As I related to Dean Esmay in a phone conversation, I had been planning a series like this for a while, inspired by Robert St. Estephe’s brief historical misandry dispatches. The recent Nick Ahlverdian piece on Beyonce, specifically his comment in the thread that music is feminist and misandrist, prompted me to stop procrastinating.
While there is no doubt of the feminist infection of movies and TV, music has been one area where broad perspectives have been not just allowed, but actively promoted, even where highly charged or controversial.
Indeed, one genre has long been the vanguard for giving voice to men’s issues, some of which we are only now assigning proper names and descriptions. As a long-time fan of rap music from its rise in the 80s, hypergamy, paternity fraud and using the womb as an ATM are not new areas of discourse for me nor for men with similar backgrounds.
Lest we forget, even recently feminist banshees unloaded a cacophony of scorn upon the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (all movie industry professionals, not the public), whose members saw fit to award a song called “It’s Hard Out There For A Pimp” its 2005 award for Best Song From A Motion Picture. Another example was the surprising appearance by the openly gay Elton John, accompanying Eminem at the 2001 Grammy’s for a rendition of “Stan” while he was under fire for allegedly “homophobic” lyrics.(John said that as a Brit, he has an elevated understanding for “gallows humor” and that people did not grasp the split-personality device of “Marshall v. Shady”)
The first entry is from Mohandes Dewese, aka Kool Moe Dee, who tackles the complimentary topics of hypergamy and paternity issues in 1989’s “They Want Money.” Holding a BA from SUNY, Dewese used an eloquent but aggressive style marked by copious internal rhyme with an expansive vocabulary. He was the only “Old School” group artist to achieve solo success. Some sample lyrics include. . .
“You better settle for an autograph/Or a hug and kiss on the cheek, maybe/
But I ain’t tryin’ to make no baby. . .”
“I made the rhymes/I made the cash
Why get married and you take half…”
Note: Kool Moe Dee to this day has no children and has never been married. Call him the Rap Music MGTOW.
