B+ // Hey Brother // Avicii

I suppose one could over-analyze the differences between what is paired with borthe rvs. sister, but I think it's actually meant to be inclusive rather than divisive.

Hey, brother.
There's an endless road to rediscover.
Hey, sister.
Know the water's sweet but blood is thicker.

Hey, brother.
Do you still believe in one another?
Hey, sister.
Do you still believe in love, I wonder?

What if I'm far from home?
Oh brother I will hear you call.
What if I'd lose it all?
Oh sister, I will help you out.

• No name calling
• Not objectifying women
• Neither empowering nor disempowering
• Not really about women in relation to man.

C // Animals // Martin Garrix

Not about women. It's about...well...there's one line..."We're the fuckin animals" *shrug*

C+ // Best Day of My Life // American Authors

Not about women. Pretty Positive. I'll throw in some plus points.

F // Loyal // Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne & French Montana, Too $hort, Tyga

This song is a women-hatin song! In three versions depending on which coast you rep. Which is kind of cool. Makes my job harder, but onward!


I know these hoes ain't right (Can' trust 'em!)


Why give a bitch your heart?
When she rather have a purse (money-grabbing!)
Why give a bitch an inch?
When she rather have nine (dick joke!)
You know how the game goes
She be mine, by half-time, I'm the shit, oh (they're all so easy!)


You all about her, and she all about hers (cold and selfish!)

When a rich nigga want you
And your nigga can do nothing for ya
These hoes ain't loyal (all they want is $$$ if they can get it!)
 

Just got rich
Took a broke nigga's bitch
I can make a broke bitch rich
But I don't fuck with broke bitches
Got a white girl with some fake titties (good identifiers)
I took her to the bay with me

She wanna do drugs, smoke weed, get drunk
She wanna see a nigga trapped (deal drugs)
She wanna fuck all the rappers (what a ho!)

Black girl with a big booty (well, we had a verse about white and tits, now we get black and ass. covering all the bases. )
If she a bad bitch, let's get to it, right away

I know girl, that you came in this bitch with your man
That's a no no girl (what were you THINKING?!)
All this money in the air
I wanna see you dance (all girls dance for money!)

Come on, come on, girl
Why you frontin'? (you don't ACTUALLY care about your man)
Baby show me something (you KNOW you want me.)
When I call her, she gon' leave
And I bet that bottom dollars she gon' cheat (those women, always cheating!)

You just spent your bread on her
And it's all for nothing (not even money can keep this girl loyal!)


Tyga's Verse (Remix)


Hah, me and CB in the bay with her
Send her back home so you can lay with her (just pass her around!)


Shout-out Weezy F., keep a red bone wet (red bone=light-skinned black woman)
Rose rolex, hoes on deck (get in line, hoes)
She know I got a check
Do it too good when she ride that dick (she's too good at sex. Must be from all that whoring!)
Man I wouldn't trust that bitch
 Too $hort's Verse (West Coast)


A nigga fell in love
Turn into a woosy (what an idiot!)
24-7 he was eating that pussy (not worth it.)
But these hoes ain't faithful
A nigga like me will have your bitch on tape though (all girls are porn stars!)
I been knowing not to trust these hoes
I get bread, get head, and fuck these hoes (money, BJs, and then sex. keep your priorities straight!)
In that order
Don't switch it around
Relationships change, it's so different now
No high-school sweetheart
These bitches pimpin'
All these opinions (women with opinions. That's as bad as pimpin!)
Women on women (how bout them lesbian hoes?!)
Lickin' them titties
Sex in the city
Hella "Instagram likes" but you ain't pretty (destroying our only validation!)
Bitch!

French Montana's Verse (East Coast)
HAH! Once Cirocs in the system  (oh, these classic biggie lyrics again...)
Ain’t no telling will I fuck them, will I diss them (because it's all up to him in this equation)
That’s what they be yelling, I’m a pimp by blood
Not relation, I don’t chase em, I replace em (HAH!)
LVs, Hermes, Dolces
Them hoes, ain’t loyal, man, they rotate
School me to the game, now I know my duty
Put her in the Lotus
She was riding in that hoopty (WHOOP!) (hoopty=shit car)
Fuck that bitch
I got my own ho (someone finally has his own girl instead of "someone else's". Congrats!)
Fuck your weed
I got my own smoke
Had to put my mink back on
Tell that bitch, put her ring back on
Montana

Do I really need to say much else?

