Straight or Nappy

I want to talk about Spike Lee’s musical production in “School Daze,” “Straight or Nappy.” Of course, we need to divulge the issues mentioned in the song, but what I really want to focus on is not so much the issues, but the presentation of the issues. In the song, there is a group of darker skinned girls with kinky or natural hair, and a group of lighter skinned girls with straightened hair and weaves. The lyrics of the song, while posing very legitimate arguments, very bluntly call attention to very sensitive subjects. This is what I want to focus on; Lee’s ability to call out issues that would be too sensitive, hurtful, or plainly awkward to say in direct conversation, using song production. I remember when I was watching the production in class for the first time, I felt that it was upbeat and casual, even silly. I enjoyed it, and had fun watching it, but when I left class, the lyrics were stuck in my head, and that’s when I realized how heavy the song actually was. The lyrics imply things like people who try to change their natural hair are trying to be less black, and that people who have natural hair “don’t mind” their blackness. The production also labels the light skinned girls “wannabees,” and I felt like that was implying they wanted to be something other than black, compared to the darker skinned women being labeled “jigaboos,” a strong racial slur. Again, these things are just too sensitive to say plainly in conversation, but Lee found a creative method to speak out on these issues in a way that kept me thinking about them all day.

Jigaboos: Don’t you know my hair is so strong

It can break the teeth out of a comb

don’t have to put it up at night

What you have to keep up at night

What you have to keep out of sight

Wannabees: Your hair ain’t no longer than (finger snap)

So you’ll never fling it all back

And you ‘friad to walk in the rain

Oh what a shame who’s to blame

Jigs: Don’t you ever worry ‘bout that

‘cause I don’t mind being BLACK go on with your mixed-up head

I ain’t gonna never be ‘fraid

Wannabees: Well you got nappy hair

Jigs: Nappy is all right with me

Wannabees: My hair is straight you see

Jigs: But your soul’s crooked as can be.

#Tabatha