Some post-Imus thoughts on rap

This is generated in part due to some back-and-forth e-mails with an editor friend of mine.

Yes, young white men may be buying the majority of “gangsta” rap in the country; nonetheless, nobody’s putting guns to young black men’s heads and forcing them to write crap like that.

And, that said, there’s two parts to this crap.

One is, if you will, the apparent racial self-hatred (though rappers may deny it) of calling each other “nigger.” (No euphemisms here.) To some degree, I say, if that’s what you want to do, “fine,” as that’s in-group action against itself.

Calling women “hos,” whether they’re black or white, that’s a different story. Male misogyny is an action against an out-group, and I have no problem calling it out right away.

Call me a bit cynical, but on the other hand, if young black men want to call each other “pimp,” especially if they could find a worse version of that word, and talk about “bastard-slapping” each other, I’m fine with that. Or, for that matter, if young WHITE men want to do that, and try to sell records with it, go for it.