‘Pimpin’ All Over the World:’ Passport Bros and the Eroticism of Exoticism
Growing up, my mother was always a fan of teachable moments. Opportunities for her to offer a lesson on life taught through the lens of developing critical thinking skills. One teachable moment that always stands out to me is focused on music and media. As a millennial, I grew up when MTV, Vh1, and BET were still primarily known for their music videos. Therefore, I spent just as much time listening to music on the radio as watching videos for some of my favorite songs.
And while I do not remember what prompted this, I do remember one day in 2000 when my mother sat my sister and me down to watch the new music video for Jay-Z’s song “Big Pimpin’.” However, instead of watching it with the music on, she muted the television, turned on the captions, and had us watch the images of the music video play out on the screen in relation to the song’s lyrics.
Removing the catchy beats and tune, my interpretation of the song began to shift. What was once a fun song to dance to was an almost disturbing representation of the objectification of…
