Yesterday I heard the Nicki Minaj song “Super Bass” for the first time. Yes that song is over a year old. I’m not exactly hip with the times when it comes to pop music, and I’m pretty sure that if I didn’t regularly watch Glee and SNL I would not know a single song “the kids” listen to these days (in fact, the only reason I made an effort to hear this Nicki Minaj song is because the hubby and I were attempting to determine what songs that Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer sang in their recent music teachers skit on SNL This also means we watched a couple of music videos including Sir Justin Bieber’s and the newest boy band made up of 15 year olds, One Direction…there are a lot of pretty young men in the music industry these days it seems).
We ended up watching about one and a half minutes of Miss Minaj’s music video, but I couldn’t make it past the point where she began to pour some sort of pink liquid all over her ample cleavage. We both agreed that we had gotten the gist. I admit that the song has a “catchy beat” (as I’ve heard other old people say), but as parents over the course of history always complain…my husband and I found ourselves saying “What is she even saying?”
So we looked up the lyrics, and I read them slowly and carefully aloud. Wow. There was a part of us that was horrified of course, but since our daughter isn’t a 15 year old girl listening to the song, our reaction was mostly laughter at the sheer ludicrous nature of the entire song. The mental image of someone (or even better…several people) in a room writing these lyrics and putting the song together is truly absurd.
Reading the lyrics did give me an idea that will be implemented when my children are teenagers, but I believe is worth noting at this time so I do not forget it. Also- I think the idea is so intriguing that a person who actually has teenagers now could attempt it and see how it goes. Having worked with teenagers over the course of the last 10 years, I have a very amusing mental picture of how this would go down….but I have to wait a good 12-14 years to try it out. Is it totally insane that I’m actually kind of excited for my kids to be teenagers someday?
The scene: hubby or I discover our daugther listening to a song filled with garbage like “Super Bass” (by this time, the internet will probably be connected directly to your brain and all you will have to do is think about a song title and it will somehow be piped into your thoughtstream…but we will have purchased some type of thoughtstream monitoring program so we will know what she is manifesting into her conscious while she still lives under our roof).
We ask her about the song, she says “I don’t listen to the lyrics, I just like the music” just like every kid over the course of all history. I know this statement is a lie immediately because I can still recite to you every single word of every horrendous Rap or R&B song I loved in high school. I could give you about 25 examples without much thought. Next, we set up a time where Mom, Dad, and daughter are going to meet for a media discussion. I print out the lyrics and come up with questions. We read the lyrics aloud (except the really bad words, which will be censored using #$%@ symbols).
Now it’s time to go through mom’s discussion questions. *Note* depending on the age and maturity of my child, there will probably be some lyrics that would be too inappropriate to even put on the print out (there are several in Nicki’s little ditty). I think some kids genuinely don’t know what some songs are even talking about, and I would not desire to be teaching my kids gross lingo from Urban Dictionary. It will also be important that we do some research and actually knows what the lyrics mean ourselves. duh.
BUT- my feeling is that if my daughter likes a song enough to seek it out somehow and desires to listen to the song again, she should be able to discuss with us what message it is sending and not just absorb it like a sponge without any form of thought. In the case of “Super Bass” it would go something like this
Super Bass Discussion Guide
(some lyrics for your reference)
This one is for the boys with the booming system
Top down, AC with the cooling system
When he come up in the club, he be blazin’ up
Got stacks on deck like he savin’ up
And he ill, he real, he might got a deal
He pop bottles and he got the right kind of bill
He cold, he dope, he might sell coke
He always in the air, but he never fly coach
He a MFing trip, trip, sailor of the ship, ship
…
(more lyrics, these are truly lovely)
He ain’t even gotta try to put the mac on
He just gotta give me that look, when he give me that look
Then the panties comin’ off, off, uh
Discussion Questions
What is the overall message of the song?
What does she like about this guy?
What are some potential consequences of “blazing up”?
How would a guy’s drug use affect his relationship with his girlfriend?
What are some of the disadvantages you think to dating a potential coke dealer?
What does taking your underwear off with a guy lead to?
Why would it be a bad idea to take your undergarments off in response to a guy giving you a “look”? Can you find any flaws in that choice?
Do you think it makes good financial sense for a guy to spend twice as much in order to travel in first class? How could that kind of lavish behavior affect this man’s family some day?
If your little sister or your daughter someday was listening to this song and singing these lyrics, how would it make you feel? Would you want them to listen to it repeatedly? Why or why not?
End of sample
Important: This entire conversation must be done with complete and total seriousness and dryness…I think that’s the key. Sure, some of the questions are funny, but she will have to answer them just like the others. I will require them to answer all questions no matter how obvious the answers might seem. Each question will require an answer with explanation.
Oh, and I guess i have a few years to analyze the technique.
I suppose as a parent it’d be easier to just say “What is this garbage you are listening to? You are banned from listening to this sin filled devil music!! I’m deleting the song/throwing it away/blah” and tell yourself that they will never hear it again. Personally though, I think it sounds far more interesting to make them analyze it and discuss it…even the parts that are completely preposterous. Then next time they hear it on the radio, at a friends house, or one of the other hundred places they will come across it…they will remember having to answer the question “What are some disadvantages to dating a potential coke dealer?” and “Why would it be a bad idea to take your undergarments off in response to a guy giving you a “look”?“
Could you truly mindlessly enjoy a song at the same level after having had such a discussion with your parents?
MY KIDS ARE GONNA BE SO ANNOYED BY ME! I CAN’T WAIT!
Movies, Books, Websites, TV Shows…nothing is safe. After all these years in youth ministry, I could write discussion questions in my sleep.
TD
P.S. My girls are allowed to listen to One Direction with no questions asked. Although, I suppose by that time the members of One Direction will all be in their 30′s attempting failing solo careers, just out of rehab, or announcing their divorce from some disney actress turned singer.
P.P.S. My due date is June 21st, which means it is 5 weeks from yesterday. You guys I’m going to have to go through labor again. This is real.
P.P.P.S. Today’s Sunshine I thought my husband was going to be out of town all weekend but in a last minute change of plans he isn’t going and is going to be here! Yay! Today’s Raincloud is actually from last night. At 1am, I heard a loud thump followed by crying. As I suspected when I ran into Caroline’s room, she had fallen out of her bed. So sad. It’s tough to be a big girl, even when your bed is about 10 inches off the ground.
Tags: funny, media, nicki minaj, parenting, pop culture, song lyrics
