-Socrates
Welcome to the Paragodox.
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The Modern Day Plantation
Slavery may be abolished in the United States, but I would argue that it’s still alive and well in the form of the entertainment industry. A few “owners” (aka rich white people) dish out a few million dollars (chump change to them) to less than one percent of the black population in the form of rappers and athletes and at the same time feed the stereotype that the only way to “make it” as an African American is in the entertainment industry.
Perhaps this is a pessimistic view, but I’m having trouble explaining to myself why, with affirmative action and Civil Rights legislation, etc., there is still so much inequality in the United States, especially with a group that has been here for so long. It’s because this old white money at the top of the social structure knows exactly what it’s doing. It knows that it’s easy to appeal to a disenfranchised group by paying a few of them millions of dollars. After all, these people are some of the few that have actually “made it” in American society.
With any rule, there are exceptions. Our president is a good example. I would argue that his upbringing doesn’t represent the traditional African American upbringing, however. Both of his parents were academics, he lived in Hawaii, and he attended Harvard. This is far from the typical black experience.
To me, it seems that if you want to know the source of racial inequality and income disparity in the black population today you need go no further than a concert stage or a basketball court. Take a University of Alabama college football game. What do you see?
A group of mostly white coaches screams orders at unpaid, mostly black athletes. Meanwhile, a crowd of mostly white spectators cheers for people who they support at a cursory level but would never seriously consider “befriending” or “getting to know.” After all, Alabama is one of the reddest states there is. They provide the paying customers with entertainment. They are unpaid. Less than a fraction of them make it to the NFL, and the rest are forced to seek recourse elsewhere while they wasted their academic years chasing an almost unreachable goal.
I love sports, but I realize that this is wrong. Doesn’t sound like much has changed. And it won’t until we realize how fucked up it is.
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Self-Deprecating Rap
Common rap themes:
-Grandiose Narcissism
-Excessive Material Wealth
-Objectification of Women
-Being “Hard”
-Pride towards hometown
I figured, what if I turned these upside down and instead used their contrasts?
-Ridiculously low self-esteem
-Poverty
-Quixotic treatment of women
-Being a wimp
-Hatred of hometown
…and subsequently wrote a rap about it (utilizing the same stylistic tendencies of hyperbole, vulgar language, and rhyme). Here’s what ensues:
“First Date”
by The Paragodox
I approach the lovely lady outside Chili’s Bar and Grill
Hope I don’t destroy this first date, ya feel?
I stammer, Hey there Miss, how do you do?
Would you like me to open that door for you?
Oops I tripped on my way to the handle…
To a paralyzed klutz boy, I hold a candle
Fuckin’ Mademoiselle, shall I pick up the tab?
Here’s twenty dollars, all that I have
I’m so poor I make my dead bro look rich
Damn, I just dissed him, I’m a fuckin’ snitch
I haven’t had a girlfriend in fifteen years
Probably because every date I break down in tears
She asks me “Yo Parago, what’s the matta’?”
I say, “Pardon miss, my heart’s been shatta’d…”
She tells me to grow some muthafuckin’ balls
Water be flowin’ down my face worse than bathroom stalls
I run to da bafroom, take a look in the mirror
Shit, My clothes be lookin’ worse than a baboon’s rear
Runnin’ back to her I find she done left
I stood there and took a goddamn breath
I smiled at the waitress who returned a glare
I reach into my pocket, nothing was there
Couldn’t leave a tip, so I ran up to da fuckin’ fair lady
Gave a fuckin’ kiss on the hand, got hit harder than Tom Brady
I sighed as I walked out and cursed my sociability
As for tomorrow, masturbation in tranquility
Bitch.
