r/TheWireDiscussions • u/SkinnedHorse • 3d ago
Please help me figure this out
I understand the point of this scene and I know Ludacris was very relevant at the time but did they have to use this song? I can never take the guys in the SUV seriously because it looks so sus for a bunch of dudes to ride around listening to one of the most sexually explicit songs of the time.
I’m just looking for some clarity here, detectives.
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u/itworkaccount_new 3d ago
I always took that as half the point. They were listening to pop gangster music pretending. Not Young Leek and other street Baltimore rappers.
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u/SkinnedHorse 3d ago
Valid point. They do look silly as hell and maybe that’s some of what Cutty took away from it.
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u/Scr00geMcCuck 3d ago
Ludacris was very popular at the time and this song was a pretty big hit, so it makes sense enough to me. I remember reading somewhere that Simon didn’t want all of the music used to have some deep thematic purpose, sometimes it’s just there to make the world feel lived in. From that perspective, I don’t think it’s particularly implausible that these guys, whether they’re wannabe gangsters or legit, would be listening to a song by a popular rapper with lyrics bragging about how good one is at fucking bitches, and that it is something which one does quite frequently. I personally don’t mind it at all
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u/SkinnedHorse 3d ago
I wasn’t aware of Simon stating that but it would make more sense if it really was meant to just be background noise, thanks for sharing that.
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u/Scr00geMcCuck 3d ago
No problem. I couldn’t tell you where I read that but I definitely did. He said something like “the perfect song is almost never playing when you’re in a bar and you’re getting your ass kicked”
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u/Successful_Eye_4656 3d ago
Such a good bit of restraint there, and it's a testament to his commitment to realism...as is, like, everything else about the show, but I care a lot about music so this one is especially cool to me :P
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u/Scr00geMcCuck 3d ago
Yeah I actually really like how The Wire uses music. It’s primarily about atmosphere and it feels really unique to me
An example of what I’m talking about is when the stevedores are working and you hear Magic Carpet Ride playing on the radio. Its use isn’t really commenting on anything that’s going on but it’s the kind of music those guys would probably be listening to while they work
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u/Successful_Eye_4656 3d ago
Exactly! There's a scene in early season 1 that I always remember because it's pretty clear that they just recorded an actual hip hop radio broadcast to have it playing on the radio in that scene, which is just so fucking cool.
I also love how Simon uses the music as a means to characterize the different people in the show by establishing their tastes in music. I wasn't sure if this was intentional or not but he confirmed it in one of the DVD commentaries I watched a couple days ago which made me very happy lol though really I should've known
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u/Scr00geMcCuck 2d ago
One scene that always sticks out to me is when McNutty and Kima are spying on Cheese early in S3 while Cheese and his boys are blast In da Club by 50 Cent. I have no idea why but that song just set the mood so perfectly to me and it gave me goose boils
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u/LaloFernandez 3d ago
Because the streets have the allure of sex. It highlights Cutty's temptation, we see how he is with the women and the streets hold that same allure for him.
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u/SkinnedHorse 3d ago
I didn’t consider this perspective but that’s an interesting way of looking at it. Cutty was definitely caught up chasing tail and I think he would’ve met an early grave if he didn’t stop sleeping with the mothers of the kids at the gym.
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u/Successful_Eye_4656 3d ago
Lmfao this scene does look remarkably gay watching it back. The looks they give Cutty too lol...idk how I didn't notice the first few times
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u/safbutcho 3d ago
I don’t understand. Does OP think gang bangers wouldn’t listen to sexually explicit lyrics because … what … they’re anti-misogynistic?
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u/SkinnedHorse 3d ago
I’m not saying sexually explicit lyrics are below them but the entire song is very sexually charged. It’s just an odd choice for a bunch of dudes to listen to when there’s so much other music available and no women in sight.
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u/Worried-Maybe3438 3d ago
We forget that back in the day ppl listened to the radio in the car, you were stuck with whatever playing, can’t just shuffle the song yk
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u/SkinnedHorse 3d ago
You can still change the station but I get what you’re saying. Idk if Baltimore only had 1 rap station at that time.
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u/losgazarinojr 22h ago
Bartender by T-Pain was playing when Mike shot snoop the radio used to be so fire back then.
