Christian rapper says 'up with pants'
By Deborah Overton
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Dallas gospel rapper Dooney Da'Priest is doing his part to help stop the saggy-pants fad among urban youths.

Da'Priest has written a rap as part of the Pull Your Pants Up campaign, which is being pitched in billboards and posters that went up around Dallas this week.

The rap, also titled Pull Your Pants Up, says: Be a real man, stand up, is that your underwear man, pull your pants up.

"I'm educating them on what it means" to wear saggy pants, Da'Priest said. "If it's explained to them the right way, they'll pull their pants up on their own."

The saggy-pants fad originated in prison, not with hip-hop, Da'Priest said, and it means that "you're easy," and "you're telling another man that you're available."

The campaign follows an unsuccessful effort this year by Dallas Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, who sought to pass a city ordinance to make saggy pants illegal. Caraway has endorsed the billboard campaign and believes that the rap has taken the message to a new level.

"The song has me patting my feet," Caraway said. "I would hope that other cities across the country will listen, and listen very closely, to not just the beat but the words." Da'Priest said that an ordinance would have caused more rebellion and that he wants to motivate through music. The song, he said, makes it "uncool to show your underwear."

To hear the tune, click here.

Any chance this could get added to the TDCAA Annual party play list?

If our musical advisor David Newell recommends it, chances are good it could end up on the AP and the Lesser Includeds setlist, perhaps adding a banjo for Texas effect.

HPD: Shooting suspect found dead, may have tripped
Authorities say the man's shorts fell down to his thighs while he was fleeing

By MIKE GLENN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

A man accused of shooting an off-duty Houston police officer was found dead Sunday in a thick grove of woods near the westside apartment complex where the officer was wounded, authorities said.

The gunman, identified by police as Eric Titov, 22, apparently shot himself in the head following a violent confrontation about midnight with HPD officer Victor Hill at the Reserve by the Lake Apartments, 18600 South Park View, police said.

It was unclear Sunday whether Titov committed suicide or shot himself accidentally.

"Looks like his shorts fell down to his thighs; he may have actually tripped," HPD homicide Capt. Steve Jett said. "And, trying to catch himself with his hands, wound up pulling the trigger as he was falling."

Now a story like that may lead to fewer criminals wearing baggy pants!

JAS

Gay groups critical of hip-hop song targeting saggin' pants

04:42 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 31, 2007
By MIKE DANIEL / Staff Writer


Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway wants urban youths to improve their image by hiking up their pants. But a local hip-hop artist is using homophobia as a tool to get that message across.
What started as an effort by Mr. Caraway to discourage saggin' � the wearing of jeans or trousers drastically below the waistline to expose underwear � has raised concerns because of a rap song that equates the fashion practice to being open to gay sex.
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"Pull Your Pants Up" by Dooney da' Priest (real name: Dwayne Brown) first describes saggin' visually, but then uses street slang to imply homosexuality: "You walk the street with your pants way down low/I dunno; looks to me you on the down low." The phrase "on the down low" can mean a secretive homosexual encounter.

The song originally contained a more direct reference in its chorus � "I think it's rude" used to be "I think it's gay" � that has since been changed at the request of Mr. Caraway, who stands behind the song's current version.

"The thing that stood out when I heard the song was the lyric that said 'gay,' and changing that is what I suggested. And he did that," Mr. Caraway said. "I didn't try to analyze and change his entire song."

The damage has already been done for some.
"I never considered saggin' something that's indicative of homosexual behavior," said Cordey Lash, a Dallas-based board member of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "For him to specifically target that aspect of what it could mean, well, it's highly offensive and unnecessary to me.

"There are a lot of homophobic people in the African-American community that would not want to be perceived as gay," said Mr. Lash, who is black. "But he's adding to the intolerance and the homophobic nature in the community by using it in that way." Those sentiments were echoed on message boards as the debate spread beyond Dallas.
Mr. Brown says his song was not meant as an attack on the gay community. "I do apologize if they feel offended," he says. Still, he stands by the effectiveness of his tactics. The rapper argues that in his community, the shame inherent in tying saggin' to homosexuality is more effective than any law would be.

"In Dallas, in some of the schools, some of the kids are starting to pull their pants up because of the song," he said. "Peer pressure has a better effect than any law. I was just trying to make it uncool."

