(crossposted from Amplify )
Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It” has been the no #1 Billboard R&B/Hip Hop song in the country for the last 14 weeks, beating out records by Mariah Carey, Deborah Cox and R. Kelly for longest reign at that spot in Billboard history. So far, only Mary J. Blige’s “Be Without You” has had a longer run, and current momentum has Foxx beating out the Queen of Hip Hop Soul for those honors next week. The club banger is also the number #2 pop song in America, jumping two spots in one week.
I thought I’d take a peek behind this musical sensation sweeping our land and major shows like American Idol , Jimmy Kimmel and—rather curiously un-critiqued on—the Tyra Banks Show . Imagine my surprise when I discovered that recession-weary Americans are groovin’ to much more than the idea of escaping their hard knocks life through the bottle, but we are in fact bouncin’ to a one man’s stealth plot to take advantage of a woman he purposely gets drunk for sex. Have you actually read the lyrics to “Blame It”?
Now, I’m no prude, but what appears to be a simple ode to the joys of different alcohol brands and juvenile irresponsibility (in behavior, not age), essentially depicts women as prey to get drunk and take sexual advantage of. This idea is not new or novel, its reasoning is in fact the reason many perpetrators (gay and straight) are in jail. Some 66% of female victims and 58.5% of male victims of rape say their perpetrator was using alcohol or drugs when they raped them, and almost 20% of women and 38% of male victims were also under the influence.
Still, the wholesale success of “Blame It” reveals more than just a national need to escape hard times through banging beats and chemical alteration. The song’s success speaks to even more than our perennial longing not to be accountable to a host of pesky obligations and responsibilities, from infidelity and child support payments to torture approvals and global economic meltdowns. The success of “Blame It” illustrates the endurance of our cultural belief that it’s not only okay to get those sexually desirable drunk and take advantage of them while under the influence, that it’s in fact a sport worth celebrating through song. At #1, America clearly agrees.
The lyrics to “Blame It” like many pop songs depict a fantastical stereotype through story. Written by an all-male team, including Foxx and T-Pain, the song is interior dialogue and story narrative told from the male’s point of view, one who believes that the woman really wants him, but just needs alcohol to be convinced ( we won’t get into the perp’s self-esteem issues here). In this instance, a woman who doesn’t appear interested in a man will become willing through multiple purchases of alcohol. She will transition from cold fish to groping groupie in just a matter of shots, even if she has another man.
The song’s perpetrator (‘cause that’s what he’d be if this case ever came to trial) is a cool observer who’s strategic as he keeps a variety of cocktails flowing the lady’s way, gradually increasing his invasion of her body as she relaxes(Fill another cup up/Feeling on your butt-What?/You don't even care now), watching for her symptoms of lost judgment and physical disorientation to take hold (Couple more shots/You open up like a book) and advancing accordingly. Once he knows she’s drunk enough to not even know she’s had sex (Shawty got drunk, thought it all was a dream/So, I made her say, "Ah, Ah, Ah"), he takes her somewhere to complete his mission, and potentially catch a date rape case to boot.
Aesthetically, the club song is genius, with catchy hooks that invite you to be a little naughty on the dance floor and an engaging bassline to sweep you into a halcyon party groove. In a haze of T-Pain’s stuttered electronic choruses, we fail to notice the song is more than a song but the mental notes of sexual predators’ writ large. Not all of those who buy into this message are conscious predators; many will believe that their actions were following an acceptable cultural script, one that even some good people may find acceptable. Sadly, many Foxx fans gratefully sweating to “their song” may be on the witness stand several months later, both defendant and plaintiff later blaming what might have been a disastrously mis-communicated moment—or a nefarious one—on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.
(written by Amplify columnist L. Michael Gipson, a Washington, DC based cultural critic, commnity health planner, and award-winning youth activist. Read his columns here )
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Argh! No, I have to disagree strongly with one sentence: Aesthetically, this "song" is horrible. That's one reason I have never noticed the lyrics: not only is it so uniform and boring a setup sound-wise he's also whining into a voice-distortion thing that makes my ears hurt. Crap crap crap. Content-wise and music-wise.
LOL. I agree.
According to the Mathew Sheppard Bill which was just signed into US law, having sex with someone who is physically or mentally impaired is now a "hatecrime" and gets you an extra ten years on your sentence.
So that twit can shout "it's the alcohol" all he wants -- from prison.
Actually, the Matthew Shepard Act has only passed in the House, so far... I don't believe it's come to the Senate floor yet, and if it has I know for sure that Obama has yet to sign it.
Hmm. I dunno, when I heard that song I thought he was pretty much saying that she wanted to have sex, but she didn't want to 'look like a slut' so she needed to drink in order to feel comfortable.
Yes, this is what I got too. It seemed like the story was about a girl who who wanted to have sex, but since she didn't want to be seen as a whore ("Cause shawty know what she want/But she don't wanna seem like she easy.") she is looking for excuses to have sex with him. Alcohol ends up being her excuse, as it is for many women who like sex a lot. Granted, this is from a male point of view though, so he could be misinterpreting her feelings... but not necessarily.
That's the impression I got too. But it's still not the kind of message that I like to hear from a song. (Call me a prude, whatever. :P)
Perhaps the song can be interpreted a number of ways. The problem is that the adolescents who are listening to it may interpret it the way that leads them to believe it is okay to get women drunk in order to have sex with them.
There needs to be more education about these kinds of things in sexual education classes.
I agree with followingthru. It doesn't so much matter the intent of the song, as much as how it is interpreted by the people listening. It adds to the myth that when women and girls are drunk we are really doing what we want to be doing and all we needed was just to "loosen our inhibitions." There is rarely a counterbalance of the woman feeling a loss of control, and feeling like she was a different person and not making her own decisions.
Songs and other media that encourage guys to get women drunk are terrible.
I think there needs to be a major overhaul of alcohol regulations, but I'm not sure the best way to do it.