rap lyrics from a 2004 song and whether they apply to a woman or a traffic stop that happened in the 90's? And if the former, how do the lyrics make any sense? I just find this hill to stand on kind of ridiculous.
    - kyleyeats 3y ago
      It's weirder to care in the other, PR-narrative-preserving way. But yes it's weird to care. No it's not a hill for me because I don't lose friends or experience other consequences for disbelieving media narratives. I'm mildly amused you phrased it that way.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    Do you really think his fans are going to be up in arms about it even if he did mean it literally? Ice Cube makes family movies when he use to rap about “F^^^ the police” and “With a white Jew tellin' you what to do“. The entire lyrics of “No Vaseline” was racist and would be considered homophonic today - ie “Mista S%%%packer, bend over for the goddamn c%%#}r”. He never apologized for anything and no one cares. Ice T went from “Cop Killer” to playing a cop on TV for two decades. Dr. Dre sold his company for billions. Hell we elected a President who bragged on tape about forcible “grabbing a woman by the p%%%%” and he is worshipped by the “religious right”.
kelnos 3y ago
The Wikipedia cited reference for the lyric being about a police dog (but only when sung after the 2nd verse) is from 2011, so I think you have your #MeToo timetable wrong. Considering that Jay-Z himself tells us what those lyrics mean to him in his 2011 book, how would you consider that a "PR accomplishment"? The person who wrote the song ("stolen" line or otherwise) is the best source for what the artist intended, no?
- kyleyeats 3y ago
  Releasing a book in this century, if you're a celebrity, is most often a calculated PR move to control the narrative, yes. Books are PR instruments, fodder for articles for months. Have you ever heard of someone refer to traffic stops as "girl problems"? This conversation is ridiculous. One verse in the song is about a traffic stop-- that specific lyric is a play on the line, not all the lyrics. Jay-Z got rich on sexism and now he's getting richer on anti-sexism. Anyone who eats it up is a fool.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    Yes and Tupac was actually talking about a woman when he rapped about “me and my girlfriend”. https://genius.com/2pac-me-and-my-girlfriend-lyrics https://genius.com/2pac-me-and-my-girlfriend-lyrics But even in his third verse he said > This is not a ho in the sense of having a p%%%%
542354234235 3y ago
> people think it's actually about a dog What a weird hill to try and die on, especially being 100% wrong about it. His first verse is about ignorant rap critics, exploitative advertisers, and fickle radio stations, and uses the 99 problems lyric to reference them. His second verse details a police stop where he was transporting drugs, and the 99 problems lyric is to reference the K-9 that is due to arrive. His third verse he talks about a physical altercation he had with another man who was performatively aggressive, without anything to back it up. In that verse, he makes another point about how he is using a term often used for women, but he is not using that way "A nigga like myself had to strong-arm a ho/ This is not a ho in the sense of having a pussy/ But a pussy having no goddamn sense try and push me". At the end, the 99 problems lyric is used to reference this senseless man. No where in the song does he talk about ex-girlfriends, strippers, club hookups or literally anything about women. The song is completely structured around clearly and consistently setting it up and paying it off as wordplay against things that aren’t women.
- dylan604 3y ago
  It's funny to me seeing this "uproar" after watching the Prodigy's Smack my bitch up "uproar" from much earlier. Probably with a smaller audience though.
- kyleyeats 3y ago
  If you call someone a woman as an insult, that's misogynistic towards women, even if the person you're calling a woman isn't actually a woman. It doesn't even make sense as an insult unless you're a sexist. Again with the hill stuff. Are you really not allowed to disagree with celebrity gossip in your life?
  - 542354234235 3y ago
    >Have you ever heard of someone refer to traffic stops as "girl problems"? This conversation is ridiculous. One verse in the song is about a traffic stop-- that specific lyric is a play on the line, not all the lyrics. Jay-Z got rich on sexism and now he's getting richer on anti-sexism. >people think it's actually about a dog is one of the most impressive PR accomplishments in music. Bravo, Jay-Z's PR team in the #metoo era. >Do you think he had millions of dollars of incentive to lie about this? You asserted over and over that the song was about women, and that Jay-Z is now lying You weren't saying whether it was or wasn't misogynistic or sexist. You were asserting that it was about women and Jay-Z is now lying and saying it wasn't about women as some sort of PR push related to #metoo. These are two different things. The lyrics of the song makes it crystal clear what is being talked about. Each verse is talking about a very specific thing and the entire verse is focused on that one thing. That isn't PR or gossip or media narrative. That is simple reading comprehension.

post_break 3y ago

Ok? https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jay-zs-decoded-excerpts-the-best-bits-91363/ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jay-zs-decoded... Don't care for his music, the person, but my point still stands that you can't be held up for a drug dog at a traffic stop is a real thing you should know and according to Jay Z himself it's exactly what it's referencing. Whether he stole the hook or not doesn't really matter in this context, and has nothing to do with #metoo, I don't even know where that fits in as well. https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/239513-court-rules-cops-cant-hold-suspects-to-wait-for-dog/ https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/239513-court-ru...