B- // Not A Bad Thing // Justin Timberlake

JT, what a crooner, right? It's hard to make a feminist love song. Let's take a stab at this one:

• The first good news is that there's no objectifying. There's no "I want you because you're pretty." Nice!
• And other than Justin references himself as "that guy", there seems to be a possibly conscious choice to keep gender out of the song. people, someone, and baby are gender-neutral. So although this song is likely written as women in relation to man, I will give it some cred for not making it obviously so.
• I know people make promises all the time
  Then they turn right around and break them
  When someone cuts your heart open with a knife and you're bleeding
  But I could be that guy to heal it over time
  And I won't stop until you believe it
  'Cause baby you're worth it
• There's some self-consciously silly stuff in here. He fantasizes about saving her from her troubles, but at the same time acknowledges that he can't.
• If I had a pair of wings
  I'd scoop you up we'd fly away and disappear
  Then you could put your worries upon my shoulders, my dear
  And I know I can't save you
  From the troubles of the world
  I know this sounds like such a silly thing
  But if I could I'd fly you away
  On a big old pair of wings

         He seems to respect her. But is that enough to be empowering? I think not. Still, I also don't think it's disempowering. Pretty neutral on this one.

• No I won't fill your mind with broken promises
  And wasted time
  And if you fall
  You'll always land right in these arms
  These arms of mine

• No name calling

C // Turn Down for What // DJ Snake & Lil Jon

Not about women. Just about partying with substances.

C // The Man // Aloe Blacc

The man is another positive song. Some have suggested it may be in reference to relationships, but he has stated in interviews that it is about the moment of going into competition and how "you gotta get up and be strong". He was considering making it a hip hop song, which is why it has such swag.

So, not about women. Too bad the main refrain is "I'm the man" and not something more gender-neutral. Could've been one for all of us. 

B // All of Me // John Legend

I wish I liked this song more. Maybe I'll enjoy a good remix. Regardless of this, Legend is a champ, and it's a huge relief.

let's look at some of the ways he describes his woman:

• smart mouth
• beautiful mind
• I can't pin you down
• Love your curves and all your edges
  All your perfect imperfections
• Even when you're crying you're beautiful
• You're my downfall, you're my muse
  My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues
  
• You're crazy and I'm out of my mind (usually I am hard against calling women crazy, but it seems pretty mutual)

And how he describes their relationship:

• Cards on the table, we're both showing hearts
  Risking it all, though it's hard
• The world is beating you down, I'm around through every mood
  
• You're my end and my beginning
  Even when I lose I'm winning
  Cause I give you all of me
  And you give me all of you
  

That is some good love song right there. It doesn't objectify her, he cant "pin her down", he's asking for them to be their honest full self with each other. 

But of course one downfall about love songs is that they are usually woman in relation to a man. Check.

And the difficult question is: does this empower women? Being appreciated for who we are is great, but does it give us power, autonomy, influence, freedom? I'm not sure it does.

It's a question I will probably wrestle with again later, but for now these doubts about love songs is what will keep this nice one at a B.

F // Talk Dirty // Jason Derulo ft. 2 Chainz

I love the Balkan Beat Box sample, but let' get to the offensive shit, shall we?

• Name calling...well, does being saved in someone's phone as "Big Booty" count as name calling or just extreme objectification?
• Woman in relation to man: oh, yeah. She's his sex object. And he knows what she needs. His dick. Obviously, ladies.
• Cause I know what the girl them need
• First class seat on my lap girl, riding comfortable
• Objectification. Yes, booty and pussy. That's what she boils down to. How she can be used. Oh, and a good dick suck.
• But your booty don't need explaining / All I really need to understand is / When you talk dirty to me
• Sold out arenas, you can suck my penis
• Her pussy so good I bought her a pet
• Not empowering women. Pretty easy call. 

C+// Happy // Pharrell Williams

I love this song. What a joy. It's not about women. But its so positive! 

