‘How Many Times’ will Lewd Rap Songs be Popular?

May 27th, 2015 1:27 PM

Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising anymore when a rap song contains offensive content. But ‘How Many Times’ by DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, and Big Sean makes even some of the worst material seem somewhat benign. 

The song focuses on the rappers’ attempts at enticing women to have sex with them, with the recurring line, “How many times I gotta tell that ass to come over? (sic)” It’s a safe assumption that they’re not talking about a stubborn mule. 

Brown, in his verse, brags about not loving a woman that he has sex with, and the sentiment is echoed by Lil Wayne, who gleefully states, “I don’t mind paying that commission” (read: I’m cool with prostitution).  He follows it up with an ultimatum: “If we ain’t f****** than b****, bon voyage”. Talk about degrading.

In case the lyrics didn’t convey the song’s message, there’s an accompanying music video that includes homoeroticism between women (presumably for the men’s entertainment) and hyper-sexualization of all the females present.

During the short video, 70 short clips of women are shown, all of which involve provocative behavior of some sort.  Perhaps most disturbing is that not even a third of the clips bother to include the woman’s face. Guess that’s just irrelevant to the song’s message.

The song was released on May 12 and has begun its ascent of Billboard’s ‘Hot 100’ chart. It debuted at 74 on the main chart and at 23 as the ‘Hot Shot Debut’ on the ‘Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs’ chart.