Didn't laugh as much as normal.
The whole episode centered around gay rappers who are in the closet, and yet still idolized by little black boys because their mixed signals are irresistibly impossible to decipher.
It made me itch because I can't firmly draw the line yet when it comes to my 4-year-old's exposure to rap.
He and I don't listen to it in the car. I feel bad when we just listen to a few snippets of the Steve Harvey show during the drive to pre-K because the hosts' diction is so ig'nant most times.
Mommy forbids rap of almost any sort here at the crib. "Welcome to Jamrock's" about the only exception; and then, that's when I'm out working in the yard.
My guilty pleasure is that night, every two or three months, when me and my ol' ass (almost 45) college roomie and I hit the streets for a couple hours. He bumps hip-hop constantly. He looked at me like a fool the last time out and asked me, seriously, if I realized it was constantly available on the radio.
Yes. And no.
It doesn't occur to me to tune into it on the daily.
But I notice how appealing the boy finds it. He's got these mad beat box skillz; origin unknown. And he's fixated on some web clips of his favorite NBA player; which include the sort of rap accompaniment we can only listen to (while mommy's cooking) with our headphones on.
I like how he imitates the athletic exploits on our backyard court; but I don't want him to embrace Ludacris's lyrics to "Act A Fool".
Are boys better off in homes where rap (in its sorry, present form) is banned entirely? Or would you rather find a way to share rap's virtues (lacking as they are now) with your son; to keep things in perspective?
My dad drilled grilled groups like The Spinners, The O'Jays, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes and Earth, Wind and Fire into my dome just by playing them. Not by force-feeding them.
I'll take any entree into that little boy's ear I can get. I'm just glad he know "jazz" when he hears it.
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