Incitement to hatred is wrong. Promoting violence is wrong. Valuing criminal acts is wrong. Amalgams are bad.
Unless you are a marginal, an artist, a minority. In this case, in Quebec, you can write or sing or shout the worst enormities and not only will you not be blamed, but in addition, you will be rolled out the red carpet.
FIRST DEGREE ?
A Montreal newspaper recently published a glowing portrait of the rapper duo dope.gng and their great success Burning condos.
Intrigued, I went to see on YouTube the clip of this supposedly interesting rap. We see the two accomplices put on balaclavas, vandalize a surveillance camera and break into a construction site, douse a room in a unit with gasoline and literally “burn condos”.
It’s quite ironic: this newspaper, which recently published an editorial denouncing the “intolerable noise pollution” suffered by tenants of luxury condos downtown, is now glorifying an anti-capitalist and anti-gentrification anthem.
But let’s take a look together at the lyrics of this “song” that I reproduce here:
“All I want is / Burning condos / Shocking boomers / Busting pigs / Burning condos
[…] Everyone in Ontario / Ask for lead in my glass of water / I want to burn Legault’s Quebec / Shock boomers / Get out of bangers / Sniffer of the poppers ».
I have many qustions…
What is the “Quebec of Legault” that must be doused with gasoline and ignited at all costs?
Should we burn the condos of all Quebec citizens or only those who voted democratically for the majority government of François Legault in the last election with 37.4% of the vote?
Who are the pigs in this story: the real estate developers, the taxpayers who voted Legault, the boomers who vote Legault and buy condos?
Unless the pigs are the police…
Let’s continue our text analysis.
“Fuck the police / Racist crisis / It’s systemic / It’s pandemic / Cherries in the rearview mirror / I know where to look when I point my viewfinder. »
Damn! Are these two young artists telling us that they know how to aim…in the direction of the police? It is surely a metaphor, an image, a figure of speech, a way of speaking.
“They want to release the “Chlag” of Homa / Tamp the plug from corner / Fits a mop / The prices are up / But the money is stuck / Empty your pockets, you have to pay the cops / They want to clean up […] All empty my checking account / Can no longer pay your coat check / All floppy in dope / Couldn’t do anything, but / All I want is / Burn condos / Shock boomers / Bust pigs. »
Listening to the rest of the work, I understood why the duo had been invited on June 13th… to the Francofolies.
THE NEW NORMAL
The rapping duo told HHQC earlier this year regarding their big hit Burning condos : « Dope.Gng exprime [sa] hatred towards the real estate construction project that will replace [son] favorite Montreal restaurant: La Taqueria”.
It’s completely normal that, when you can no longer get tacos at your local restaurant, it makes you want to set the town on fire…
