Check out Cocorosie's deconstruction of Akon's "I Wanna Love You," which essentially amounts to him, Snoop, Tego Calderon, and Sean Paul talking about how the way "you shake your ass," "winding, grinding" etc. makes them want to love you. Amazing how winning their heart's affection apparently has absolutely nothing to do with the mind, heart, or humor of a woman.
Akon's video:
Cocorosie's response:
Lyrics to Cocorosie's version after the jump.
Thanks to philadelphiastory for the heads up.
You see me trying to smile up on this pole
But I'm just hiding the pain that's deep in my soul
You wanna fuck me?
I already know
You wanna fuck me and toss me back on the floor
It started with my brother, first man I loved
Or should I say that he loved me?
I was in second grade, he was fourteen
In the shady of the trees
There was a summer breeze
Whole thing's a blurry dream
Behind the house, quiet as a mouse
You told me not to even breathe
A secret hard to keep
I didn't know 'til thirteen
By then I knew what to do
Just an old routine
Oh, the boys had a thing for me
You see me trying to smile up on this pole
But I'm just hiding the pain that's deep in my soul
You wanna fuck me?
I already know
You wanna fuck me and toss me back on the floor
My mama always said, "You're the brightest star
In life, you're sure to go so far"
Been at this club about four years
Hooked on dope, crying in the mirror
When we was just little girls
We learned to dance in mama's pearls
Baby bend over and shake that ass
Hey, you wanna come home with me?
Hoping you fall in love with me
I could make love to you for free
We could just get a place and start a life
And try to make things right
You see me trying to smile up on this pole
But I'm just hiding the pain that's deep in my soul
You wanna fuck me
I already know
You wanna fuck me and toss me back on the floor
It started with my brother, first man I loved
Or should I say that he loved me?
I was in second grade, he was fourteen
In the shady of the trees
There was a summer breeze
Whole thing's a blurry dream
Behind the house, quiet as a mouse
You told me not to even breathe
A secret hard to keep
I didn't know 'til thirteen
By then I knew what to do
Just an old routine
Oh, the boys had a thing for me
You see me trying to smile up on this pole
But I'm just hiding the pain that's deep in my soul
You wanna fuck me?
I already know
You wanna fuck me and toss me back on the floor
You see me trying to smile up on this pole
But I'm just hiding the pain that's deep in my soul
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I am not a fan of rap, but that is an awesome response. I've always hated Snoop Dogg, and I so wish that I could do a punk-rock response like this to Buck Cherry.
fuck yes! That's how you show the real pain of objectification.
Damn, that's really soul stirring, thank for shareing Courtney
and thank you Cocorosie for showing them what's really up!
and many morons wonder why they can't find true love when all they care about is a woman's looks. Shallow much?
The original lyrics ARE "I wanna fuck you." "I wanna love you" is the clean radio version.
Which is an interesting perspective on what our ideas of propriety are--can't say fuck or make it about sex, but can conflate objectification with love.
Thank you! That's EXACTLY what I think when I hear every time I hear the clean radio edit!!
i love cocorosie and i think this song is really powerful. it just sucks to see that there is yet another representation of strippers and sex workers as child abuse survivors. of course, this is true for some but i hate to see the cause and effect thing that is going on here...like i was abused as a kid and therefore i am a stripper now. is it hard to believe that there are people do it because they like it?
in any case, i think this song is really beautiful and horrifying at the same time. it was difficult for me to listen to, emotionally speaking, but i couldnt stop because god i looove their voices.
You're right in saying that not all women who are sex workers were abused. And not all abused women become sex workers. However, after sexual abuse, many women (and men) have self-worth and self-esteem issues that lead to an abusive cycle, which is many times hard to break.
Also, I think that writing and performing this song is an awesome way to combat the sexism from Akon's music video. Listening to is even more powerful than a written critique (not that I ever want those to stop, it's just great to see different venues for action to bring about awareness on the issues).