kyleyeats 3y ago
Here is a question: Do you think he had millions of dollars of incentive to lie about this? Regardless of the truth or what you think the truth is. Do you think he had an incentive to lie?
- mecsred 3y ago
  Here's a question: do you think you're asking leading questions? Regardless of the answer you expect. Do you think ignoring the points in the original comment and asking a question about something we can only speculate on is leading?
- post_break 3y ago
  Here is another question, besides yourself, who else is concerned about the authenticity of some rap lyrics from a 2004 song and whether they apply to a woman or a traffic stop that happened in the 90's? And if the former, how do the lyrics make any sense? I just find this hill to stand on kind of ridiculous.
  - kyleyeats 3y ago
    It's weirder to care in the other, PR-narrative-preserving way. But yes it's weird to care. No it's not a hill for me because I don't lose friends or experience other consequences for disbelieving media narratives. I'm mildly amused you phrased it that way.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  Do you really think his fans are going to be up in arms about it even if he did mean it literally? Ice Cube makes family movies when he use to rap about “F^^^ the police” and “With a white Jew tellin' you what to do“. The entire lyrics of “No Vaseline” was racist and would be considered homophonic today - ie “Mista S%%%packer, bend over for the goddamn c%%#}r”. He never apologized for anything and no one cares. Ice T went from “Cop Killer” to playing a cop on TV for two decades. Dr. Dre sold his company for billions. Hell we elected a President who bragged on tape about forcible “grabbing a woman by the p%%%%” and he is worshipped by the “religious right”.

kelnos 3y ago

The Wikipedia cited reference for the lyric being about a police dog (but only when sung after the 2nd verse) is from 2011, so I think you have your #MeToo timetable wrong. Considering that Jay-Z himself tells us what those lyrics mean to him in his 2011 book, how would you consider that a "PR accomplishment"? The person who wrote the song ("stolen" line or otherwise) is the best source for what the artist intended, no?

kyleyeats 3y ago
Releasing a book in this century, if you're a celebrity, is most often a calculated PR move to control the narrative, yes. Books are PR instruments, fodder for articles for months. Have you ever heard of someone refer to traffic stops as "girl problems"? This conversation is ridiculous. One verse in the song is about a traffic stop-- that specific lyric is a play on the line, not all the lyrics. Jay-Z got rich on sexism and now he's getting richer on anti-sexism. Anyone who eats it up is a fool.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  Yes and Tupac was actually talking about a woman when he rapped about “me and my girlfriend”. https://genius.com/2pac-me-and-my-girlfriend-lyrics https://genius.com/2pac-me-and-my-girlfriend-lyrics But even in his third verse he said > This is not a ho in the sense of having a p%%%%

542354234235 3y ago

> people think it's actually about a dog What a weird hill to try and die on, especially being 100% wrong about it. His first verse is about ignorant rap critics, exploitative advertisers, and fickle radio stations, and uses the 99 problems lyric to reference them. His second verse details a police stop where he was transporting drugs, and the 99 problems lyric is to reference the K-9 that is due to arrive. His third verse he talks about a physical altercation he had with another man who was performatively aggressive, without anything to back it up. In that verse, he makes another point about how he is using a term often used for women, but he is not using that way "A nigga like myself had to strong-arm a ho/ This is not a ho in the sense of having a pussy/ But a pussy having no goddamn sense try and push me". At the end, the 99 problems lyric is used to reference this senseless man. No where in the song does he talk about ex-girlfriends, strippers, club hookups or literally anything about women. The song is completely structured around clearly and consistently setting it up and paying it off as wordplay against things that aren’t women.

dylan604 3y ago
It's funny to me seeing this "uproar" after watching the Prodigy's Smack my bitch up "uproar" from much earlier. Probably with a smaller audience though.
kyleyeats 3y ago
If you call someone a woman as an insult, that's misogynistic towards women, even if the person you're calling a woman isn't actually a woman. It doesn't even make sense as an insult unless you're a sexist. Again with the hill stuff. Are you really not allowed to disagree with celebrity gossip in your life?
- 542354234235 3y ago
  >Have you ever heard of someone refer to traffic stops as "girl problems"? This conversation is ridiculous. One verse in the song is about a traffic stop-- that specific lyric is a play on the line, not all the lyrics. Jay-Z got rich on sexism and now he's getting richer on anti-sexism. >people think it's actually about a dog is one of the most impressive PR accomplishments in music. Bravo, Jay-Z's PR team in the #metoo era. >Do you think he had millions of dollars of incentive to lie about this? You asserted over and over that the song was about women, and that Jay-Z is now lying You weren't saying whether it was or wasn't misogynistic or sexist. You were asserting that it was about women and Jay-Z is now lying and saying it wasn't about women as some sort of PR push related to #metoo. These are two different things. The lyrics of the song makes it crystal clear what is being talked about. Each verse is talking about a very specific thing and the entire verse is focused on that one thing. That isn't PR or gossip or media narrative. That is simple reading comprehension.