Nashville Schools Director's Rap Reference Irks Board Member

NASHVILLE, TN -- In the latest - and certainly most unexpected - twist in the ongoing contretemps between Metro Nashville Schools Director Shawn Joseph and school board Vice Chair Jill Speering, a formal complaint has been filed related to Joseph's use of a song by rapper Too Short during a meeting with the district's principals.

Speering, who has become a frequent and vocal critic of Joseph during MNPS's budget struggles, emailed a complaint to the district's civil rights and federal programs coordinator Monday, saying that Joseph's use of Too Short's 2006 song "Blow The Whistle" was "highly offensive, reprehensible and inexcusable."

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"I could not understand how this misogynistic song could be appropriate in ANY educational environment," Speering wrote. "What kind of example does this set for principals, teachers and students?"

According to a district spokesperson, Joseph played the opening lines of the song, in which Too Short - who was featured in the 1999 documentary “American Pimp” and who now stylizes his name as Too $hort - explains "I go on and on. Can't understand how I last so long. I must have superpowers. Rap 225,000 hours."

The spokesperson said Joseph stopped the song there and that no profane lyrics were played for the principals.

Joseph told The Tennessean that he was explaining to principals how he uses song lyrics as inspiration.

Speering, however, said after the meeting, some of the administrators read the rest of the song's lyrics and listened to it in its entirety and saw a deeper contextual meaning to its use by Joseph than the simple keep-on-keeping-on message of its opening line.

Joseph admitted he quoted a later line in the song - "Can't hang with the big dogs, stay on the porch" - and Speering contends his use thereof was meant to reference her and fellow board member and Joseph critic Amy Frogge, because the preceding lines are "What's my favorite word? 'B----! Why they gotta say it like Short? B----! You know they can't play on my court."

"Principals explained that many didn't know the rap song but became curious about Dr. Joseph's comments," she wrote. "Once they read the profane lyrics and listened to the song, they felt Dr. Joseph's behavior was unbecoming of the director of schools."

Former Metro Councilman and attorney Jamie Hollin told News Channel 5 that he represents "more than five" MNPS principals and that the reaction in the room was "extremely negative."

"They were very discouraged. It has been a blow to morale among the principals all across the city," he told the station.

Speering also pointed to the fact the video (warning: explicit lyrics, footage that may be considered inappropriate) includes footage of two women simultaneously kissing and licking Too Shorts' ears. The portion of the video including the lyrics played by Joseph does include quick cuts of such behavior, though the primary visual is of the rapper himself or of people dancing (or "getting hyphy" in the parlance of Short's native Oakland).

The head of Nashville's teacher's union and board chair Anna Shephard, however, disagreed with Hollin's assessment and with Speering's reading of the incident, according to The Tennessean.

Union head Erick Huth told the paper "I think this is being blown out of proportion," while Shepherd - who noted neither she nor Speering were at the meeting in question - said when she spoke to "trusted principals" they said "they didn't know who the rapper was" and "they didn't take offense to it."

Photos of Joseph and Speering via Metro Nashville Public Schools; Too Short photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images