Actually, I didn't like the Cocorosie video at all - perhaps it was because she was badly miked and the sound quality was very poor.
I also really didn't care for the same tired old story about all sex workers being sexually abused children - it's just not true.
A LOT of women are sexually abused as kids, unfortunately, (I think about 1 in 3) but how many of them become strippers? A very small fraction.
As for Akon's sexism - look, the dirty version was called "I wanna fuck you" and, to be blunt, what is so terrible about a straight man being sexually attracted to women, and wanting to have casual sex with a woman he finds attractive?
That's not sexism, that's Heterosexuality!
Look at it this way; say it's specifically from the girl he's talking to.
He wants to fuck her cause she's so sexy, but he knows NOTHING about her, and how this could very well be the girl he's talking to. Girls end up in all kind of situations with all kinds of stories.
Secondly, the idea that guys can perpetuate that concept that it's okay to sit around and objectify women and tell her how much you wanna fuck her when you don't know her is shallow, misogynist, and frankly, tacky.
I agree that the sound quality sucks and to make a better connection to Akon they should have done it right on the instrumental of the song, kind of like Weird Al. It would've conveyed the message better. But I LOVE her version. It's a very powerful message.
As for Akon's sexism - look, the dirty version was called "I wanna fuck you" and, to be blunt, what is so terrible about a straight man being sexually attracted to women, and wanting to have casual sex with a woman he finds attractive?
That's not sexism, that's Heterosexuality!
Well shoot, why didn't y'all say so sooner? So the next time some guy rolls up talking about wanting to fuck, I'll ask to see that dick first.
Hey, I'm just being honest right? A girl has standards too, you know? I mean, if I'm shaking my thing, he can see what he's getting, so I want to see what I'm getting. Heteros---that's how we hang. /snark.
wow i thought for a moment I'd clicked on my pitchfork link instead of feministing. glad cocorosie got a shout out. Their revision of "jesus loves me" is thought-provoking as well.
First of all I loved cocorosie's song.
Second, I watched the Snoop Dogg version all the way through and as I was first watching it I felt that something was really wrong with this video. Like more so than usual. I was able to pin-point it about half way through. The dancers have the most hollow look in their eyes. It's as though they are not even there, that they are just going over these moves that they have been instructed to do to get a pay check. I can hardly believe that when these women chose to be dancers they imagined being in these videos. Or maybe they did. Wierd that having watched a lot of music videos this is the first time I really noticed it. Have I just opened my eyes for the first time or is Snoop particularly bad?
I noticed that too.
I can't' see these video shoots being woman-friendly places.
I remember hearing ages ago that Akon claims to sleep with every woman in his videos? I couldn't find any stories about it on google so I may be dreaming this or confusing him with somebody else...
I strongly suggest checking out a documentary called Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex, & Power in Music Video. You can probably find it in a college library or you can look online. But it's incredibly eye-opening.
Thank You Leah. I have actually heard of this film and know its available as one of the Introduction to Women's Studies classes is using it in the class. I will definitely check it out!
Yes, thank you! I watched this and it was great.
By "love you" Akon means "a way to say fuck you that they'll play on the radio" not "give you my heart's affection."
as savannahm above pointed out, the original lyrics actually are "i wanna fuck you". 'love' is just to get it played on the radio.
Yeah, I know. That's what I was saying. Just reiterating that point because I think it's pretty important; I don't think you can really say that Akon is suggesting that his heart's affection is won by physical hotness and ass-shakin', just that he wants to fuck hot chicks. Definitely not a fantastic message either, but notably different.
Actually the lyrics in the final stanza seem to be trying to take it beyond just wanting to fuck hot chicks... sortof...
"baby you got a phatty the type I like to marry
wanting to just give you everything and that's kinda scary,
cause I'm loving the way you shake your ass, bouncin', got me tippin' my glass,
Normally don't get caught up to fast but I got a thing for you."