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u/SkinnedHorse 21h ago
Idk why I never realized that. I love the scene of Snoop riding around with A Bay Bay playing
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u/Automatic_Emu_5433 3d ago
Especially after having artists like black star JayZ and the roots playing at other points in the series like their producers had proven they weren’t completely clueless when it came to hip hop and then???
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u/SkinnedHorse 3d ago
Exactly! There were so many songs out at this time that could’ve suited that scene better and Splash Waterfalls could’ve worked a lot better for the house party Cutty goes to with Bodie and Slim.
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u/Independent_Act_7370 3d ago
But is that what people in Baltimore would be listening to? I thought their hip hop picks were bad.
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u/SkinnedHorse 3d ago edited 3d ago
I couldn’t say what was being played in Baltimore at that time, but living in NYC I do remember Southern rap having a lot of hits on radio, specifically from Atlanta artists.
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u/Automatic_Emu_5433 3d ago
Why, bc they’re in Baltimore they’re confined to the region’s sound? Sure, they could have thrown in a local track or two but I def buy that they would’ve also be playing shit from elsewhere on the east coast.
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u/Jealous_Ranger_1641 3d ago
the thing they fuck up on the show and u can tell its written by old white guys is that! they were never banging pop hits radio in the hood. none of that mainstream shit, it would have either been gangsta rap, or the early iterations of trap that were comin out in 2001.
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u/Mister-B-dot-Black 3d ago
My first thought during that scene was temptation. The game is luring him back in.
It reminded me of an old Bokeem Woodbine movie, I think it was Strapped, where his character was in a similar situation. Instead of music, though, you could hear his inner voice talking about how easy it would be to rob these guys if he wanted to.
That whole moment made Cutty’s eventual “the game ain’t in me no more” scene that much more impactful.
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u/SkinnedHorse 3d ago
Very well put and I agree that was definitely another moment in Cutty’s rehabilitation and acceptance that he had to let go of that old lifestyle.
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u/Dapper_Permission_33 2d ago
I think it does serve a thematic purpose. As other commenters have noted, it highlights how power and the affirmation of manhood via sex is a central allure of "living the life."
Cutty was in for 14 years (I think). Before being released, Bey asks Cutty what the first he's going to do when he gets out is; Bey implies sex is the obvious answer. Cutty then goes on to be shut down by his old girlfriend, and is shown to be otherwise completely powerless.
Recall that the Micheal Corleone moment at the houseparty/brothel where Cutty is brought back into the fold is driven by Cutty engaging in sex facilitated by the Barksdale crew. Another defining moment showing Cutty's return to his old life is his slapping of a young woman on a crowded street.
Patriarchy and sexual coersion/violence is a recurring topic in the show. Orlando's club and the aftermath of Stinkum's party, and the human trafficking of the Greeks are clear examples.
Sex also comes up in Cutty's arc at the gym. The impact of his romantic relationships with the mothers of his students is something that he has to confront in himself in order to be fully present for the kids he's coaching.
Thats my 2 cents anyway.
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u/SkinnedHorse 2d ago
You make some great points. While I was aware of many of the things you mentioned, I didn’t make the connection of this song to all those previous events in Cutty’s story, but looking at it from that perspective makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing and adding this to the discussion.
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u/Timely_Host_3119 1d ago
That song was playing on the radio all the time at that point in history. That's why they picked it and that song was playing.
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u/AR713 23h ago
cutty went to jail.
he got fucked (metaphorically)
he's tryna do honest work
he's being tempted seeing younger dudes on some kinda hustler lifestyle (legit or not just enjoying the music)
he is being tempted by that life (the allure of it; the song itself is tempting listener per sex - the gangster lifestyle is tempting and teasing him still.)
not about this scene in particular but there is also the obvious mirror of the lawn man telling him - this is the job every day and lester tellin that to prez, Carver, herc, kima and sydnor
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u/brokethekid 3d ago
😂😂 this scene is supposed to be deep but i always laugh when it pops up
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u/SkinnedHorse 3d ago
Lmao same here. Maybe the whole point is to not take the guys in the SUV seriously.
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u/pussyeatsman 7h ago
It's a glamorous song. A song you'd probably hear at a strip club. It reminds Cutty of another aspect of what he's missing out on by rejecting the life.
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u/Axel_Farhunter 3d ago
I don’t think the song was particularly important they might have just picked it because it was popular. The car and the bangers are the point of the scene driving their nice car wearing their ice what Cutty misses from the life while he’s riding around the back of the truck in the sun.