Falling In Love With Shawty and Other Great Ideas | Teen Ink

Falling In Love With Shawty and Other Great Ideas

April 17, 2010
By IsobelFree DIAMOND, Hamilton, Other
IsobelFree DIAMOND, Hamilton, Other
71 articles 20 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"As long as there is open road, the familiar has the most formidable competitor." - Anonymous


Hello. I am a teenager just like you, unless you are a creeper, in which case stop creeping. I would like to talk to all of you about something that has been bugging me for a long time – pop music.

Pop music’s all around us: in the car, in stores, blaring out of stereos. We’ve come to almost not notice it unless we decided to really listen. Well, let’s just be grateful for this, because the less you listen, the better. I’ll be the first to admit that I fall into the pop trap at times, just like many. I’ve been caught listening to Lady Gaga or Jay-Z. But especially lately, I’ve started to notice a real trend in this genre of music. And it sure isn’t good.

First reason: A large majority of pop and such music disrespects women. For example, a song I heard the other day claimed, “I fell in love with shawty when I saw her on the dance floor.” First of all, “shawty” is such a low-respect name to call a woman. If you really love her, you’ll call her by her name, or at least something besides “shawty.” According to Urban Dictionary, “shawty” really means a woman’s butt. Nice nickname, huh? This rapper then goes on to describe her “pow-pow-pow” butt and her “wow-oh-wow” breasts. Enough said. Second of all, I very, very highly doubt this rapper could have fallen in love with “shawty” by just seeing her dance like a s*** – in fact, “shawty” is probably on a stripper pole. Or in the song “Carry Out”, the rapper goes on and on about how he wants to “get it down” with the girl, and then he asks her name – halfway through the song!

Artists often are under the impression that love means having sex. It does not. Like Rihanna implies, the verb “love” now means “have sex with me”. Ke$ha, in one of her songs, disrespects women in a different way in her song “Blah Blah Blah”, saying “I just want to dance with no pants on”, “turn around boy, let me hit that”, “I want to be naked, and you’re wasted”, etc. But don’t get me wrong. Having sex in the back of a bar with a wasted guy who doesn’t even know your name is totally my idea of a good time.

Another example of disrespecting women comes from the song “Sexy Bitch” – the title already shows how bad it is. It literally goes like this: “She's nothing like a girl you've ever seen before. Nothing you can compare to your neighborhood w****. I'm trying to find the words to describe this girl without being disrespectful. Damn, you is a sexy bitch.” I’d say that would be a failed attempt at describing the girl without being disrespectful.

Second reason why I don’t like pop and rap: The rappers have huge egos. Ever listened to the song Do You Remember? I can’t even listen to it because the beginning is completely clogged with rappers shouting out their names. Or the song “Yella Habibi” by Karl Wolff: he says his name twice in the song, once at the beginning and once at the end. In fact, he doesn’t just say his name – he says “the one and only . . . Karl Wolff! Karl Wolff! Karl Wolff!”, echo and everything. Even Rihanna succumbs to it in one of her songs – “that Rihanna rain just won’t let up”. It’s ridiculous. What happened to the time when artists didn’t have to declare their names within the songs? Maybe they think they need to shout their names to get recognition, but really, artists previous to the rapping generation got quite enough recognition without putting their names in their songs because their music was so good. If a song is good enough, chances are you’ll be able to remember who it’s by.

Third reason: the music isn’t even very good. Now, I know a lot of you really like rap and pop, and you’re allowed to, but personally, there’s nothing for me to like about it. The music is unoriginal – in a large amount of rap/pop, there aren’t even any real instruments; the lyrics are often bad, as stated; and the singing is also bad, but it’s okay, because rappers and pop singers can simply fix their bad singing voices with computers, defeating the purpose of music! I can’t even tell most songs like this apart.

