by K.L. Cain

Created on: January 02, 2010

I will say right now that I am a metalhead. Metal is my drug, it's my anti-drug, it's my way back from the dead. Cliche emo poetry aside, metal versus rap is a touchy subject. It depends on what you listen to. I can't say much for the rap I haven't had forced upon me by popular culture because I don't listen to it. The only rap I have ever actually had in my music collection was "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer, which is 20 years old and I had to learn a dance to it in high school. But I've heard plenty of it at school dances, on the radio, when commercials rudely interrupt the rare occasions when I watch TV. All I can say is, "I'm not yo bi*ch, I'm a human being, thank you." I'm not going to "drop it like it's hot" or however the hell that stupid song goes. From what I've heard, it's all sex, violence, niggas, what have you. Since when did racial slurs become cool? I have NEVER heard a metal artist use a racial slur except when Marilyn Manson calls himself a n*gger in a few of his songs, and most metalheads (including me) don't even consider Marilyn Manson REAL metal. Why would a person encourage racial slurs against their own race, anyway? Talk about self-hate. I'm from the South, and you don't call black people nigs here unless you're a hardcore racist. It still means awful things, and a black man would just be stupid to call himself a nigga.  I can't judge, though, because maybe there are some rap songs that say SOMETHING out there, but I've yet to hear any. Metal doesn't wear a halo, either, because there's plenty of violent music out there.

In reference to violent metal versus violent rap, at least metal respects women. I've never heard metal really paint a woman as a sex object before, except perhaps in Cradle of Filth. Even in their music, women are goddesses. Not b*tches. I always say "If you want all the sex and violence of rap, then you don't have to listen to it. You can listen to Cradle of Filth sing about sex and warfare in a literate, poetic, and intelligent manner." So I will look up rap lyrics to back up my arguments so we can examine rap->metal translations:

Let's look at the contrasting portrayals of naked women:

SNOOP DOGG: Every night her body gets strapped, how 'bout that

CRADLE OF FILTH: Beneath the stars thy flesh bedevils me, beneath the stars taste the death in me, bequeath to me thy fiery kiss, to sever thin mortality

Now, I'm not entirely sure if "strapped" counts as a naked woman, but surely

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