The rap is featured prominently on both of Mr. Brown's MySpace pages.
Mr. Caraway added that he has received feedback that a billboard and the song are having a positive effect even outside of Dallas. "It is working across the country; we have dealt with it from New York to California to Florida to Georgia," he said.

Mr. Brown's lyrical tactic isn't the first time that homophobia has emerged as a theme in hip-hop music � Eminem, Ice Cube, Common, 50 Cent, DMX and other rappers have been vilified for anti-gay lyrics.

Mr. Brown claims that saggin', which is a fad partially born from prison inmates having to wear ill-fitting clothing without belts and drawstrings, has grown to suggest something different in prison culture: an invitation for sex.

"They know that it came from behind bars, but they don't know its history," Mr. Brown says of the potential audience for his song. "I don't think the kids are walking the streets without belts because they're about to hang themselves, you know."

Mr. Brown wrote "Pull Your Pants Up" in early October in support of Mr. Caraway's cause, which initially took the form of a proposed city ordinance last month. Constitutional issues with such a law, which has been enacted in Shreveport, La., and considered in Atlanta, Cleveland and elsewhere, prompted Mr. Caraway to change his strategy. So he used Mr. Brown's song as a cornerstone of an independent billboard campaign that he helped launch throughout downtown and southern Dallas last month.

The lyrics to "Pull Your Pants Up," which implores saggin' adherents to "be a real man; pull your pants up," were altered at Mr. Caraway's insistence to accompany the campaign. He called Mr. Brown a kid who got carried away in a song.
"I suggested to him that it was something he needed to change, and he did," said Mr. Caraway, who included Mr. Brown on one of the billboards behind the slogan "It's rude, not cool ... walking around showin' your behind to other dudes."
Mayor Tom Leppert, who supported the "Pull Your Pants Up!" campaign, said the city has never endorsed the song.

"When there were some objectionable comments, [Mr. Caraway] asked that they be removed," said Mr. Leppert, who has reached out to homosexuals since taking office by marching in the annual Dallas gay pride parade and meeting with the city's Log Cabin Republicans.

Adding to the controversy is Mr. Brown's public persona. A self-described "gospel rap" artist and ordained minister, he's active with the Shepherd's Staff, the volunteer ministry of Bishop T.D. Jakes' Potter's House church in southwest Dallas.
"For a gospel rapper to resort to such a homophobic statement is a way for certain conservative and religious organizations to go about discouraging that particular lifestyle," said hip-hop culture expert Dr. Todd Boyd, professor of Critical Studies at the University of Southern California.

"But it's a leap to suggest that that's the entire stance of the African-American community. It's similar to when people talk about sexism and misogyny in hip-hop; to say that all of hip-hop is informed with these things is a bit misguided. Yes, it's there. But it doesn't permeate all of it."

Funny thing about underwear. When I was a kid, it was taboo for anyone to see your underwear when you were fully clothed.

Now it is like some badge of honor for many youts. It is almost the exception to the rule to see a young person with no underwear on display.

First it was visible bras/bra straps with the Madonna set, then came the baggy pants/boxers on display and then it became fashionable or at least tolerable for women's underwear to be visible above the waistline when wearing pants.

Can anyone explain this visible underwear phenomenon to this over-40 guy?

We are too old to understand!!!

JAS

Judge: Did you say youts?

Cousin Vinny: Yeah, two yutes.

Judge: What is a yout?

Cousin Vinny: Oh, excuse me, your honor... two Youthfssssss!

That is, of course, Alex, where I got that word from.

Sagging pants crusade may get lift from Fort Worth council
04:59 PM CST on Monday, January 14, 2008

By JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News
jmosier@dallasnews.com
Dallas Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway's "Pull 'Em Up" campaign against sagging pants might be getting the thumbs up from the Fort Worth City Council.

The council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution supporting the crusade against the popular fashion trend. At first, Mr. Caraway asked his fellow Dallas council members to outlaw the wearing of pants that hung so low that they exposed the person's underwear, but the city attorney's office was concerned about the legality of such an ordinance. Instead, Mr. Caraway has continued with a public relations campaign that included a series of billboards and a planned appearance on the Dr. Phil show.

The resolution on the Fort Worth council agenda said the fashion style might "result in them [young people] being negatively stereotyped and harm their ability to be accepted and participate in general society."

