They have received not one word of condemnation from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It is worth mentioning at this point that these rappers extolling the glory of trap houses are, for the most part, black.
Google the word "trap" along with the word "drug" and you'll be taken to the website Urban Dictionary, where you'll find this definition: "Term used to define a crack house, or the surroundings in which a drug dealer (or trap star) would use to make profit." But their parents had better know - or learn. Today's youngsters parroting Minaj's lyrics "I beez in the trap" probably have no idea what a trap is. When I was this little girl's age, the worst my parents worried about my hearing on the radio was Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" or "A Whole Lot of Shaking Going On." Can I be the only one detecting a "Houston, we have a problem" moment here? The little lady I played chess with was more than familiar with Minaj, 2 Chainz and the lyrics to "Beez in the Trap." She couldn't have been more than 8 years old. Now would it be a rap song without a reference to the B-word and a dropping of what I call the Great Oedipal Expletive? Oh, and of course, there's the N-word, dropped later in the song. "I beez in the trap, bee beez in the trap"
"I beez in the trap, bee beez in the trap "B-s ain't s-t, but they ain't say nothing You'll hear nothing like "I got sunshine on a cloudy day / when it's cold outside, I got the month of May" on the Minaj-Chainz track. The way she pronounced it, I thought she had said, "Tu Chang." Maybe this rapper was a refugee from the rap group Wu-Tang Clan.įurther investigation revealed that she in fact had said "2 Chainz." He's an Atlanta rapper who did a duet with Minaj on a song called "Beez in the Trap."Īgain, "Beez in the Trap" is no "My Girl," that classic written by Motown's Smokey Robinson and Ronald White and immortalized by the voices of the Temptations. "Have you heard of 2 Chainz?" the girl asked. I started to mention that Minaj, in her videos, is fond of wearing skimpy outfits, those thunder thighs of hers notwithstanding. Now I realize what a crap shoot it is with my sanity to discuss anything having to do with today's crop of rappers, but maybe this was the one time I wouldn't come up snake eyes. I teach a chess class one day a week at a Baltimore summer camp. "Have you heard of Nicki Minaj?" the little girl asked me.
Parents, you might want to keep the kiddies away from Nicki Minaj and 2 Chainz.