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Xiru Ma

Dr. Cassel

Eng 1201

28 October 2019

The Comparisons of Two Versions of “Boys-N-The Hood”’

Easy E released the song “Boys-N-The Hood” in 1987. Although it was not the first version

of the song, Eazy E made it a hit. When the movie “Boys-N-The Hood” was made, the director

put this song into the movie. Later in 2000, Dynamite Hack remade the song into a total different

remix. Easy E’s version targeted at the boys and young adults, who were familiar with or interested

in the living status in the hood. While Dynamite Hack’s version of “Boys-N-The Hood” made a

parody of Easy e’s original version; thus, offending the original audiences.

The song “Boys- N-The Hood” by Easy E more effectively articulated how life was like

for the boys in the hood and he criticized the lack of understanding of that from the mainstream

America, compared to Dynamite Hack’s version.

The lyrics was not changed much in the second version by Dynamite Hack. Only the last

paragraph, which was about the conflict between the black boy and police officer, of the original

was taken out. Easy E repeatedly emphasized that the boys in the hood were hard. If anyone tried

to confront or harm them, they would fight back.

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The 2000 version by Dynamite Hack used a different way of expression. Easy E’s version

was an obvious hip-pop song; while Dynamite Hack’s remake was indie. Their music genres were

widely divergent. Basic tone in the first version by Easy E was mostly black and white, sharply

contrasting the bright green in the second version, which was showing the pleasure and delight of

the White boys’ life, while the lyrics were sending messages about the not so cheerful living

situations of the black boys in the hood.

Easy E’s version showed the Hood culture. The audience can relate. The video showed that

they had conflicts with society, but then they solve conflicts, and also grow into maturity in their

own way. Hack’s version was featuring the mainstream American culture, which could be good

for a satire to mock the black boys that were living in such a way because they chose to. It was

offensive to many because it did not take multiple reasons into consideration, such as historical

context. Moreover, Dynamite Hack’s version was code switching. Code switching means someone

speaks in the way others or a larger groups do. This was micro-aggression or even a deliberate

roasting. The parody was losing audiences for reasons.

The divergences of the two versions can be seen from the presentations of how exactly the

life was like for boys in the hood. In the first version by easy E, as was mentioned in the lyrics: “I

gotta get drunk before the day begins, before my mother starts bitchin’ about my friends”, it

showed the conflicts between parents and the boys. In the movie, “Boys- N- The Hood”, one of

the main character Tre’s father always wanted him to follow the mainstream culture, while he

himself was more rooted in the hood culture. The society in which people grew up in and the way

they are raised sculptured them. Besides that, boys in the first video all wore casually: shorts, T-

shirts, hats, necklace and sunglasses. The boys had tattoos on their hands and danced in the last

few scenes as a gangster. In the first few minutes, four young adults run away from a house, with
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one holding a gun in hand, and the other three were waiting in the front deck, one of whom was

handicapped. They drove away in a convertible car. Several scenes of cars appeared in the video,

as was sung in the lyrics” all about that GTA”. It seemed to try to say boys in the hood had a

craving for fancy cars. The neighborhood was from a middle or lower economic class. Boys played

basketball at street. As was probably happening to all the boys, sexual desires were easily seen in

the videos because they tried to hook up with random girls, who were called “bitches” and “hoes”

at the street. This was the way the boys addressed the girls in the hood. They were in the same

group with racial identities. It was an in-group communication, which would be taken as offensive

or discriminative when someone out of the group was trying to assimilate inappropriately.

In the first version, guns, and conflicts between parents and kids, as well as between peers

and authorities were nothing rare to see. The boy in a blue shirt got shot and died in a fighting.

When Easy E sang “Boys in the hood are always hard, you keep talking that trash, we will pull

your car”. Boys in the hood dared to fight. They fought with peers, and against the authorities who

may have discriminated them. As was shown in the last few scenes, a boy got pulled over by a

black policeman, with gun holding against his neck. Statistically, black male were in the largest

proportion to get pulled over by police. Many claimed to get discriminated at some point in their

lives. Racial socialization, which meant “the developmental processes by which children acquire

the behaviors, perceptions, values, and attitudes of an ethnic group, and come to see themselves

and others as members of the group” was enforced by their parents or the elders when they grew

up.

On contrary, Hack’s version portrayed themselves as living out the lyrics to the song,

featuring the young white rich, entitled, sweater-wearing country folks. They were in huge white

mansion, having a barbeque, dancing, and partying happily. We could not see they were in a low
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economic status or any sexual desires as said in the lyrics, illustrated in the video. The golf cars

that the White boys and girls were driving indicated a higher economic status. They are singing a

song representing the Black culture and lives using a video that has had nothing to do with it. This

was the parody, but it is offensive.

The scene at the end of Hack’s version was special: boys driving in the car waved to a

policeman and he waved back with such a big smile. This was extremely ironic. Some audiences

would find it offensive because it was showing the White privileges. The singer had something to

refute it: “If you like rap and have no sense of humor, you will definitely not like this song-

Dynamite Hack”. I got their point that they were being humorous and funny, but from the point of

view in the present, “it was inappropriate”, commented by professor Taylor Curtis, who taught my

African American Psychology class. The second version could definitely have lost a large

proportion of audiences due to the discrimination in the parody.

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Works Cited

Easy E. “Boyz-N-The Hood (R.E.M.I.X.)”. Eazy E & Posse, 1987. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIU07K_28ck

Dynamite Hack. “Boyz In The Hood”. Superfast, 2000. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeL9gagV_VA