kepdawg
11-01-2007, 11:01 AM
Gay groups critical of hip-hop song targeting saggin' pants
08:09 AM CDT on Thursday, November 1, 2007
By MIKE DANIEL / Staff Writer
mdaniel@dallasnews.com
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway wants urban youths to improve their image by hiking up their pants. But a local hip-hop artist is using homophobia as a tool to get that message across.
What started as an effort by Mr. Caraway to discourage saggin' – the wearing of jeans or trousers drastically below the waistline to expose underwear – has raised concerns because of a rap song that equates the fashion practice to being open to gay sex.
"Pull Your Pants Up" by Dooney da' Priest (real name: Dwayne Brown) first describes saggin' visually, but then uses street slang to imply homosexuality: "You walk the street with your pants way down low/I dunno; looks to me you on the down low." The phrase "on the down low" can mean a secretive homosexual encounter.
The song originally contained a more direct reference in its chorus – "I think it's rude" used to be "I think it's gay" – that has since been changed at the request of Mr. Caraway, who stands behind the song's current version.
"The thing that stood out when I heard the song was the lyric that said 'gay,' and changing that is what I suggested. And he did that," Mr. Caraway said. "I didn't try to analyze and change his entire song."
The damage has already been done for some.
"I never considered saggin' something that's indicative of homosexual behavior," said Cordey Lash, a Dallas-based board member of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "For him to specifically target that aspect of what it could mean, well, it's highly offensive and unnecessary to me.
"There are a lot of homophobic people in the African-American community that would not want to be perceived as gay," said Mr. Lash, who is black. "But he's adding to the intolerance and the homophobic nature in the community by using it in that way." Those sentiments were echoed on message boards as the debate spread beyond Dallas.
Mr. Brown says his song was not meant as an attack on the gay community. "I do apologize if they feel offended," he says. Still, he stands by the effectiveness of his tactics. The rapper argues that in his community, the shame inherent in tying saggin' to homosexuality is more effective than any law would be.
"In Dallas, in some of the schools, some of the kids are starting to pull their pants up because of the song," he said. "Peer pressure has a better effect than any law. I was just trying to make it uncool."
The rap is featured prominently on both of Mr. Brown's MySpace pages.
Mr. Caraway added that he has received feedback that a billboard and the song are having a positive effect even outside of Dallas. "It is working across the country; we have dealt with it from New York to California to Florida to Georgia," he said.
Mr. Brown's lyrical tactic isn't the first time that homophobia has emerged as a theme in hip-hop music – Eminem, Ice Cube, Common, 50 Cent, DMX and other rappers have been vilified for anti-gay lyrics.
Mr. Brown claims that saggin', which is a fad partially born from prison inmates having to wear ill-fitting clothing without belts and drawstrings, has grown to suggest something different in prison culture: an invitation for sex.
"They know that it came from behind bars, but they don't know its history," Mr. Brown says of the potential audience for his song. "I don't think the kids are walking the streets without belts because they're about to hang themselves, you know."
Mr. Brown wrote "Pull Your Pants Up" in early October in support of Mr. Caraway's cause, which initially took the form of a proposed city ordinance last month. Constitutional issues with such a law, which has been enacted in Shreveport, La., and considered in Atlanta, Cleveland and elsewhere, prompted Mr. Caraway to change his strategy. So he used Mr. Brown's song as a cornerstone of an independent billboard campaign that he helped launch throughout downtown and southern Dallas last month.
The lyrics to "Pull Your Pants Up," which implores saggin' adherents to "be a real man; pull your pants up," were altered at Mr. Caraway's insistence to accompany the campaign. He called Mr. Brown a kid who got carried away in a song.
"I suggested to him that it was something he needed to change, and he did," said Mr. Caraway, who included Mr. Brown on one of the billboards behind the slogan "It's rude, not cool ... walking around showin' your behind to other dudes."
Mayor Tom Leppert, who supported the "Pull Your Pants Up!" campaign, said the city has never endorsed the song.
"When there were some objectionable comments, [Mr. Caraway] asked that they be removed," said Mr. Leppert, who has reached out to homosexuals since taking office by marching in the annual Dallas gay pride parade and meeting with the city's Log Cabin Republicans.
Adding to the controversy is Mr. Brown's public persona. A self-described "gospel rap" artist and ordained minister, he's active with the Shepherd's Staff, the volunteer ministry of Bishop T.D. Jakes' Potter's House church in southwest Dallas.
"For a gospel rapper to resort to such a homophobic statement is a way for certain conservative and religious organizations to go about discouraging that particular lifestyle," said hip-hop culture expert Dr. Todd Boyd, professor of Critical Studies at the University of Southern California.
"But it's a leap to suggest that that's the entire stance of the African-American community. It's similar to when people talk about sexism and misogyny in hip-hop; to say that all of hip-hop is informed with these things is a bit misguided. Yes, it's there. But it doesn't permeate all of it."
Staff writer Rudolph Bush contributed to this report.