Honestly, I didn't think it was all that hot. In part I'm weary of folks crapping on hip hop in part because they really didn't impress me musically.
Yes, indeed, Cocorosie are awful at rapping - among the worst I've ever heard! And they need to get somebody who actually knows how to tape and edit videos to do their youtube videos!
I really didn't need to see 35 seconds of them drinking water and standing there before they even started to rap (lamely).
this video was posted by a fan, not produced by the band. And whether or not you personally favour their musical style is pretty irrelevant to the post topic.
Well, I saw this post and my first thought was to let everyone know that Snoop and Kon and nowhere near that subtle in this song, and that that is the radio version.
But, I see I was beaten to the punch.
As someone who loves hip-hop, rap and R&B, this stuff really depresses me because I'm also a feminist.
*sigh*
What to do, what to do?
This was so amazing. I was so emotionally shaken by this piece. The tone of the song, including the ownership of a misogynistic hip-hop hit, completely emphasizes rape culture and the feeling of being raped and going on with your life in a world that does not acknowledge what happened to you. God, so amazing.
While I think a lot of feminists enjoy hip-hop simply as an effect of living in America where this entertainment is presented to us in the mainstream, it can be even more enjoyed and appreciated when female artists come in and take ownership of the song, and therefore completely change it. It almost becomes a different genre. I would love to hear a woman do something with Dr. Dre's "Bitches A'int Shit."
Can I just say "Word"?
what makes me even more weary than people crapping on hip-hop is people like Akon crapping on hip-hop.
Despite people with the likes of 'Kon hijacking the genre, there actually is good rap/hip-hop out there.
Yeah, to call this hip hop is so wrong. Not that there's not a lot of shit in actual hip hop (and good feminist stuff too) but this is not hip hop at all. Its a pop appropriation of some of the elements in hip hop culture, but that doesn't make it hip hop. Like coloring your hair doesn't make you punk.
But to take something - good or bad - and "resample" it and make it your own independent thing, THAT's hip hop.
True, there's plenty of hip hop that celebrates women... you just have to dig for it. :)
y'all, seriously? CocoRosie? the 100% white band that sings "jesus loves me/but not my wife/not my nigger friends/or their nigger lives" and calls it "irony"? the band whose frontwoman claims that hipster clubs are "safer environments" to get "freaky" in and listen to music than actual hiphop clubs?
i mean, jesus christ, i'm not going to stand up for akon. i think his lyrics are pretty appalling. but for god's sake, there must be SOMEONE out there who's questioning this whose racial politics aren't at LEAST as fucked up as akon's sexual politics.
According to her quote in the Washington Post story you linked to, she thinks African American men are "really hardcore" (in a bad way) and she only feels safe in all White hipster clubs.
Add that tho her lyric talking about niggers and you get a total racist asshole.
I'm sure if Akon was a White man, she's have absolutely no problem with his lyrics.
But since he's Black (and a Muslim! and an immigrant!) she's totally offended - probably not so much because of the alleged "sexism" but because of her white supremacist horror at the thought of a Black Muslim immigrant man thinking about White women sexually!
You know what, I smelled that that brand of white racist feminist on her from the outset and i started several times to go there but I reframed. After a while a a WoC you get to the point on these type blogs to where you doubt your own sensibilities and start think maybe you are "too sensitive". Grias for outing her and I am ashamed for biting my tongue.
I'm not sure if this song is a total rebuttal to Akon in the sense of Cocorosie vs. Akon. It felt like something different that just kind of used the song for juxtaposition.
I could be wrong, and I hate to throw myself into the fire like this, but I feel pretty strongly about this piece.
From that article:
"His [some white hipster] street fliers come emblazoned with the words "Kill Whitie" across a woman's backside. Another flier offers free admission to anyone with a bucket of fried chicken."
I hate hipsters. They should re-think their existence.
