Independent Hype

I have to take a deep breath before I go in on this. Alright. Oh, Rest In Peace Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes. Now. I'm not really a fan of commercial music so it's a rare day when I listen to the radio. Well, one rare day on the way to work, I happened to tune into Hot 97 and they were playing Ne-yo's new song, "Miss Independent." I think Ne-yo is pretty talented so I listen. Song reminds me a bit of "So Sick," but what the hey, it's Ne-yo so it should be good. Melody..nice, vocals... nice, lyrics...eh. As I continued to listen, I got a familiar gut wrenching feeling in the pit of my stomach and I knew that it would only be a matter of time. Sure enough, as the song got more popular, dozens of Facebook statuses, Myspace names and away messages changed to quote some part of the song. Another deep breath. I do not have a problem with girls who are independent and are doing their own thing. I respect that. But...don't claim that you're all independent when you're still living with your parents and your boyfriend is paying off your car. Unless you are paying for college tuition as an independent, you are NOT independent. Now me, I KNOW I'm not independent. My parents pay for my phone bill and I most certainly am not ashamed to admit that. Times are hard. So you'll never hear me going all hard declaring that I'm an independent woman, I do this, I do that, blah blah blah. And this is not the only time that a situation like this has occurred. I know you all remember when "Irreplacable" came out. Every chick under the sun battling dudes with their 'to the left, to the lefts' and 'you must not know 'bout mes.' Give me an effing break. If your dude is walking around like he's the best thing you're going to get, then sure, be my guest, let him know the deal. But don't threaten good guys just because you want to get your kicks and quote the song at any given moment. Girls are always getting hyped over songs like this, assuming that because an artist is singing an empowering song, it automatically applies to them. If you hear a song that relates to you in NO way, shape, or form, please try to appreciate it in silence. You'll be doing us all a favor.