(hed) p.e. is not for girls...

I spent a fairly long trip in the car this weekend listening to (hed) p.e.'s (formed from "higher thought"/Planet Earth) new album, New World Orphans. For those of you who haven't listened to the musical genius (I'm being sarcastic here) of hed, there's not much else you can do but laugh, gasp, and recoil in disgust when you listen & pay attention to their lyrics. I suppose that the people who like hed like them for the beats and rhythms, guitar riffs, electronic sounds and loud cymbal crashes that constitute the "punk/metal/hardcore" genre, but I fear that many of them feel connected to and like their lyrics. Their style of music has also been called "trash-hop" and "G-punk."

Allmusic's Rob Theakston got right to the point when he critiqued hed's new album at the time, saying, "Back 2 Base X suffers from the same problems as Amerika: it tries to be conceptual in thought à la Tool and vicious in its political commentary à la Fugazi or System of a Down, but somehow falls short by sounding like an angry stoner on a soapbox. It won't win any new fans, but existing fans of (hed) pe's work won't be turning their backs away from the band in anger anytime soon, either."

While I do find myself enjoying the music, I feel like I am literally betraying the feminine collective by supporting hed pe. The biggest problem critics seem to have with their music is the misogynistic lyric content.
Just to give you an idea, the album of theirs--Only in Amerika--that I know has a track list as follows:
1. Foreplay
2. Represent
3. Truth
4. Wake Up
5. War
6. The Box
7. CBC (cum bitch cum)
8. Voices
9. Raise Hell
10. American Beauty
11. Chicken
12. Daydreams
13. Not Dead Yet

While number 7 obviously has derogatory overtones, my favorite songs, "Wake Up","Raise Hell", and "Amerikan Beauty" have just as bad, if not more offensive lyrics. "Wake Up," a song advocating smoking joints, popping downers, and driving drunk..... all the while, celebrating the Al-Qaeda burning in hell, highlights its best lyrics in the chorus:

"Die motherfucker, die motherfucker, die

Die motherfucker, die motherfucker, die

Get high motherfucker, get high motherfucker, high,

We ride motherfucker or motherfuckin die."

Really moving, huh? I can guarantee you any of our parents would have turned this song off after the first three words. Speaking of...my dad happened to start my car an get an earful of this gem, "Amerikan Beauty," a song centered around getting frisky with a 17 year old girl (mind you, these guys are in their mid to late 20s):

"I'm lookin for a big butt to squeeze on these nuts
I'm not tryin to think too much,
I'm just tryin to get fucked and drink too much"

after referring to this girl as "babygirl","little bitch", "slut" and "jailbait" she chimes in with an young and whispery voice:

"Hey Daddy can I talk to you
Daddy I'm only seventeen but I know just what to do
At the club fools pay big money for me
But Daddy you can get this lapdance here for free
I need love Daddy, Daddy give it to me, it's my birthday..."

to which our lyricist says:

"Ahhight - then let me see your I.D.
Cuz the last time I was fooled the bitch was just sixteen
Big ass - big tits - she looked at least twenty-three"

The chorus is basically screaming the line "If fucking you is wrong, I don't want to be right" and while he admits, "I'm going straight to hell..." the lifestyle centered around "teenage pussy" ("a thing of beauty") seems to be one he won't change anytime soon.
The most disturbing lyrics, and these are the ones that my father just so happened to catch are as follows:

"I'ma slap your little ass
Til it turns black and blue
Now ya put on these heels
and ya arch your back
And I'ma crack ya ass in half
With my eight inch staff"

followed by my favorite....

"She was like 'Damn what the fuck did you do to me?'
I was like 'Shut the fuck up - this ain't nothin new to me'
She was like 'You're suck a dick I hate you'
I was like 'Bitch shut up before I rape you'
I like fuckin these ninety-pounders
I watch it go in, I feel like I'm Shaqueil O'Neill
and I'm fuckin the Olson Twins
It don't take much more than a nice butt
The slut smiles at me - the slut rides with me..."

Bitch shut-up before I rape you? I'ma slap your little ass 'til it turns black and blue? No wonder my father was so blown away. The most disturbing part though, above all else, is that since their conception in 1994, (hed) p.e. has gone through several members, put out AND SOLD 9 albums. Nine cd's of ranting about politics, pussy, pot and pills. You'd think it'd get a little old; either they would get sick of making such worthless music or their audience would get sick of consuming it. Either way, these guys are making quite a bit of money off this SHIT. And I still listened to it in my car this morning. And there are still millions of starving people who could use the profit from every hed poster, t-shirt, and record sale. How sad.

As they are considered "underground" as opposed to "mainstream," hed doesn't have a lot of music videos for me to share with you all but I found this..."Renegade" off the new album. Enjoy! Or not so much...