More Music Critique

Right, so 'The Bag' continues. I am past the halfway mark. So picture the knit a bit bigger than the last post :)

At the risk of appearing 'old-fogy-ish' Rihanna's current song 'Hard' is pushing several of my buttons.

Button the first: Bad grammer.

They can say whatever
I'ma do whatever
No pain is forever
Yup, you know this

I'ma???!!! I'll let the 'yup' go, but I'ma???!

Which leads to weird slang that is not particulary clear:

Trying to sell they peeping my bag they can't afford it


Then there's the Madonna vs whore problem:

Sincere, I see you aiming at my pedestal
I betta let ya' know

Putting a woman on a pedestal means appreciating her for qualities other than her personality. Such as her virginity or 'pureness'. Argh. This kind of reference really makes me irritable. If sex for a male isn't 'dirty', then sex for a female isn't either. End of discussion. This sort of unthinking use of a sterotypical phrase shows how little people actually think about what they are saying and the behaviour patterns it subtly reinforces.

Rihanna is trying to say that the nasty things people are saying about her don't hurt her because she is 'hard'. As in donning her armour. At least, that is my take on it. So that would make her empowered. However, the pedestal phrase disempowers her. I wonder if she even thought about it. Probably not.

So, I applaud Rihanna for trying to find her way after that terrible relationship, but I don't think she has quite found her way out yet.