This other person from the article understands:
"You wouldn't see this in Atlantic City," Green said, scowling at a white crew of hip-hop poseurs. "You have a lot of black bars and white bars and a lot of diversity. Here, it's white kids dancing to hip-hop."
For the sake of accuracy they're not "100% white". Their mother is Native American which makes them, by many people's definitions, WoC.
I am not able to comprehend at all why anyone is upset at Cocorosie for the lyrics "jesus loves me/but not my wife/not my nigger friends/or their nigger lives". I think that is an extremely fantastic way at portraying a common white christian male thought process in a poetic and blunt way. Those lyrics only further my opinion that Cocorosie is a band trying to out disgusting misogyny and racism through the use of their art. Is it because of the n-word? Because if so, I think it's clear (at least it is to me) that they are not using the word themselves, as they are telling us how the word is used.
The way I see it, if there was an author who wrote a novel, and a character in the novel said something as blunt as "Jesus loves me but not my wife, not my nigger friends or their nigger lives" would we be mad at the author? I certainly wouldn't. She is portraying a hateful and bigoted mindset that is sadly all too common in the US. I'm really confused about why anyone would be disgusted with or angry with Cocorosie. This is sheer activism through art to me.
But if you take into account the other instances of hipster racism that are prevalent even just in that one hipster hip-hop community, it looks less and less ok. The article delilahfantastic linked to put it context for me. I'd recommend it.
Obviously you are not a PoC.
I'm pretty sure it's never "obvious" that someone is or is not a person of color.
hey, i'm not standing up for cocorosie or putting them down with this comment, i am weary about listening to just one source on the internet, though. i know that that's the only article that i found that was like that-- i just hope we all do more research... just because it is written in one place on the internet does not mean it is 100% true-- plus articles are always super biased.
And this is lesson number 199,999 on why it's hard for WoC to trust feminism. One toe in the water, one knife in the back.
If Courtney didn't know anything about that group besides this one song before posting this, I think that's unfair.
It may be unfair to Courtney, but there's a lot of people in this thread talking about how great CocoRosie is and at least one comment that mentions how "thought-provoking" Jesus Loves Me is. Note to white people: I don't really give a fuck how "edgy" you think you are, the n-word isn't your word to use.
Ah, ok. I skipped over some of the comments so I didn't realize that.
unless you have listened to cocorosie, including the particular song in context, you really can't judge whether the tone was successfully sarcastic and the point came across.
to stir the pot further, cocorosie has a song with the lyrics "all i wanted was to be a housewife" juxtaposed with "i'll wear your black eyes, bake you apple pies."
In the context of the band and the album, both are excellent, and yes, thought-provoking songs.
**and just a note, only one of the sisters ever attended the Kill Whitey parties, and this was before she and her sister ever formed Cocorosie. Also, they are not strictly a hip hop band. their music is a diverse mixture of odd instrumentation and operatic voices mixed with rapping or raspy singing.
I have heard the song and I still think it's fucked up for white women to be singing about niggers. Sorry. Especially given the fact that they're obviously fucked up about black people in other ways. As I said before, I don't think that cries of "OMG! but it's SATIRE!" give anyone a free pass, let alone women who are SCARED OF BLACK MEN.
Frankly, I don't believe that CocoRosie has a vested interest in anti-racism; I think that "Jesus Loves Me" exists for the shock value. But even if I'm wrong and they actually DO try to give a fuck about black people, maybe they should actually LISTEN to those black people when they tell them that they're being offensive.
I really wasn't referencing Court per se I find it to be sincere even when I disagree with her.
I think "irony" is the new "But I have black friends!"
I attended a lecture a few months ago where hip-hop scholar Tricia Rose was the featured speaker.
http://www.triciarose.com/
She wrote Black Noise in the 90s when it was one of the first scholarly inquests into hip hop.
