Oscars Musical Number: "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp"

Hmm - that song was a LOT better in the context of the movie, which I loved.

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That song was vital to the movie & every1 I know who saw the movie could not stop singing it for weeks. The performance was not great, but it was a great song in the context of the film. I'm glad it won!

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Ha ha ha it won. AWESOME!

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finally three 6 mafia won an oscar!!!!!!!!!
hells yes!!!!
most gangster oscars ever.........EVER!!!
they finally get some recognition!!!
Three 6 mafia!!!hells yes!!Hypnotize minds!!!!
Congradulations to them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Tonya and Justin are absolutely correct. Terrance Howard's delivery of the song in the movie was unforgettable. I just watched "Hustle & Flow" last night, and have been singing the "...Pimp" song ALL DAY. I really didn't think it had a chance to win, but I'm thrilled it did. (And this is coming from a Dolly Parton fan!) Three 6 Mafia's performance was adequate, but unfortunately, much of the backing track was obscured, so anyone who hasn't heard the movie version is bound to be puzzled as to why it won the Oscar. I only hope those who are still skeptical of the song's merit go out this week and rent the movie.

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At first I was horrified and embarassed and just plain...well...gobsmacked while I was watching the number. Then I remembered that in context of the film, the song is a character.
As a featured number at the Oscars, it was like a typical bad Grammy Awards number with all of the dancer hoes and pimps all over the stage.
Why not just play a few clips from the film featuring the song, and let the meaning of the song come to the fore.
I've never heard of 6 Mafia Crew, whate'er. Their performance was...typical. They didn't do justice to the song and its raison d'etre.
But the best moment was the girl singer, downstage center, in a single spotlight singing: "It's haaaaaard....out theeeeeeeeer....for....a.....PIIIIIIIIIIIIIMP!!!"
Oh. My. God.
*sigh*

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Get over it white people finally there is some damn action going on at the most boring award show ever. Who wants to here drag music during a whole show that happens to be live. Time has change white people can't own everything.

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It's ironic that the song that won the Oscar isn't the same song they allowed on the air. Silly, hypocritical and Phillistine.

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And I agree that it worked better in the context of the film, which is precisely the context on which the award is based. It was the best moment of the night. The b.s. Broadway treatment it received onstage was kind of stupid, but who cares?

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As an African American teacher of 9th graders I was horrified at the performance of those "brothas" and "sistas" last night. Though I understand what many people are saying about the songs relevance to the film, unfortunately we live in a scoiety where images of Black people in stereotypical roles on the stage with a majority white audience is extremely dangerous. However I am relieved that many of my students who are brainwashed by today's rap music found the performance embarassing and what many of them called a modern day minstrel show. Wake up America! It's time for real Hip Hop to reclaim it's place as the voice of urban youth.

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The pimp song was great in the movie, but very goofy in its award show incarnation. But the other two songs were crap, and SOMETHING has to win, so Pimp gets the Oscar by default in any case. [Sorry Dolly, sometimes your songs are wonderful, but not this one.]

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Uhm, the movie was Hustle & Flow not Crash and it was awesome. And congrats to 3/6. If you couldn't respect the performance to bad for you. It was the highlight of the night and those "oscar types" probably liked it but were too afraid to pull the stick out. You do remember John Stewart saying they were the most excited people there. It was all about creativity and telling a story, they did it great and took home the prize.

