It’s been said by just about everyone who’s been a parent that becoming a father has a profound effect on a man. Yes, naturally, there’s the physical and emotional toll such a thing brings about — sleep becomes more precious, free will is pretty much a thing of the past, time has to be devoted to chores like changing diapers (Yes, even Jay-Z has to change diapers), etc. But what I’m talking about is something deeper, something that cuts more closer to the core of the soul: Complete philosophical reevaluation. The tint of the lens through which one views the world changes a bit, and no one appears to be immune to this, including the rich and powerful.
Such appears to be the case with one Shawn Corey Carter, aka Jay-Z. His spawn with Beyonce, Blue Ivy, was barely hours old when an adorably mushy track in her honor hit the web. And now comes this bombshell: Jay has apparently renounced using the word “bitch” — as in “I got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one” — in a poem for Blue Ivy that leaked on the web today.
Reports the AV Club:
“Before I got in the game, made a change, and got rich/I didn’t think hard about using the word bitch/I rapped, I flipped it, I sold it, I lived it/Now with my daughter in this world I curse those that give it,” the poem reads, with Jay-Z going on to promise that “the degradation has passed” for all women, as it is a gender that now includes his daughter. Because it is a poem, Jay-Z does not address how he plans to phase out the word “bitch” from his repertoire—for example, what he will use to rhyme with “rich,” or whether the refrains of songs such as “99 Problems” will have to be retroactively changed to something such as “I’ve got 99 problems, but a troublesome girl who is nevertheless still some father’s daughter ain’t one,” and other humorously incongruous juxtapositions.
I suppose one can only assume that Jay-Z’s wife and mother were not sufficient motivators to get him to drop use of the word? I’M JUST SAYING, GUYS!
I should add that the reaction to this news on Twitter has been mildly entertaining…
(Jay-Z pic via)