So you now see why I don’t like a lot of modern music. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in the Stone Age. There are some gems out there – take Thriving Ivory, for instance. I also love Taylor Swift and Boys Like Girls. But in general, this genre of music leaves a lot to be desired. And please, if you may, take my advice: if you hear both “shawty” and “dance floor” in the first minute of a song, don’t waste your time.

Take this line from a Stereos song: “Let’s drop the top and show the world just how you drive me crazy.”

I’d rather not. If you don’t mind, Stereos, keep the craziness to yourself.


The author's comments:
I'm probably going to offend some people with this piece, but please remember, everybody, that it's nothing personal against you. You are allowed to have your own opinions, and you are welcome to express them here as long as you respect mine. No hate, please! :)

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This article has 25 comments.


KatsK DIAMOND said...
on Feb. 15 2012 at 8:36 pm
KatsK DIAMOND, Saint Paul, Minnesota
57 articles 0 photos 301 comments

Favorite Quote:
Being inexhaustible, life and nature are a constant stimulus for a creative mind.
~Hans Hofmann
You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.
~Ray Bradbury

I agree. I never really thought about it, though. Lately, I've been into Adele and Bruno Mars, as they don't usually/ almost never have songs which are about this, and their songs are different.

on Jan. 2 2012 at 5:25 pm
Bookwizard PLATINUM, Watertown, New York
38 articles 0 photos 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
If you love something, let it go. If it comes back it was always yours, if it doesn't it never was.

You are so right. I won't say all pop songs are bad but alot of them are disrespectful and people really don't listen to what they are repeating.

on Mar. 26 2011 at 11:56 am
IsobelFree DIAMOND, Hamilton, Other
71 articles 20 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"As long as there is open road, the familiar has the most formidable competitor." - Anonymous

Haha, it's okay, TeenInk does that for everyone if your comment's long :) thanks for commenting!

on Mar. 26 2011 at 11:55 am
IsobelFree DIAMOND, Hamilton, Other
71 articles 20 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"As long as there is open road, the familiar has the most formidable competitor." - Anonymous

Yea, I love Superchick too, and their lyrics are good...it depends on the pop. I like plenty of pop music that is good! I'm just talking about the bad stuff :)

on Dec. 24 2010 at 9:31 pm
SpringRayyn PLATINUM, Lakeville, Minnesota
34 articles 2 photos 658 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Don't punish yourself," she heard her say again, but there would be punishment and pain, and there would be happiness too. That was writing."
--Markus Zusak, "The Book Thief"

I agree totally! Most people just listen to the music for the beats, but they still know the words. It really bugs me that even if they know the lyrics, they don't pay attention to what they mean! Lots of songs that have these types of lyrics get under my skin and make me feel itchy and gross. I listen to groups like Superchic[k] and Britt Nicole and Addison Road, though I really don't know if they're pop or not, just the lyrics aren't bad, I know that.

on Dec. 24 2010 at 6:25 am
Mandiella DIAMOND, Plaistow, New Hampshire
73 articles 58 photos 349 comments

Favorite Quote:
Don't waste time. Start procrastinating now.

I don't know why this posted twice :)

on Dec. 24 2010 at 6:24 am
Mandiella DIAMOND, Plaistow, New Hampshire
73 articles 58 photos 349 comments

Favorite Quote:
Don't waste time. Start procrastinating now.

I agree with this! This is a very good article! I like pop music because it is catchy but I certainly do not like the lyrics. Songs are so disrespectful to women. That song that says "pow pow pow" just annoys me so much. My little cousin thinks it's funny but it's really not. So many song lyrics are perverted - so dumb! By the way, no matter what it means, "shawty" is a stupid word. Singers are really full of themselves, I'll have to agree there. Like you said, lots of pop songs all sound the same. The lyrics are hackneyed. Have you noticed that every single new dance pop song says something about putting your hands in the air? This is well-written and I really like your concluding sentence. I enjoy listening to pop music but definitely not becaue it is wholesome music!

