On July 22, 2020, I witnessed one of my top three favorite Verzuz battles between two legends in hip hop, my spirit animal DMX, and the party starter Uncle Snoop. I have favorite songs from both artists (DMX -Slippin and Snoop – Cruising featuring Jadakiss, or Jadakiss featuring Snoop depending on who you ask) and thought it would be a landslide in Snoop’s favor when I heard the battle announced. I was thrilled to see DMX entertain, although his catalog is less party and more pain. Both men showed mutual respect for each other and for their respective crafts. What I did not hear a lot of was a respect for women.
Some of the songs performed reminded of songs from yesteryear at a time when the feminist movement and the outcry against misogyny in music was a bit louder. I heard a few bitches and hoes in the songs and remembered C. Dolores Tucker and others being vilified as hip hop haters in the early 90s. Fast forward to 2020, and hip hop has become a world of pill popping, hardcore drug use, fucking on bitches and using women for sexual favors. No, its not every song. Yes, you can still find quality music that skips these themes. But the stuff that is force fed to us, and the artists that are force fed to us, personify all that is wrong with hip hop. DMX and Snoop could have used the platform to do better and to show a reference for a time when hip hop was about quality and less about a race to the bottom of the talent pool.
Either man could have gotten to a point where a controversial lyric was looming, and said you know what “back in the day I wrote this, but now that I have daughters and a new perspective, I’m going to clean that lyric up or not even say it anymore.” See, legends lead, and use wisdom and experience to show the youth that evolution and the progression of a man is possible. Last night could have been a teachable moment, a triumph. Most of my friends loved the battle, but regardless of their gender, they acknowledged that there were cringy moments because of the lyrics recited, and the fervor with which they were recited. The common reaction was “damn, he really still spits that lyric?”
Our culture won’t evolve to respect our black women, until the youth see that it is cool to do so. The imagery in our culture needs to return to celebrating women with clothes on, embracing a woman for her potential and her present, and protecting her as the cradle of civilization and the key to our communities. Many men don’t have father figures and turn to hip hop to get that leadership. If all they hear is fuck bitches get money, then that’s what they will aspire to. If most women think that they have to diminish their light to attract men, then they will do so. In 2020, we need more from our legends in hip hop. Why, because legends lead, and the black community is a little short on leaders now.
black women, COMMUNITY, dmx, featured, feminism, snoop, verzuz
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That was a nice quick read. Appreciate it. I’m surprised you didn’t mention the gay bashing stuff either with DMX. I definitely agree with the article but I’ve never looked to rappers to be my guiding light on any important issue. They are simply entertainers to me until they show some affinity for the issues at hand. Guess it goes back to that Charles Barkley quite when he said he’s not a role model, which at times isn’t that simple… But overall appreciate you shedding light on that perspective. Women’s image, especially women of color, need to be restored to where it should be.
Nice article, I agree that it was a great battle. I don’t look to rappers for leadership though. If anything, parents or guardians gotta get in front of that and explain what’s right or wrong to the impressionable people in their lives. I appreciate the music for what it was at the time but the misogyny and homophobia is definitely glaring. But if I look to entertainers for moral guidance/growth, I know I’m gonna be disappointed 9/10 times depending on where they are in their lives