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To the 9th Grade teacher: with all due respect, what should horrify you are the conditions that birthed the song. Eloquently and starkly portrayed in the film, the life is shown for what it is. The "pimp" character played by Terrence Howard is clearly unhappy with his life as a pimp, and the music is his way to pull himself out of the life, although there are no guarantees that it will. The life (prostitution, drugs, homelessness, etc) exists and affects many people: African American, White, Hispanic, Asian and others. To shield your students from the realities of life puts them in a position where they might not be able to make informed choices later on if confronted by them. The movie is cautionary; the song reflects that. The performance on the Oscar telecast was silly and did not do the song justice. But to equate it with a minstrel show is missing the point. The minstrel shows set out to exploit African Americans with stereotypes created by the exploiters to entertain the exploiters. Not so in the award-winning song. It was written from the point of view of a struggling, unhappy pimp. If anything, the image of a pimp has been glamorized in the media. Not so in the song or the movie. As for claiming that youths are "brainwashed" by rap music, I think you are diminishing the responsibility of the parents to raise their children to understand what is the right road and what is the wrong road. I also think you aren't giving young folks enough credit for understanding that they can be entertained by something, but not buy into the negatives espoused in that entertainment. People are entertained by all sorts of dark things, but that does not mean they are going to live in a dark way. Those who do are predisposed to so in the first place. Bottom line: lighten up. It was a unique moment in a usually stodgy awards show. It seemed the African Americans in the audience were clearly entertained, not offended. Queen Latifah, Samuel Jackson, Will Smith, Morgan Freeman and a host of other stars enjoyed the moment. For me, I like the song, the film and especially enjoyed the absurdity of the moment.

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To WeedPoet,
This was an embarrassing moment for all people of color in this country. The fact that it was taken out of the context of the movie does not excuse the fact that it looked 'bad'- blacks predominately portrayed as hustlers and pimps. And of course the black actors are going along with it. What choice do they have? They don't want to spoil the moment for the artist who achieved such a high honor from the elite white society. Besides, the rich blacks don't have to struggle in this racist day-to-day world like the average person does. They have forgotten where they came from and how people died so we could all have dignity. They SUCK!!!

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I SOOO agree with weedpoet. Miss.Grade9Teacher. You cant bash the youth by saying they are brainwashed with rap music. most rap art has depth and meanings .in a way pop and rock cant explain. Hard out Here. won the oscar for best song and they deserved it. It was three 6 mafias moment and they got recognized and they can say it was becuse of the oscars.They had just performed with a great applaude and right after it won the award . they were excite and the was the high point of the moment. Jamie Foxx was happpy terrence howard . i dont believe they got offended. because they gave a standing ovation for Three 6 Mafia. It was their moment and It was real entertaining to see how excited they were to recieve the award . OH!! and did i say i LOV33 that song.. its like stuck in my head. BY333 everyONE!! =)

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With all due respect to the 9th grade teacher, music is music. You like it or you don't, that is why we have so many different categories of music. I did not agree with some of the winners in other categories but I am not going to call them out. There are individuals who place votes for the Oscar winners not one person so how can they all be wrong. I can say that I did not like the performance with the dancers but the highlight of the night was the young lady performing the song. Oh yeah the teacher said and I quote “unfortunately we live in a society where images of Black people in stereotypical roles” using words like ("brothas" and "sistas). I sure hope that she is not teaching the kids to use those words in a sentence, scary. I am happy for Three 6 Mafia. You know it’s hard out here for a Pimp!!!

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No doubt life is hard for a "struggling, unhappy pimp." But I'll bet HIS life is better (even if only slightly) than those of the women who work for him. I can't BEGIN to feel sorry for the pimp if he is presented as the "hero" who is suffering. Therefore, I couldn't relate to the song as presented at the Oscars. Maybe I'll rent the film just to hear the song in context. But I hope the film has a few slightly pro-female moments, or I'll puke.

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oh that song was off the chain i replayed it over and over now i remember it like it was a name,i chould not stop singing it,me and my friend's and other kid's got in a big group and sing it over and over and other kid's came and join us singing and the teather's came and stand around to listen to us sing.i even caught some teacher's boopin ther head to the beat.we sung that song for week's in hall,at the end of class,even taught other's the lylics.and as i type i'm singing the song,and even got the movie playing that is what made me come to this site that song got it it is a.{PIMP 4 SURE}**HOLLA**

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