Keep It Real vs Compromise (When Both Go Wrong) | Rap Sh!t Season 2 Episode 2 Analysis
Living in America, especially as a minority (an African American woman), I’ve been in situations where things have seemed a bit unfair. Not only did they seem unfair, but I recognized the unfairness and I felt someone should speak up. My earliest memory of the unfair treatment was in elementary school, in 3rd grade to be exact. There was a mixed race girl with long hair and light-skin who was chosen to play Oprah Winfrey at the Black history month play for our class. So, even though I was only about 8 years old, I knew it was wrong. Besides, I wanted to play Oprah. And this girl was always getting preferential treatment.
This episode of Rap Sh!t was triggering, to say the least. It took me right back to that little girl in 3rd grade, but this time I'm all grown up and I understand the implications.
This might have been my favorite episode of the show of all time (so far). Obviously, the show is far from over. So, there is much more to go. In this episode they seemed to heighten the satire levels to Boondocks and Chappelle Show levels. Which I am glad they did, because I want people to remember that this show is satire and not aspirational. Sometimes, it's easy to forget that when you hear Mia singing about "seduce and scheme" (a social climbing anthem), that what is happening in this show is not something to aspire to, but something to learn from.
One major lesson I am coming away from this particular episode with is about compromising. In episode 2 of this second season, Shawna finds herself of the dangerous end of a slippery slope of compromising her values. I mentioned in my last article that these girls have not been negotiating their worth well along their music journey. Well, now it's coming back to bite them. What happened in this episode was a cautionary tale of what happens when you don't set your standards as well as name your price ahead of time. Basically, other people will set the standard for you. A perfect example is when Francois said to Chastity, "I'm tryna figure out what you're here for, but clearly you're as confused as I am." And Chastity didn't say anything. She just walked away. I'm hoping Chastity figures it out eventually, and finds her voice and her power because it was hard to watch her get sh@t on like that.
However, speaking of this scene with Francois and Chastity, it was a terrible time for Chastity to try to negotiate better arrangement for the girls. It really was too little too late. At this point, the tour has already started, unless they are ready to find their own way back home and cancel the show and probably get bad publicity for doing so they do not have a leg to stand on in this negotiation. At this point, Francois had already set the terms. "Y'all are here to assist Reina's set." It is what is. All Chastity could do was say what she had in her mind the whole time, which is that they were there to "elevate" Reina's show, but those are just words. Like I said in the last article. That's a conversation you have with evidence and she should have done that before the show and signed a contract saying what they would get from the show. The middle of the game is the wrong time to negotiate (unless you have leverage).
But the biggest compromise on the show was Shawna's compromise of her values. She started off on the show very much afrocentric and focused on Black empowerment and sisterhood and civil rights, etc. Her rap lyrics and style reflected that. However, she was not getting attention and views from posts and rap lyrics that were reflecting those types of content. It wasn't until she started to switch up her style and hang out with Mia that she started to get more attention online. It wasn't until she listened to Francois that she got to go on tour. These required her to abandon (or at least pause) her true desires which are to talk about civil rights.
However, at the beginning of this episode some of her fans noticed as you see in her livestream when they messaged her "What happened to authenticity and protecting the culture?" "You going on tour with a colonizer and some n!gg@s who make drug music?" "The switch up is crazy" To which Shawna sheepishly replies, "I'm on tour with my peers and I respect all of the artists on the tour."
Makes me wonder, could Shawna have ever made a career catering to these fans who are questioning her for switching up? Should she have stuck to her original style and tried to build something with these guys, or is she truly doing what she has to do?
The “colonizer” the one fan was referring to is Reina Reign (Francois’s artist) who is the reason they are on tour. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman appropriating Black culture and singing lyrics like, "light-skinned with a pretty face..." The term "light-skinned" is actually a term used by Black people to refer to other Black people who are of a lighter complexion. However, I believe the satire in this show reveals how things can be co-opted to such an extent that it can be used against us. The sad thing is that I think even though I believe this show is satire in the same vein as the Boondocks, it is very realisitc as Reina Reign resembles artists like Iggy Azalea, and the song they did on stage was catchy as hell.
It's actually pretty sad where Shawna's compromising ends up going, because in the most Boondocksian (yes, I made up a word that means "characteristic of the show Boondocks") moment of the show, after Shawna and the other girls get backstage to a top rapper's (Lord AK) greenroom during the tour to try to meet the rapper, they find out that it is just a holding area to get to his tour bus (where you really meet him). One of Lord AK's boys tells everybody they are about to play a game. He's going to ask questions and anyone left standing gets to go on the tour bus with Lord AK.
At first it looks innocent enough. He asks some girl what is Lord AK's first single, and she gets it wrong, but she let's her through, because he finds her attractive. Nobody got hurt, it's just fun, right? Then he goes to a particularly dark-skinned woman and asks her, "Here's one I think you should be able to get, how many countries are in Africa?" This is when it became apparent to Shawna what was going on, and in case the audience still did not understand, he says "escort this Nubian queen out the door, please." Yes! He was using colorism to eliminate people.
Shawna was outraged, and was looking for the outraged people to stand with her in her outrage in that moment. She turns to one Black girl, and says, "You see this? This don't piss you off?" The girl says to her, "B!tch, relax! I'm just tryna have fun!" The atrocity gives easy questions to White or ambiguous raced women, and difficult questions to Black women to eliminate them, passing the lighter-skinned women even if they are wrong. Shawna turns to a woman with dreadlocks and asks, "Sis, you see what's happening, right?" The lady denies her like Peter after the crucifixion.
This was a really interesting moment, because almost immediately after, the same lady with dreadlocks is asked a question which Shawna whispers to her that it is a trick question. The woman gets it wrong, and the wicked man asking questions says, "Bye, dreadlocks!"
What happened next was the most gut-wrenching moment (for me) of the entire show. After watching everybody get humiliated and silenced, Shawna tries to speak up one last futile time and then she is given a question which she answers correctly and the room rewards her with applauds. However, the man asking questions is not happy. He seeks to punish her. So, he empties his bottle of champagne on her, and in embarrassment, she leaves.
What was very telling was what her manager, Chastity, said to her after following her onto their tour bus. First Chastity asked, "did you say something to them?" Which shows Chastity doesn't really trust Shawna's decision making, and was lowkey blaming Shawna for what happened to her. I guess that's what happens when you make a pimp your manager. Then she said "play your role, and keep it pushing like everybody else." Which sounds like good advice, but I wonder if this is truly where Shawna belongs.
The way I look at it, all that compromising, and you still got nothing you wanted in the first place. You did not meet Lord AK. You are not getting paid to be on this tour. Your name is not on the marquee. You are not performing your own songs. You don't get to express yourself the way you want to. You just lost your diginity for nothing.
I'm really rooting for Shawna, Mia and Chastity to turn things around at some point. I want to see them win. However, they need to learn how to negotiate...like Melissa. Mia's daughter. That girl knows her worth. The way that little girl demanded those nuggets until one of her dad's colleagues volunteered to go to Wendy's was aspirational. LOL
Are you watching Rap Sh!t? Did you notice the same things I noticed? Or did something else stand out to you? What’s your favorite thing about the show? Let’s continue the conversation in the comment section.
