Love and Appreciate pt. II [MURS]

What you need is some love and appreciation
Gotta treat her like a queen before she walks away.
Before it's too late, you gotta, sing it, you better treat her like a lady

The song I chose to write about is by rapper Murs called, “Love and Appreciate pt. II.” In these lyrics, he flips the script on modern rap which usually features misogynistic or demeaning lyrics on women, by creating an uplifting song of praise for women; which I found refreshing. 

The first verse gives a story about a man who had a broken heart, and decided to write about it. He claims, “you’re not a pimp, you’re just pissed off. Meet the right woman and you get soft.” and continues on in later verses, “B word this H bomb that, and in the midst of this I’m wondering where your moms at//Cuz if she ain’t one, then tell me where the hate from//You just calm down, then maybe you can date one” These lyrics may seem harsh, but I do agree. There is not much consciousness in rap in the mainstream and rappers easily drop the word “B” or “H” without giving thought to their mothers, sisters, or girlfriends. Their excuse is that if you aren’t one of the “b----s” they’re talking about, then you won’t get offended.

In Murs’ lyrics on this song, I believe his message is that there are more songs in rap that put down women (or when uplifting them, only focus on their ass-ets.) than those songs that appreciate women. His creation of one of these songs goes against what is popular for most rappers, who may consider his song “soft.” 

This soft/hard notion in rap is limiting and if calling women “b--s” and “hoes” is a way to get respect or be more of a “man”, then we are in need of a new generation of gentlemen. I give my respect to Murs for his rapping because of his ability to flow words together and create imagery, as well as being vulnerable in songs such as “The Pain.” His great storytelling ability are what get me, not his claim to fame or being hard. He finds a wide variety of subjects in life to talk about besides getting money, cars, and girls. If rappers feel they have to talk about “b--s” to get more airplay, then they should look to rappers like Murs for inspiration.