Is Plies's Single, "Shawty" a Love Song or the Perfect Soundtrack to a 'hood Porno Flick?

There's a guilty pleasure I get when listening to "Shawty" by Fort Myers, Florida native Plies. On one hand, the musical track, the catchy hook sung by R&B's hottest singer of the moment, T-Pain and the complimentary music video-complete with cars, jewelry, celebrity cameos, thick attractive females and a pool, fits what seems to be the perfect formula for a hit record on the radio, on the charts, on cable music networks and in the streets these days. On the other hand, many listening to the song would find the lyrics offensive and demeaning to women (that includes the music video), and yet every time it's played on the radio I turn up the volume and whenever I catch the music video on cable let's just say that it's "must see TV".

I've said before that Hip-Hop, whether it's uplifting, militant, political, comedic, ready-made for the nightclub, "gangsta", or "audio pornography" is very seductive. Even the "anti-Hip-Hop" listener will find it damn near impossible to not tap his feet or bop his head to the beat. And if he doesn't know or even understand the lyrics within the verses of the song, he'll be able to pick up the words (or at least be able to hum the tune) to the catchy choruses.

But I'm not an anti-Hip-Hop listener. I love Hip-Hop. I've always been sort of an old soul greatly influenced by the 60's and 70's R&B/Soul music and yet my generation and much of my own identity has been shaped from the lifestyle of Hip-Hop culture and the sound of its music. Being that I'm a loyal fan of Soul music in which most the themes center around love and romance, the Hip-Hop love song has always been a favorite of mine. There have been a lot of love songs in Hip-Hop but of course the most well-known, documented and celebrated one is "I Need Love" by L.L. Cool J.

Well, "Shawty" isn't "I Need Love"!