Lupe Fiasco takes on the B word... Paul Roberson

B*itch Bad............Ending with a tribute to Paul Roberson

Now imagine there's a shorty, maybe five maybe four
Ridin' 'round with his mama listening to the radio
And a song comes on and a not far off from being born
Doesn't know the difference between right and wrong
Now I ain't trying to make it too complex
But let's just say shorty has an undeveloped context
About the perception of women these days
His mama sings along and this what she says
"Niggas, I'm a bad bitch, and I'm that bitch
Something that's far above average"
And maybe other rhyming words like cabbage and savage
And baby carriage and other things that match it
Couple of things are happenin' here
First he's relatin' the word "bitch" with his mama - comma
And because she's relatin' to herself, his most important source of help
And mental health, he may skew respect for dishonor

The second official single from Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1, Bitch Bad tackles the use of the notorious word, “bitch”, and its effects, especially on children. As Lu seemingly cosigns, it actually accurately depicts Sigmund Freud’s Madonna–whore complex

Notice that the title itself is a play on words, as the phrase is usually “bad bitch”. Also note that the track, which is produced by The Audibles (D. Jordan & Jimmy Giannos), sounds the way many Hip-Hop songs that use the word “bitch” — mainly trap music — do, and that Lupe changes his flow to sound slightly simplistic and mainstream like many of these rappers. He’s dubbed it his Rod Serling Twilight Zone Flow, since “sometimes you just gotta talk to em.” The song features background vocals from MDMA a.k.a Poo Bear.

The Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3m3t_PxiUI 
The Lyrics:

[Intro]
Yeah, I say
Bitch bad, woman good, lady better
Hey, hey
Hey, hey

[Verse 1]
Now imagine there's a shorty, maybe five maybe four
Ridin' 'round with his mama listening to the radio
And a song comes on and a not far off from being born
Doesn't know the difference between right and wrong
Now I ain't trying to make it too complex
But let's just say shorty has an undeveloped context
About the perception of women these days
His mama sings along and this what she says
"Niggas, I'm a bad bitch, and I'm that bitch
Something that's far above average"
And maybe other rhyming words like cabbage and savage
And baby carriage and other things that match it
Couple of things are happenin' here
First he's relatin' the word "bitch" with his mama - comma
And because she's relatin' to herself, his most important source of help
And mental health, he may skew respect for dishonor

[Hook]
Bitch bad, woman good
Lady better, they misunderstood
(I'm killin' these bitches)
Uh, tell 'em
Bitch bad, woman good
Lady better, they misunderstood
They misunderstood

[Verse 2]
Yeah, now imagine a group of little girls nine through twelve
On the internet watchin' videos listenin' to songs by themselves
It doesn't really matter if they have parental clearance
They understand the internet better than their parents
Now being the internet, the content's probably uncensored
They're young, so they're malleable and probably unmentored
A complicated combination, maybe with no relevance
Until that intelligence meets their favorite singer's preference
"Bad bitches, bad bitches, bad bitches
That's all I want and all I like in life is bad bitches, bad bitches"
Now let's say that they less concerned with him
And more with the video girl acquiescent to his whims
Ah, the plot thickens
High heels, long hair, fat booty, slim
Reality check, I'm not trippin'
They don't see a paid actress, just what makes a bad bitch

[Hook]

[Verse 3]
Disclaimer: this rhymer, Lupe, is not usin' "bitch" as a lesson
But as a psychological weapon
To set in your mind and really mess with your conceptions
Discretions, reflections, it's clever misdirection
Cause, while I was rappin' they was growin' up fast
Nobody stepped in to ever slow 'em up, gasp
Sure enough, in this little world
The little boy meets one of those little girls
And he thinks she a bad bitch and she thinks she a bad bitch
He thinks disrespectfully, she thinks of that sexually
She got the wrong idea, he don't wanna fuck her
He think she's bad at bein' a bitch, like his mother
Momma never dressed like that, come out the house hot mess like that
Ass, titties, breasts like that, all out to impress like that
Just like that, you see the fruit of the confusion
He caught in a reality, she caught in an illusion
Bad mean good to her, she really nice and smart
But bad mean bad to him, bitch don't play your part
But bitch still bad to her if you say it the wrong way
But she think she a bitch, what a double entendre

