A Quick Word On The Oscars...

Just a quick comment on The Oscars...

First off, let me state that I didn't watch it. My sister called me to let me know that 'It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" won an Oscar...and I'm really not sure how I feel about it. She told me that Three 6 Mafia performed the song (cuz they wrote it) and that all the black people in the crowd were loving these moments (and apparently, there weren't a lot of black people).

On the one hand, I'm glad that it was a rap song that won it. For better or for worse, this music is the music of my generation, and specifically, my demographic. And overall, I don't know which is more monumental: a rap song winning an Oscar or Halle and Denzel winning a few years back. Let's face it...black people were going to do that eventually, not to take anything away from what they've accomplished. It's just that no one ever thought a rap song would win an Oscar. Ya just didn't see it coming. So, I'm proud for my people. Black people doing good. We need to see more of that. On the other hand...

...the song was called "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp," and I just have to question why THIS song had to be the one to win the Oscar and it had to be THESE black people who wrote and performed it. Has it been so long since "Tear Da Club Up," "Yeah, Ho," and "Gang Sign In His Face" came out?

Now, if I have to explain why I'm questioning it, you're either not black or not very smart. Of all the black movies with rap songs in them over the last 30 years, THIS was the breakthrough song?

I saw "Hustle & Flow." It was a movie that was way better than I thought it would be. I was actually inspired by the story and I don't really get inspired by much. The movie shows you to stick with it. It's never too late to follow your dreams. Uplifting damn movie. The song fits within the context of the movie, but when you take the movie away, it's just another song on the radio. The movie makes the song more than what it actually is, cuz let's face it, I heard better songs about pimpin' from Big Boi, back when he was pretending to be something he wasn't.

Then again, maybe that's the point. To have a song that's integral to the movie, so intertwined with the movie that each is a lesser product without the other. A song that helps you feel what the characters onscreen are feeling, and a song that you can't imagine being replaced by any other at that point in the movie. A song that instantly recalls in the listener's mind what was happening on screen at the moment the song was played.

You know, "Hoochie Mama" did the same thing for "Friday" and it didn't get an Oscar.