C // Stay The Night // Zedd ft. Hayley Williams

"...it's about a breakup and about a couple spending their last night together although they both know it's not the right thing"  

It's actually unclear to me who wrote the lyrics. Zedd (Zaslavski) wrote the song, initially intending to have a male singer, but then sent it to Williams. She says she loved it and wanted to make sure it had words she wanted to sing. It's also unclear what singer/songwriter Carah Faye's credit is doing on the song. 

It only matters when we're trying to consider whether the song empowers women. I guess in this haze of who wrote what, it should be considered as gender-neutral. Therefore:

• Neither empowers nor disempowers women
• No name calling
• No real objectification
• I am fire gasoline, 
  Come pour yourself all over me
  We'll let this place go down in flames only one more time
  
  You kill the lights, I'll draw the blinds
  Don't dull the sparkle in your eyes
  I know that we were made to break
  So what? I don't mind
• Women in relation to man, if assuming heteronormativity, which is not specified. 

I'm basically going to give it the not about women grade of average. 

C // Pompeii // Bastille

Not about women

A // Team // Lorde

Team is a pretty positive jam. It seems to be just about growing up, being a normal teen from nowhere. She continues to critique shallow pop culture as she did in Royals. "I'm kind of over gettin' told to throw my hands up in the air." Yes, aren't we all. Here comes the feminist run-down.

• No name calling
• Empowering women
• Look upon your greatness and she'll send the call out
• Not objectifying, maybe even speaking out against it?
• Call all the ladies out, they're in their finery
  A hundred jewels on throats
  A hundred jewels between teeth
• Not about women in relation to man. She does mention boys, but  the song is not about her in relation to them, it's about just being supportive of each other in general."We're on each other's team" is the phrase repeated over and over.
• Now bring my boys in, their skin in craters like the moon
  The moon we love like a brother, while he glows through the room

Well done. If it were just a little more obviously woman-positive, it might get the plus.

D // Drunk In Love // Beyonce ft Jay-Z

Tough one. lets get it out there from the top: this song is about sex. lots of it in all kinds a ways. that's pretty much all its about. but wait--the internet has made the point that despite references to ike turner and mike tyson (woo--beat that pussy up, yeah...awkwaaaard), this song is beyonce being a feminist. Partially by the virtue that they are in fact married. he is saying these things ON his wife's song. It's not like it's not consensual. There's been a lot already written about this. Most of the attention has been in dividing black from white feminists and some legitimate critique of the sometimes exclusionary view of mainstream feminism. But whether you think beyonce, in affirming her (married) sexuality, is promoting a certain kind of feminism, most people think Jay-Z went too far. What's up with that?!

As I have said many times before, I am not anti-sex, I am anti-objectification. Women are very capable of turning themselves into objects. The question is does this sexually or otherwise empower her, and us, or does it diminish her power? I mean, it's beyonce, that's a hard task. But by the end, who does it seem comes out on top? Beyonce? Jay? or both? Personally, I feel like both, but my hunch is that this would depend a lot on the context of the listener and their personal history.

She does call this her rebellion against perfection. And in her "Self-Titled" webisode, it has been noted that she seemed surprised by Jay's lyrics. But let's get down to the way this blog runs:

• No name calling. Jay does mention that she has been sayin she's the baddest bitch. But the bitch issue has already been cleared up. There is empowering bitch and mean bitch, and this is the good kind.
• Woman in relation to man. Yeah...and to her sexuality...but there's definitely some man going on here. 
• Objectification: This happens. I'm actually surprised there isn't more considering the sexual content. Well done. Though we do get quite a bit of info about Jay's penis.
• We sex again in the morning, your breastetests is my breakfast
  
• Can't keep your eyes off my fatty (her butt)
• Empowering? Well, this is the money question really. Would I want to sing this song with my husband. kinda? maybe in private? I dunno...Jay's verse does get in the way a bit. Maybe if she had come back with some Mary Todd Lincoln references...like if you dont use enough wood or bring the right kinda meat, ima throw a log at you, Abraham! (Don't know what I'm talking about? Just google women who beat their spouses.)

So I'm giving it a D. *shrug* Maybe that feels like a cop out, but it also feels right.