Hi friends,
you want to know something ackward? The oldest 313 archived email at
http://elists.resynthesize.com was posted by B. Wright Keller on july the
1st 1994, and the content is very alike to this thread. I posted the whole
email below, but want want to mention the last paragraph first:
"Note: I am highly opposed to those incredibly tacky, misogynist hard house
tracks that were popular at places like the Sound Factory a couple of years
back, like "Beat that Bitch with a Bat" by Club America. There is no excuse
for dance music like this. Campy sex lyrics are fine by me, though."
ISN'T THAT FUNNY? Yep, the first archived 313 email, woohoo! Here is the
full version:
"Regarding this whole uproar over Blake Baxter's sexually explicit lyrics, I
think that it is necessary to consider the cultural context of Baxter's
music before making any snap judgements. First off, the earliest record
that I know of that uses the phrase "Work This P#ssy" was recorded by Sweet
P#ssy Pauline, a New York City drag queen who released a record in the late
eighties containing an acapella monologue that builds up to the line, "Work
this p#ssy you big, ugly, bean-eating motherf#cker" (or something to that
effect).
That record spawned a whole array of "Work This P#ssy" spin-off records
including the legendary "Work That Motherf#cker" (artist ID?). These
records were big in gay house clubs in Chicago and New York at the time. In
this context, the phrase is like a drag queen in-joke, part of the whole
campy experience of dressing in drag.
Now considering Baxter's past as a Chicago House producer, he is
doubtlessly familiar with the language of gay clubs. In fact, he put out a
little known jem called "Bitch" a couple of years ago that affects this
same kind of attitude with the hook "Am I a bitch, yes. Am I a ho, no. You
wanna f#ck? Let's go." This record came out about the same time as his "Hot
Body" (a brilliant Sylvester-style sex anthem), and both records were
pushed in the urban gay market.
Now he's come out (no pun intended) with the lyric "Work that p#ssy", no
doubt an homage to Sweet P#ssy, et al, and the lyrics, "Got to lick it, got
to get it up, got to stick it, you got to let me nut." This reminds me more
of an underground classic called "Lick It" on one of those Black Tracks (?)
compilations out of Chicago, that went, "Gotta lap it up, lick it, slurp it
down." I remember seeing people go nuts to this record when it was hot.
Anyway, my whole point is: judge artwork in it's own cultural context, and
realize that words have different meanings coming from different mouths."
Note: I am highly opposed to those incredibly tacky, misogynist hard house
tracks that were popular at places like the Sound Factory a couple of years
back, like "Beat that Bitch with a Bat" by Club America. There is no excuse
for dance music like this. Campy sex lyrics are fine by me, though."
Cheers,
Maarten - http://www.morthenkiang.com
