A Mother's Perspective on Lyricism in Pop Music. Story shared by Roxy ElRey

I look around and I ask myself, “Am I crazy or am I the only mother that thinks this is inappropriate?” I am not a square and I don’t preach religion. I promise. However, I refuse to allow my children to fall victim and watch countless hours of TV or listen to the senseless “music” of today.

While I know that I can’t prevent my kids from being exposed to certain things during the time they are away at school; I work very hard at home to educate and raise two beautiful mindful boys. My oldest boy is seven years old and should not be singing along to “going up on a Tuesday”. If you are anything like me, you can already imagine my reaction.

This brings me to my next point which is about public education and what our children are learning at school. To keep my son busy and active during the summer break I enrolled him in the L.A.’s Best summer program. Here we are as parents trusting that the school district has good judgment and hires competent individuals to care for our children. I arrive to pick up my son and walk into all the kids in the summer program dancing and singing along to the “Nae Nae” song. I am sure you’ve all heard this ridiculous tune. Here are a few lyrics:

Now watch me whip (kill it!)

Now watch me nae nae (okay!)

Now watch me whip whip

Watch me nae nae (want me do it?)

The first question one may ask is “what on earth is nae nae?” As a mindful parent that questions the subliminal message behind every pop or rap song, I found that Nae Nae is actually a person. This person is a female character named Sheneneh Jenkings on the famous 90’s sitcom Martin. Ms. Jenkings is the best person to describe the meaning behind the song. A ghetto, promiscuous, unattractive hot mess dancing like a fool. So basically, my child was singing “watch me foolishly dance like a trashy whore”.

On a second occasion my son’s father walked into the kids listening to “Trap Queen”. Some lyrics are as follows:

Married to the money, introduced her to my stove
Showed her how to whip it, now she remixin' for low
She my trap queen, let her hit the bando
We be countin' up, watch how far them bands go
We just set a goal, talkin' matchin' Lambos
A 50, 60 grand, prob' a hundred grams though
Man, I swear I love her how she work the damn pole
Hit the strip club, we be letting bands go
Everybody hating, we just call them fans though
In love with the money, I ain't ever letting go

This needs no translation as it is very literal. “What is wrong with the youth of today?” many ask. I say music plays a great influence. Most pop or rap songs consist of drugs, sex, money and shaming of women. If you pay close attention these songs are becoming our reality. This is the plan of course. No zombie apocalypse needed. We are the zombie apocalypse. We walk around blinded and ignorant to what really matters. Remember the more we know the bigger of a threat we are to those in position of power. Everything around us has been created to keep us ignorant and blind.

As parents we need to stand strong and create a solid foundation for our kids. Education starts at home. These days you see parents and children in the same room staring down at a screen and not engaging in something as simple as a conversation. As parents we should be playing, creating, talking and reading to our kids.

As I mentioned before I work very hard toward mindful education for my kids. This includes activities such as art therapy, crafts, meditation, yoga, board games, reading but most importantly communication. We can’t allow our children to learn from music or other inapt sources. We must decolonize play time and the classrooms for the future of our children and their children.

I am a mother and I am against pop music and what it is teaching our children. Are you?

Roxy ElRey

This story is part of the International M.A.P. blog series and Dialogue Starters. 2015