Look Here (http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-pants_1101gl.State.Edition1.1e90b70.html)
08:09 AM CDT on Thursday, November 1, 2007
By MIKE DANIEL / Staff Writer
mdaniel@dallasnews.com
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway wants urban youths to improve their image by hiking up their pants. But a local hip-hop artist is using homophobia as a tool to get that message across.
What started as an effort by Mr. Caraway to discourage saggin' – the wearing of jeans or trousers drastically below the waistline to expose underwear – has raised concerns because of a rap song that equates the fashion practice to being open to gay sex.
"Pull Your Pants Up" by Dooney da' Priest (real name: Dwayne Brown) first describes saggin' visually, but then uses street slang to imply homosexuality: "You walk the street with your pants way down low/I dunno; looks to me you on the down low." The phrase "on the down low" can mean a secretive homosexual encounter.
The song originally contained a more direct reference in its chorus – "I think it's rude" used to be "I think it's gay" – that has since been changed at the request of Mr. Caraway, who stands behind the song's current version.
"The thing that stood out when I heard the song was the lyric that said 'gay,' and changing that is what I suggested. And he did that," Mr. Caraway said. "I didn't try to analyze and change his entire song."
The damage has already been done for some.
"I never considered saggin' something that's indicative of homosexual behavior," said Cordey Lash, a Dallas-based board member of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "For him to specifically target that aspect of what it could mean, well, it's highly offensive and unnecessary to me.
"There are a lot of homophobic people in the African-American community that would not want to be perceived as gay," said Mr. Lash, who is black. "But he's adding to the intolerance and the homophobic nature in the community by using it in that way." Those sentiments were echoed on message boards as the debate spread beyond Dallas.
Mr. Brown says his song was not meant as an attack on the gay community. "I do apologize if they feel offended," he says. Still, he stands by the effectiveness of his tactics. The rapper argues that in his community, the shame inherent in tying saggin' to homosexuality is more effective than any law would be.
"In Dallas, in some of the schools, some of the kids are starting to pull their pants up because of the song," he said. "Peer pressure has a better effect than any law. I was just trying to make it uncool."
The rap is featured prominently on both of Mr. Brown's MySpace pages.
Mr. Caraway added that he has received feedback that a billboard and the song are having a positive effect even outside of Dallas. "It is working across the country; we have dealt with it from New York to California to Florida to Georgia," he said.
Mr. Brown's lyrical tactic isn't the first time that homophobia has emerged as a theme in hip-hop music – Eminem, Ice Cube, Common, 50 Cent, DMX and other rappers have been vilified for anti-gay lyrics.
Mr. Brown claims that saggin', which is a fad partially born from prison inmates having to wear ill-fitting clothing without belts and drawstrings, has grown to suggest something different in prison culture: an invitation for sex.
"They know that it came from behind bars, but they don't know its history," Mr. Brown says of the potential audience for his song. "I don't think the kids are walking the streets without belts because they're about to hang themselves, you know."
Mr. Brown wrote "Pull Your Pants Up" in early October in support of Mr. Caraway's cause, which initially took the form of a proposed city ordinance last month. Constitutional issues with such a law, which has been enacted in Shreveport, La., and considered in Atlanta, Cleveland and elsewhere, prompted Mr. Caraway to change his strategy. So he used Mr. Brown's song as a cornerstone of an independent billboard campaign that he helped launch throughout downtown and southern Dallas last month.
The lyrics to "Pull Your Pants Up," which implores saggin' adherents to "be a real man; pull your pants up," were altered at Mr. Caraway's insistence to accompany the campaign. He called Mr. Brown a kid who got carried away in a song.
"I suggested to him that it was something he needed to change, and he did," said Mr. Caraway, who included Mr. Brown on one of the billboards behind the slogan "It's rude, not cool ... walking around showin' your behind to other dudes."
Mayor Tom Leppert, who supported the "Pull Your Pants Up!" campaign, said the city has never endorsed the song.
"When there were some objectionable comments, [Mr. Caraway] asked that they be removed," said Mr. Leppert, who has reached out to homosexuals since taking office by marching in the annual Dallas gay pride parade and meeting with the city's Log Cabin Republicans.
Adding to the controversy is Mr. Brown's public persona. A self-described "gospel rap" artist and ordained minister, he's active with the Shepherd's Staff, the volunteer ministry of Bishop T.D. Jakes' Potter's House church in southwest Dallas.
"For a gospel rapper to resort to such a homophobic statement is a way for certain conservative and religious organizations to go about discouraging that particular lifestyle," said hip-hop culture expert Dr. Todd Boyd, professor of Critical Studies at the University of Southern California.
"But it's a leap to suggest that that's the entire stance of the African-American community. It's similar to when people talk about sexism and misogyny in hip-hop; to say that all of hip-hop is informed with these things is a bit misguided. Yes, it's there. But it doesn't permeate all of it."
Staff writer Rudolph Bush contributed to this report.
Look Here (http://www.guidelive.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-pants_1101gl.State.Edition1.1e90b70.html)