Her newest book, Hip Hop Wars, is a series of arguments both for and against hip hop. In essence, she takes a look at both sides. For example, one of her chapters is titled "How Conservative Attacks Have Trapped Hip Hop" and another "Gangstas, Pimps and Hoes: The Hip Hop Trinity."
I would encourage anyone interested in this issue to take a look at her book.
I am not going to say that I dont like the song they play on the radio.. and that it doesnt make me shake my ass.. haha. Most people dont even listen to the words in songs.. like the people who comment before only have to say that cocorosie is terrible at rapping and bla bla bla.. i didnt watch the video i listened to the song.. and i read the lyrics at the same time.and I enjoyed it.
the only thing is .. thats her story if thats her story i dont know if thats true. but i dont think its expressive of all strippers though i'm sure all strippers know that the men in the clubs are going to be thinking i want to fuck her and her and her.. obviously. how could they not be thinking that.
I mean there are so many songs out there.. not just rap.. that say whatever they want about women and it isnt okay.. it isnt "just heterosexuality" and that is realy idiotic to say..
i'm thinkin.. the answer to gregoryabutler's question of whats wrong with that.. is.. maybe it is just a little too forward to tell a woman.. you dont know.. i wanna fuck you because youre dancing around .. though i think the women in this video arent dancing the way that any woman at any regular party would be dancing.. and if they were at a regular party they wouldnt be dancing for the attention of guys.. they would be doing it for fun. so in this "fun" setting.. if i guy were to come up and say i want to fuck you.. because you look hot when youre dancing.. THATS RUDE! thats not how you flatter a woman.. or get her to like you.
you can think to yourself man she's hot i want to get to know her better and go talk to her like a regular person and if she isnt interested then you leave her alone. maybe it could progress to a couple of dates and possibly get you laid.. but i think that if theres a guy out there that would tell a girl to her face i want to fuck you because you shake it real good.. that he's the kind of guy who would not respect a girl for saying no thanks.. and would possibly be the kind of guy who would take what he wanted .. or when called out would claim he was just kidding..
Ugh, this is so frustrating! I fell in love with Cocorosie's music before I heard about the hipster racist parties. I now own 2 of their albums, love their sound and hate their behavior. So what do I do?
It's just irksome, it seems like racism, as usual is a bigger sin than sexism. They're both terrible but whenever there's a sexism in hip hop thread all the hip hop fans come out of the woodwork saying how it's not that bad, or how they like how the music makes you feel, or how they don't even listen to the lyrics. Wtf?
@ Delilahfantastic: Note to white people: I don't really give a fuck how "edgy" you think you are, the n-word isn't your word to use.
This comment really bothered me. You better tell Dorothy Allison and Stephen King this. I'm a writer/artist, do I have to get permission from the people of color in the world to use the n-word? Because I won't. I have to stay honest to the story my character's telling and if the n-word is appropriate then I'm using it.
@ LalaReina: Really? One post on Feministing is a knife in the back from all feminists? I sense your issues run deeper than that.
It was more than "one post' and I sense your white privilege is an awesome shield.
I'm actually Native American, but thanks for assuming my heritage!
I'd think you'd be flattered and I'll thank you not to attribute your issues to my reasonings.
"I sense your issues run deeper than that."
That's a really obnoxious comment.
You may find it obnoxious. I find it obnoxious that LalaReina has "accused" two people on this thread so far of being white because we may not agree with her. I think my comment was very respectful and I get rage in return. Classy.
"do I have to get permission from the people of color in the world to use the n-word?"
Did you read the Jay Smooth thread? Ann (one of the moderators) posted this:
Ann said:
And on a more substantive, non-housekeeping note...
The simple rule Jay spells out -- "if you're not the original target of an insult, you can't be the one to reclaim it" -- is a really valuable one. It also applies to imagery. We get lots of questions about our logo, which I've always seen as reclaiming a sexist icon. (Another good blog-logo example of image-reclaiming is the watermelon graphic at Jack and Jill Politics.) Take the Feministing logo out of context, or simply show the image without noting that it represents a feminist blog, and the connotation is very different. The image isn't "reclamation" if used by just anyone, or if removed from the reclaimers (women, feminists, us!).