P.S. I love Taylor Swift too! Her songs are actually about something and real instruments are playing!


on Jul. 28 2010 at 7:38 pm
IsobelFree DIAMOND, Hamilton, Other
71 articles 20 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"As long as there is open road, the familiar has the most formidable competitor." - Anonymous

yeaa i hav too much free time maybe? :P

ELM522 DIAMOND said...
on Jul. 28 2010 at 4:26 pm
ELM522 DIAMOND, Selden, New York
79 articles 0 photos 139 comments

Favorite Quote:
"All those other girls, well they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you?"-"Hey Stephen" by Taylor Swift

I do that a lot lol!

on Jul. 27 2010 at 8:46 pm
IsobelFree DIAMOND, Hamilton, Other
71 articles 20 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"As long as there is open road, the familiar has the most formidable competitor." - Anonymous

Oh! Maybe. I just googled it tho :P

ELM522 DIAMOND said...
on Jul. 23 2010 at 5:57 pm
ELM522 DIAMOND, Selden, New York
79 articles 0 photos 139 comments

Favorite Quote:
"All those other girls, well they're beautiful, but would they write a song for you?"-"Hey Stephen" by Taylor Swift

I agree, and you also proved your point! I heard "shawty" meant "first love," though, but I don't know because you're probably right.

jbieber4eva said...
on Jun. 22 2010 at 9:26 am
No problem :) 

on Jun. 22 2010 at 8:44 am
IsobelFree DIAMOND, Hamilton, Other
71 articles 20 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"As long as there is open road, the familiar has the most formidable competitor." - Anonymous

Thank you! :)

jbieber4eva said...
on Jun. 19 2010 at 8:34 pm
No problem :)

on Jun. 19 2010 at 8:32 pm
MarinaOreo GOLD, King Of Prussia, Pennsylvania
12 articles 0 photos 148 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Your soul is the whole world" -Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Thank you :)

jbieber4eva said...
on Jun. 19 2010 at 8:17 pm
MarinaOreo u r absolutely right.

jbieber4eva said...
on Jun. 19 2010 at 8:15 pm

yeah i agree. most song lyrics are stupid and demeaning- i hate it when guys are disrespectful. and those songs have no deep meaning really. except shawty doesnt mean that. it actually originated in Atlanta and meant "short person" but that was before. maybe there's other meanings but i doubt it. i think all it means now is "girl" or something. i HOPE that's all it means, because my favorite singer uses the word shawty a lot and it would be really disappointing if that's really what it meant. (Not Usher. I don't like his music. well, the tune is ok, nothing special but the lyrics are ugh. sorry, i went off on a tangent. the point is, it's not Usher im talking about.)

so yeah. i agree. great writing, keep it up! :)


on Jun. 16 2010 at 11:44 am
IsobelFree DIAMOND, Hamilton, Other
71 articles 20 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"As long as there is open road, the familiar has the most formidable competitor." - Anonymous

True. You have a point. Thanks for commenting! :)

on Jun. 9 2010 at 10:39 pm
MarinaOreo GOLD, King Of Prussia, Pennsylvania
12 articles 0 photos 148 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Your soul is the whole world" -Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

I understand what you mean and I totally get the whole disrespect towards women. But...these songs are from a guy's point of view. Unfortunately, but not in all cases, if they like what they see, they want to get it. The songs just describe it. It may seem a bit vulgar sometimes but most men don't think with their brains and instead use their male ... to make decisions. In the beginning of the piece, I noticed the lyrics are from Usher's "OMG" and I actually like that song because of the beat. It's really cool to dance to also. But I'm more of a Dave Matthews Band kind of girl. Sometimes, it's just about enjoying the song, and not analyzing the lyrics even though sometimes they have awful messages. Just try to be more open minded but trust me, I agree with you. :)

on May. 5 2010 at 6:43 pm
IsobelFree DIAMOND, Hamilton, Other
71 articles 20 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"As long as there is open road, the familiar has the most formidable competitor." - Anonymous

Haha thanks :)