American Rappers Should be Ashamed of Bang’s “Take U To Da Movies” (Video)

The first time I watched Bang's "Take U to Da Movies" video I thought it might just be the new worst rap video of all-time. And yes, I'll admit I laughed out loud more than a couple times. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Bangs isn't to blame, American rappers are. If you ever wanted to see what people in Sudan really think hip-hop is about, here's your chance. I'm warning you, it's not pretty.



The Refined Take:

If I wasn't hanging my head in shame this would be the funniest video I've ever seen. Instead, I almost want to cry. As a quick recap, Bangs, who obviously counts Soulja Boy as a major influence, is from Sudan, one of the poorest and most violent places in the world. Now I wasn't there, but I have to imagine that Bang's burgeoning rap career started like this:

Bangs: "How are we going to make enough money to eat?"
Friend: "I know, American rappers are all rich, let's just do that."
Bangs: "But I don't know how to rap."
Friend: "No problem. We'll just make up a song about girls and film a video with jewelry and cars in it."
Bangs: "You know, that could work."

Ok, that may not be an actual transcript, but I can guarantee you it's not that far off. So for the record, people in other countries who only know America through pop culture think hip-hop is about super basic beats, rhymes that don't actually have to rhyme, jewelry, cars, girls, and, apparently standing in a forest (I'll admit that one's got me a little confused). Kool Herc just shed a tear.

Even more depressingly, if we're being really honest is this video that far off the kind of hip-hop being made in the U.S.? I know for a fact that thousands of (mostly) young men have had the exact same thought as Bangs and gone about chasing rap dollars in basically the exact same way. If English was Bangs' first language, which it's obviously not, I bet he'd be at least as good as half the dudes out there. It's sad because it's true.

So yes, this video is terrible, and yes the song's even worse, but I blame us. I blame the labels and the rappers and the fans for letting it get to this point. Bang's has unintentionally held a mirror up to American hip-hop, and the reflection isn't anything I want to look at.