Post Reading Week 12

After watching the video myself, I came to the conclusion that Lupe Fiasco’s song is an actual example of an artist trying to be more critically conscious of what is going on around us.  Fiasco, advocating critical thinking and freedom to acquire fundamental truth and knowledge about the world, created the song ‘Bitch Bad’ in order to critique the stereotyping and social manipulation that goes on in today’s hip hop industry.  In order to formulate his argument, Fiasco first creates context for the viewer.  He poses two notions of what it is to be a “bad bitch” based on their use in the video.  In his own words, Fiasco describes the various uses of the term as creating the idea of illusion vs reality.  To Fiasco, reality is treating yourself with respect and remaining genuine with regard to the actions that you commit; advocating awareness of your environment and encouraging individuals to think critically about the world around us.  As the video progresses, Fiasco then critiques the “illusion” of reality that hip-hop artists tend to promote in their music.  Too often, hip-hop artists create false ideas of what reality is, and those who are too young to understand how to interpret such media end up believing in what they see.  It is Fiasco’s critique that, in this process, the industry is producing a generation of youth that adhere to debased forms of life. Also very interesting about the song, Fiasco challenges the use of “Blackface” and the continuation of creating this image of Black people as entertainers while their White “superiors” reap all the benefits of their efforts.  
One might say that Lupe Fiasco is portraying Women in a negative light in the video, however we must remember that he is simply creating a context that he then begins to critique.  In no way is he advocating such negative perceptions of Women, he is only showcasing such perceptions so that he, speaking from a position beyond the video itself, can express how he feels that it is corrupt.  Of course one can say that Fiasco’s story places a girl in the side of an illusion while a boy follows reality, but we have to remember that this is only one video.  Due to the restriction of time, one can only put so much into a single song that ultimately is meant to appeal to a large audience.  In my opinion, I think that Fiasco would counter this argument by stating that yes, Men are a problem in that they get manipulated by the media in the same way that Women do, but within the context of one video and one song, you can only do so much and can’t efficiently incorporate all that has to be said about a particular topic.  To me, where one can find the biggest concern is in Fiasco’s hierarchy of the role of Women in society.  These lyrics are in no way defined properly, so we can never know the true intention of them unless Fiasco speaks more on the matter.  Yes there flaws to this video, but when compared to other forms of this genre, Lupe Fiasco’s ‘Bitch Bad’ is a genuine attempt at creating critically conscious work.  

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