Source: Debra L Rothenberg / Getty
Singer Lyfe Jennings has a couple of hits under his belt. We won’t take that away from him. But I’m afraid it seems that his career has taken a turn of Brian McKnight type of variety. You know, putting out a few sleepers before desperately trying to capture the attention of the world with a song so ridiculous we have to talk about it.
And a pattern is emerging. McKnight was going to show us how our pussys worked. Jennings is going to beat “it” [read: vagina] like a slave.
The song is featured on Jennings latest and reported final album 777. The project dropped last month so we’re hearing about this song a little late in the game.
But in a video posted on her Instagram story, comedian Amanda Seales shared the lyrcs which have given some people pause.
“that pussy drippin like you just got out the shower.
…
Got your ass hoppin like a frog
Got your legs shakin like two wet dogs.
This ain’t the part we fall in love.
This is the part we kiss and f*ck.
Do all the things we said we’d never do.
…
I’m gon beat it like a slave.
So you don’t run away
Got the whips and chains
Call me master
I’m gon beat it like a slave
Work you everyday
Do everything I say.
I’m your master.
We might have gone the rest of our lives never hearing that song had Amanda Seales not posted her reaction to the lyrics on Instagram.
Later, her friend Charlamagne shared it. And that was all it needed to go viral.
There are a few glaring problems here. One, I can’t for the life of me imagine how evoking slavery in a sexual situation would be a turn on. In case y’all ain’t know there was some real suffering our ancestors experienced. Not to mention rape, sexual abuse and the lack of bodily autonomy was a traumatic realty for plenty of enslaved Black men and women who lived during that era. And I doubt the ancestors want their pain used on your get the drawers mix. It’s not sexy.
Furthermore, I’m not a fan of the “beat it up” trope that’s used inso much sexual expression—mostly from cis-het men to cis-het women.
There is a time and place for “beat it up” type sex. But for the most part, the vagina should be handled with care. As someone who has lived with one all of her life, I can tell you it’s a sensitive organ.
Not for nothing, I think it’s time we have a larger conversation about the ways we’ve become completely desensitized to violence against women—particularly Black women. I mean, it’s creeped into R&B music, one of the last places where Black women were treated with some modicum of respect (if only temporarily for the purpose of sexual gratification.)
Naturally, Lyfe responded to the criticism, using the classic trope, “This is what’s wrong with Black people.” He claimed that people never talked about his other positive songs but they were quick to jump on “Slave.”
Uhh yeah. That’s how it works sir. This piece of work doesn’t align with anything else you’ve released. That’s why it’s gotten all of this attention. But something tells me Lyfe Jennings knew that.
See what people had to say about the song on the following pages.