Clear Channel will promote the "Pull 'Em Up" campaign on five Fort Worth billboards, according to the resolution. The effort is also sponsored by a newly created nonprofit called Hip Hop Government, which could be found online at hiphopgovernment.org.

Dwaine Caraway featured on 'Dr. Phil' over campaign against saggy pants

By BRUCE TOMASO / The Dallas Morning News

Dwaine Caraway, the deputy mayor pro tem of Dallas, had two suggestions Monday:

Pull your pants up.

And turn your television on.

Mr. Caraway has gained national attention for his crusade against saggy pants, the boxer-baring fashion trend that he views as a sure sign of the unraveling of young people's moral fiber.

It is disrespectful to females, he said of the style, an offshoot of hip-hop culture. It's disrespectful to a 3-year-old. It's disrespectful to an 89-year-old grandmother.

On Monday afternoon, Mr. Caraway was one of the guests on an episode of Dr. Phil devoted to the saggy-pants debate.

A man, he declared on the nationally syndicated show, needs to show a boy how to wear his pants.

Initially last year, Mr. Caraway considered pushing for a city ordinance against low-riding trousers. He abandoned the idea after being advised by city attorneys that such a law would raise constitutional issues and would be a pain in the rear to enforce.

He has since, however, led a full-fledged PR war against saggy pants, a campaign that has included billboards, a rap song, and, now, an appearance on Dr. Phil.

The show was filmed a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles. Mr. Caraway, who hates airplanes, flew out for the taping.

If the Lord wanted me to fly, he would have made me a bird, he had said. But he went anyway, because the issue is that important to him. (And, let's face it, what local politician wouldn't travel to California on rusty roller skates to appear on Dr. Phil?)

On Monday, Mr. Caraway gathered with about 50 friends and supporters to watch the show in a conference center at City Hall. He had not seen it before that national airing.

Others on the show included the Rev. Al Sharpton (no fan of saggy pants but concerned that young black men were being targeted); two mothers who oppose saggy pants; a dad who applauds the trend and wears his that way along with his two sons (He's a fool, Mr. Caraway muttered while watching the show); and the two members of the hip-hop duet Ying Yang Twins, who were split on the issue (D-Roc is anti, Kaine is pro).

The show included the typical daytime TV ration of shouting, hyperbole and histrionics. Dr. Phil McGraw called saggy pants an issue that is heating up across the country and fretted about the anti-libertarian implications of pants laws.

Mr. Caraway played the statesman, never shouting and seldom speaking unless he was asked a question.

I was too cautious to be nervous, he said of his 15 minutes of fame (times four, but with commercial breaks). I knew I was representing Dallas. I had to be careful about what I said and how I said it.

The City Hall crowd was a friendly one. After the show ended, Mr. Caraway was met with a stirring round of applause.

Safisha Hill, a Dallas educator, embraced the war on sag.

I have an 8-year-old daughter, she told Mr. Caraway, and I have to explain to her why these boys are showing their drawers.

Mr. Caraway pledged to carry on the fight. He announced that the JBs, soul king James Brown's former band, had recorded a pull-up-your-pants anthem, following in the footsteps of Dallas rapper Dooney Da' Priest. He said he'll push to get airplay for the new song and for a public service announcement produced by students at Lancaster High School. He also thanked Clear Channel Outdoor, the billboard advertising giant, for sponsoring Pull-'Em-Up signs.

We have now put this on a national scale, Mr. Caraway said.

quote:

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Mr. Caraway pledged to carry on the fight. He announced that the JBs, soul king James Brown's former band, had recorded a pull-up-your-pants anthem, following in the footsteps of Dallas rapper Dooney Da' Priest.

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And here I was thinking that A.P. and the Lesser Includeds had musical prosecutorial cred. But we now find out that the Godfather of Soul himself was a fan of our most prolific poster on this site. I bow to you, sir.

I always knew JB was Superbad.

I told you we shoulda called the band "The JB's". Either that or "The Perfect Plea".

Who would bring out the cape for Scott when he feigns exhaustion?

Take a wild guess, Mr. Band Manager.

I have a few suggestions for those who think this is an issue, not the least of which is GET A LIFE!

I take exception to that sir. A potential change in the band name is a very serious issue. No one remembers the Quarrymen, now do they?

Hoover, did you get a name change?