[Hook]

[Outro: MDMA]
Bitch bad, woman good, lady better
They misunderstood
You're misunderstood (I'm killin' these bitches)
Bitch bad, woman good, lady better
Greatest mother hoood (I'm killin' these bitches)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/sep/23/lupe-fiasco-food-and-liquor-review?newsfeed=true
F&L II momentarily threatened to be rapper Lupe Fiasco's final album after an ugly Twitter altercation with another rhymer, up'n'comer Chief Keef, found the highly evolved, practising Muslim appalled by the violence of the younger generation. The beef is over, but F&L II would still make a proud swansong. Standout single Bitch Bad examines how language shapes attitudes with forensic nuance (and piss-taking Auto-Tune). The video, meanwhile, tackles the minstrel mechanics of commercial hip-hop. The tunes are pugnaciously mass-market, with debts to Kanye West. Throughout, though, tracks such as ITAL (Roses) and Audubon Ballroom come inflected with righteous fury and weary humour.

http://www.vh1.com/music/tuner/2012-08-23/lupes-bitch-bad-is-about-so-much-more-than-bad-bitches/?xrs=share_twitter
     The first verse of Lupe Fiasco’s “Bitch Bad” begins with a little boy listening to his mother rap along to lyrics where she refers to herself as a “bad bitch.” Lupe’s latest single and its accompanying video examines the dualities surrounding the word “bitch”; namely, it’s a word that can be viewed by some as damaging to women, yet also a word that is held up by some as a feminine ideal. In the video the video vixen has accepted the title of “bitch” as being something to be proud of, and an ideal that she attempts to live up to by rocking a pink wig, short shorts and removable breast enhancements. Little boys pack the theater seats to watch the faux gangster with his rolled blunt underneath a blue bandana accompanied by a gun to give credence to his street cred. The kids idolize him because he has a “bad bitch.” Only they are too adolescent to understand the way the entertainment they’re exposed to as kids may eventually shape their realities.
Young girls watch those same videos but instead emulate the video vixen. Now they’ve formed a perception that being a “bad bitch” is somehow good because the pretty woman gets the man with the flashy jewelry and money. Again, the young girls’ underdeveloped minds don’t understand the video vixen is a paid model, one that is being paid (albeit probably not very well) to perform. Filling the theater with impressionable children proves the point that the message is marketed to the youth, and they’re the ones that become adults with a warped perception of respect for themselves and each other.

     This brings us to the final act of the story, where Lupe parallels modern day black entertainment (read: music videos) to historical blackface, tap dancing and performances blacks once participated in for the enjoyment of white audiences, which reinforced negative stereotypes. A girl and a boy who were subjected to the “bad bitches” imagery as youth are all grown up. As a woman, she believes being a bad bitch is a compliment. As for him, well, he associates nothing good with bitches. In the background, caricatures of Sambo, blacks tap dancing and the video model/rapper in blackface plays repeatedly. The video vixen/rapper struggle with the images they’ve just presented to the world for money.

     The allegory in the Gil Green directed video symbolizes new age minstrel shows. Beyond tackling the perception of bitch being good or bad, which is subjective, Lupe points out the ideal of black entertainers pimping themselves through reinforcing stereotypes all for a buck, or in this case, millions of bucks. One would have to understand history to comprehend what he did here. If you’ve seen Spike Lee’s Bamboozled, you’ll immediately recognize the similarities. Frankly, it’s probably one of the most important videos of the year. Because whether you consider “bitch” empowering or degrading, there is something to ponder on: What’s the message being ingrained in children, all for the sake of entertainment?

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