OSCAR FOR BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC FOR MOTION PICTURE SONG

[undergroundrailroad]

HUSTLE & FLOW (2005)
JORDAN HOUSTON, DEDRIC COLEMAN AND PAUL BEAUREGARD

It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp Lyrics

+ (Djay)
You know it's hard out here for a pimp (you ain't knowin)
When he tryin to get this money for the rent (you ain't knowin)
For the Cadillacs and gas money spent (you ain't knowin)
<1> Because a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)
<2> Will have a whole lot of bitches talkin shit (you ain't knowin)


In my eyes I done seen some crazy thangs in the streets
Gotta couple hoes workin on the changes for me
But I gotta keep my game tight like Kobe on game night
Like takin from a ho don't know no better, I know that ain't right
Done seen people killed, done seen people deal
Done seen people live in poverty with no meals
It's fucked up where I live, but that's just how it is
It might be new to you, but it's been like this for years
It's blood sweat and tears when it come down to this shit
I'm tryin to get rich 'fore I leave up out this bitch
I'm tryin to have thangs but it's hard fo' a pimp
But I'm prayin and I'm hopin to God I don't slip, yeah




Man it seems like I'm duckin dodgin bullets everyday
Niggaz hatin on me cause I got, hoes on the tray
But I gotta stay paid, gotta stay above water
Couldn't keep up with my hoes, that's when shit got harder
North Memphis where I'm from, I'm 7th Street bound
Where niggaz all the time end up lost and never found
Man these girls think we prove thangs, leave a big head
They come hopin every night, they don't end up bein dead
Wait I got a snow bunny, and a black girl too
You pay the right price and they'll both do you
That's the way the game goes, gotta keep it strictly pimpin
Gotta have my hustle tight, makin change off these women, yeah

Congratulations :applause:

[Brewman_Jax]

1. That's why the Lounge is going insane with all of the rap haters

it goes back to the basic premise of our society's racial caste system--no one of the lower castes shall ever win over anyone of the upper castes. Same insanity (not as bad) when Denzel Washington and Halle Berry won Leading Actor/Leading Actress awards in the same year. This is supposed to be the 21st Century? :(

[kitkatrose]

2. So that's why ther lounge is bonkers.

This is supposed to be the 21st Century? :(

Sometimes I wonder if in going to an HBCU, I made the right choice, because after a while, you get into the mentality that all white people are the enemy. While that's not right, stuff like this is just a reason for me to keep that thought in the back of my head. They may not always be the enemy, but they're not always your friend either.


This also makes the case that it's not just about class, but race as well. You don't see this kind of shit coming down on country music, do you?

[Brewman_Jax]

3. You are correct

it is about race, because to too many, poor = black. Because of that, the poor won't get a break, and poor whites aren't even acknowledged. Reagan's "welfare queens" and the republican "southern strategy" are examples of scapegoating black people. Whites aren't supposed to be poor in a society that favors them. Tim Wise has an excellent article on that in Collateral Damage: Poor Whites and the Unintended Consequences of Racial Privilege

You're right, no one cries foul about country music, but there have been no major black country musicians since Charley Pride. The shit he had to put up was insane. Rap/hip-hop is the only major music genre that has no significant white presence. It's the only one that get shit heaped on a regular basis. Hmmm... :think:

BTW, you made the right choice to go to college, whether it's a HBCU or not (I didn't go to an HBCU).

[kitkatrose]

4. That's a pretty interesting article.

I guess being invisible has its own disadvantages as well. Do you think if country was tilted more to the black spectrum it would be as lambasted as rap? I only ask because jazz and blues are (were) predominantly black and to hear tell of it, everybody loves those genres, at least now.

BTW, you made the right choice to go to college, whether it's a HBCU or not (I didn't go to an HBCU).

Thanks. Drowning in lab reports and midterms it doesn't always feel like it, but overall, I'm pretty happy.

[Brewman_Jax]

6. Not sure

I completely understand your question. In "tilted more...," do you mean more black country artists or black listeners of country? The majority of rap/hip-hop listeners are white kids aged 17-24, if nothing else, just by sheer force of numbers. That fact has in no way stopped the lambasting that rap gets on a regular basis. Jazz and blues musicians were predominantly black in both musicians and listeners. Viewing the histories of both, the big city nightclubs had significant numbers of white listeners. Over time, jazz and blues have acquired more diversity in musicians. They were spared the great controveries as the newer popular styles emerged.