I would never use the n-word in personal conversation. I can't reclaim it, I get that. I was referring to it in an artistic context and I found that one comment particularly chilling. I'm an artist and I have an obligation to write honestly, and if that's what one of my characters is going to say then that's what they're going to say. Should I take out my copies of To Kill a Mockingbird & Huckleberry Fin & cross out every instance of the n-word with a Sharpie?
I kind of agree with you. There's a difference between reclaiming a word and using it in an artistic context. Reclaiming implies attempting to diffuse the negative connotations of the word. I'm thinking of groups using the words to describe themselves to take back the word for the dominant group. Using the word in an artistic context means you are invoking all the connotations of the word in order to make your point. Of course, what is art etc whatever, but that's my point.
Exactly. I can't reclaim the n-word, it's definitely not my place. But I wrote a short story once that was set during the Vietnam War and the soldiers used the n-word. A lot. It was very uncomfortable for me to write it because I've never used that word in real life but when I have a set of characters I feel obliged to write them as honestly as possible. So when someone says "You can't use this word, it's MINE" it really rankles me.
I see your point with literature and stories, when it is characters using the words. I'm just not convinced the same reasoning applies to a 4 minute song. It just seems like no matter what point of view the song is supposed to be from, the person singing it and the character that is being portrayed aren't separate. To me it seems less akin to an author writing a character, and more akin to an actor in blackface.
BUT I'm not an artist. I'm definitely not a songwriter so maybe I'm just unable to see songwriting as similar to novel writing.
I'm willing to cut them more slack because a lot of the songs that they sing, and a lot of bands in the steam-punk/indie genre that I'm familiar with (I'm thinking of Dresden Dolls, Rasputina, Darling Violetta, Arcade Fire, The Decembrists, The Gothic Archies) write their songs in a more tradional storytelling style, as opposed to the contemporary confessional story. The songs aren't about the artists themselves. On The Decembrist's album The Crane Wife, there's a song called "The Island: Come and See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Not Feel the Drowning." It's a 12-minute-long song about a soldier coming upon a young woman on an island, raping her, strangling her, and leaving her to drown. It's one of my favorite songs, but I ultimately don't leave it thinking that Collin Melloy advocates raping anonymous women.
And there you have it, Moxie reminded me why I was going to let it slide in the first place. Damn us coloreds and our issues and speaking up and not knowing our place.
Why do you automatically believe that everyone who disagrees with you is white?
Cocorosie's lyrics by themselves are not indicative of racism. While they are written to be inflammatory, one can also assume that they were written to make a point, which is valid.
The contents of the aforementioned article are more alarming than the use of the word 'nigger' in a song.
Waiiiiit....why are we so concerned with Akon's narrative when Nickleback is out there telling us we look SO MUCH CUTER with something in our mouth.
"Hey if you've got my dick in your mouth you can't talk AND I'm gettin' something! SCORE!"
Ugh.
Finally, someone else who hates Nickelback!
Everybody around here is obsessed with them... :|
What's Nickelback? I've never heard of them but I don't listen to the FM radio and I don't have cable or anything so no MTV.
Nickleback is a popular Canadian rock band - they just won Group of the Year at the Juno Awards. Their lead singer is responsible for the song "Hero" the theme song for the first Spiderman movie.
I haven't been following them at all, and having looked up the song BlueRing is referencing I have to say I'm glad.
Nickleback: "Something in Your Mouth" lyrics & video.
Oh, ick on a stick! I instantly feel dirty after reading those lyrics. Makes me feel better for sticking with my obscure music geekery.
I think I vaguely remember them from the late 90's early 2000's.
Sigh. Commenting at Feministing makes me so weary sometimes.