Crank That Misogyny


Does anybody else find it mildly hilarious that the hip-hop song ''Crank That'' by Soulja Boy has spread like a virus from stadium to stadium in the last year or so?

It's inevitable that, no matter the sporting event, the song will be played at some point. People hear the dink ... dink ... dink of the steel drums at the beginning, then brace themselves for the crash of the bass.

Before too long, everybody in the stands will be cranking their Soulja Boy even most have nary a clue as to what it means to crank such a thing. Even wholesome Mark Richt bobbed his head to the beat on the sideline while Georgia beat down Auburn last season.

At the Columbus Cottonmouths playoff game Sunday afternoon, the song came over the Civic Center speakers some time in the third period. Little kids were bouncing, grandmas were crunking, middle-aged white guys were spreading their arms like Superman and I started wondering: Do people not understand the lyrics to this thing?

You probably won't be hearing The Wiggles use any of the terminology any time soon:

"Soulja Boy off in this 'ho/Watch me crank it/Watch me roll/Watch me crank dat Soulja Boy/Then Superman dat 'ho ..."

For the uninitiated, ''ho'' is a less than complimentary term for women. And to Superman one would be a particularly dastardly act, according to urbandictionary.com. I won't print the definition here because I like having a job, so look it up yourself if your curious. And, while you're checking on that, you might want to look up the full lyric sheet to the song. Once you read them, you'll probably be amazed that this thing has enjoyed such prominent play as stadium Jock Rock.

It's not as if I'm anti-rap by any means. I still have my Public Enemy and A Tribe Called Qwest CDs from my high school and college days. I'm merely expressing wonderment that people don't seem to actually listen to music and digest the meaning of it. Soulja Boy puts out some great music for the club, but I'm not sure it's the right soundtrack for 8-year-old kids to bounce to at the ballpark.

I mean, it's not like you can go to a Braves game and hear Snoop or Dre rapping about pulling a gat and bustin' a cap in some punk a--.