The lambasting seems to have a common theme: it seems personal to the haters. Most have never heard rap and couldn't name a rapper, but it's that "that music" and it's by "those people" and that's reason enough to hate it.


edit for clarity

[kitkatrose]

7. Whoops, I meant artists. Sorry about that.

Oh, I know white kids are the majority listeners. I think that's one reason why people are so up in arms about it--it's corrupting our children. "Omigod, my kids are listening to rap!! They might bring home those people." :eyes:

The lambasting seems to have a common theme: it seems personal to the haters. Most have never heard rap and couldn't name a rapper, but it's that "that music" is by "those people" and that's reason enough to hate it.

I've noticed that too. You'd think someone was trying to cut off their gonads by all the caterwaulling going on. :eyes:

[msgadget]

9. Do you think it's that thought out?

Historically, this is how both racism and the class system have been maintained, by playing off whites against people of color, offering the former just enough advantage in relative terms to keep them from aligning with the poor of color and rebelling on the basis of their absolute condition.

Do you think the 'powerful' sit down and plan such or if its just a result of them hating poor people a their skin color a little less, giving them an advantage of sorts?

I think rap is scarey because it can be angry and agressive, shout-outs to anarchy, if you will. Heavy metal is angry and agressive (and discordant!) - is it as viscerally loathed? I listen to some rap but can't bear hard rock long enough to get a grasp of it.

Great article, Lurking A!

[Brewman_Jax]

10. Yes and no

having watched documentaries on US history (Slave Catchers, Slave Resistors is excellent on this topic), that's basically what they did. It was not a grand conspiracy, but local necessity. In parts of the South, esp. S. Carolina, slaves were the numerical majority, not just a large percentage of the population (the reason for the three-fifths clause in the US Constitution). The plantation owners needed extra temporary help for catching runaway slaves or putting down slave rebellions. Who to call? The local white male population, who were relatively poor. That's how the slave militias were created--instant help. Slaves were "those people" so radically different from the poor white population, the white men thought nothing of helping the plantation owners. The racial caste system has been in place for so long, it'll take decades for those perceptions to change. The insanity of the Lounge yesterday was proof of that. As long as the belief that "those people" and "we people" have nothing in common, nothing will change.

Heavy metal, country, punk rock, hard rock all have one thing in common--that fact makes those genres different from rap. Which one gets piled on the most? Think about it. :think:

[msgadget]

11. I don't see it changing

The face of it may change but I don't see it going away even as conservatives chat up Condy as a presidential candidate. Now the big divide is supposedly not about race but about repsonsibility anyone mentioning racism is accused of having a 'victim' mentality. Of course they've found willing champions of that ridiculousness within the black race. No grand conspiracy is ever really needed, just the arrogance of the elite. People willingly put themselves in their service if it means they're no longer the lowest or most scorned.

Yeah, yeah, I get it - rap does have a particular distinction. ;)

[undergroundrailroad]

5. It's really not an Oscar first for hip-hop. Eminem won for 8 MILE. But

it's a first for an African-American HH group. I'm proud of them. The song was good, the movie was good.

[msgadget]

8. Thank you, Ms Underground,

I wanted to read the lyrics but was too lazy to look for them. In context they fit the film, no?

I don't remember if I was here or paying attention last year after the Oscars - was there as much bitterness? Some people have a lot of emotion invested in their favorite film winning.

[politicasista]

13. I want to see the movie

I heard it was good. It was filmed in the backyard of Memphis. :)

[msgadget]

14. I just saw it recently

And, I'm not going to tell you what I thought of it until you've seen it. :) Howard always gives a good performance and I got kinda sick of hearing him referred to as 'a new face' or something similar when he's been working for years.

[Catherine Vincent]

12. I like the way they do that right thurr!

:hi:

[undergroundrailroad]

16. Right thurr!

:hi:

[msgadget]

15. Check out the 3/6 NPR:Rountable podcast regarding the Oscars

black folks winning them for certain roles and an opinion on the Oscar winning rap. It's near the end - within the last 10 minutes - of this audio clip: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5243598 and the next day they talk about Crash in the beginning of the show.

[undergroundrailroad]

17. Thanks Ms. G! I loved CRASH as well.

I've got to create a post congratulating CRASH!

:hi: