Come Correct

There's an interview with Ludacris on cnn.com that appeared earlier this month. I was meaning to talk about it then, but with all the ruckus that's been going on, I'm just getting a chance to get it in. The part that really killed me was this exchange:

Q: You did an "uncut" video for your song "Booty Poppin'," and Nelly's explicit "Tip Drill" video was recently the subject of protests. What do you think about the controversy over such soft-core porn videos? LUDACRIS: The people that are criticizing are mostly those who have never seen anything like this or haven't experienced this. Hip-hop music, what we're doing is showing you the reality of what goes on. We're not necessarily trying to promote it in our minds, we're trying to show the reality of what goes on in our neighborhoods. I would say to people who criticize, they're scared of the truth, because this is what's going on, it's like watching the news.

I like 'Cris. I think he has some pretty clever wordplay and he definitely knows how to use his voice for maximum effectiveness. He's got excellent pronunciation so it's easy to tell what his emphasis is. I don't even mind the way he spells his pseudonym, since it contains an element of his given name. May not be the dopest MC ever, but he's solid. Maybe an 84 on the Madden scale with potential to improve. However, when it comes to this whole notion of "reality," he done lost his mind. "Booty Poppin" is reality. Right. It's a reality that it's a good strip club song, and it's a reality that there is a market for strip club songs, but that's not what's going on in our neighborhoods. I mean, strip clubs are in the 'hood too, but he's making it sound like he's talking about politics or something substantial. You know me, I think all those strip club songs are wack anyway, but I would have more respect for the people who make them if they would be upfront about it. Just say, "I like booty and I make records about booty because there's a whole lot of people who like booty too." Don't act like you're actually trying to make a contribution to society.