A tweep has just figured out the ‘hidden rape message’ in P-Unit song
A hawk-eyed Kenyan on Twitter may just have made the discovery of his lifetime: We might all have endorsed rape in 2012, albeit unwittingly.
It dates back to December 2012 when P-Unit released their chart-topping club banger You Guy.
Borrowing heavily from the reggae song Murder She Wrote, released back in 1993 by Chaka Demus & Pliers, the song by P-Unit, made up of Frasha, Gabu and Bone eye, became an instant hit among young Kenyans.
Four short years on, a fan kicked off a storm on Twitter after dissecting Gabu’s verse in the song.
“Mi ni mgenge napitanga na zile ziko maji zimebleaki… If you think about it, this was a song about rape. And we used to dance to it,” wrote Kenyansam on his twitter handle.
Mi ni mgenge napitanga na zile ziko maji zimebleaki…
If you think about it, this was a song about rape. And we used to dance to it. ? ?
— ?? Sam K (@SamKunguMwangi) June 28, 2016
The line could loosely translate to a man bragging how he thrives in taking home drunk women, more so those who have already passed out.
However, group member Frasha has refuted the claim saying they are baseless and it’s just people overthinking the meaning of the song.
“How can we sing a song talking about rape which is a serious crime? You Guy is just a happy song? As a matter of fact we have wives and we respect them and all women. We can even sue whoever is spreading such malicious lies about the song,” warned Frasha.
This is not the first time an artiste has found themselves in trouble because of the choice of their lyrics.
SIMILAR SITUATION
Rapper Rick Ross also found himself in a similar situation as P-Unit in April 2013 after his lyrics of a song he collaborated with rapper Rocko seemed to refer to drugging and having sex with a woman who is unaware of what is happening.
However, the Miami-based rapper apologized on Twitter but not before he was dropped by Reebok over the lyrics, with who he had an endorsement deal to promote its shoes in print and TV ads.
And in June of that year, Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines was been criticized by a rape charity and online commentators for trivializing sexual violence, objectifying women and “reinforcing rape myths”.
“Certain lyrics are explicitly sexually violent and appear to reinforce victim-blaming rape myths, for example about women giving ‘mixed signals’ through their dress or behaviour, saying ‘no’ when they really mean ‘yes’ and so on,” a commentator said.
Thicke, 36, defended criticism of the video in an interview with GQ magazine, claiming the video did not denigrate women “because all three [artists in the video that include Pharrel Williams, T.I and Thicke] are happily married with children.”
Does he have a point? Take a listen once more and share your views in the comments section:
