What Are Kids Learning from “Like a G6”

Posted on: 10/14/10 4:09 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Okay, I’d love your thoughts on this video. Kids cheered when it came on at the dance I chaperoned the other night, it’s at the top of all the charts… all kids know this song right now! The song is Like a G6. It’s got a great beat and is really catchy.

Adults keeps asking me, “What does that mean? Is it code for something really bad?” lol  As far as I understand, “G6” is a really nice jet (yes, as well as a nice car. But I think they are referring to the 50 million dollar Gulfstream G650 in this context.), and the song is just saying that they are “fly like a G6.” In other words, when they “get those bottles poppin” they are “amazingly cool like one of the nicest personal jets around!” In slang usage, only something really good would be described as “G6.” (“Want to go hang with some girls in Tyler’s Escalade?” “Oh yeah! That would be so G6!”)

The sad part about this video is that it is all about the drinking. Heck, I’m Irish, and my first thoughts were, “Dang, this is a lot of drinking!” Funny, the school played it at the dance the other night, but kicked kids out for drinking. (Nice example of sending a double message.)

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31 Replies to “What Are Kids Learning from “Like a G6””

  1. can’t imagine why kids think drinking is cool? or why they feel like they have to look/dress a certain way? #drippingsarcasm

  2. Funny how they don’t show how you would feel the next morning after a night of drinking like that. I don’t imagine they feel “like a G6” then. And what about all the drinking and driving????

  4. “This is how we live, Every single night…” Yikes, is that what life is all about for them? Sad, pointless, selfish.

  5. It is not a very good song at all, redundant and boring!! The music industry continues to pump out this crap selling an image of partying and drinking as if that is all there is to life. No sense getting angry or frustrated about it though, it is just a reminder to all of us that we are in a war for our young people.

  6. I’m only 30, and already I feel like my parents, complaining about “this generation’s music”

  7. Particularly liked the “offer the viewer a drink” moment at minute 3…wow…one of those songs I may have listened right past at the dance, as I “putting my hands up.”

  8. What does it say about us that we’re wondering why this vid gets labeled explicit? I guess I am glad that iTunes has enough sense to realize that even without sex and language, this is not something we want our children watching and emulating.

    Someone should take this music and post pictures of DUI’s and the reality of binge drinking.

  9. The tidal wave of hypocrisy between what is “promoted” and what is “allowed” at places like the students Homecoming dances simply depresses me. *Sigh*

  10. It’s funny how many songs in the charts in the last couple years have been about partying and clubbing. Songs like this one, promoting drinking… songs like the amazingly popular “I Got a Feeling”– a song with pretty innocent lyrics, but a super racy video.

    The theme of “just do it” or “losing control” keeps surfacing. Just like Miley’s brand new video where she doesn’t know who to listen to.

  11. This should not be played at a school dance. I don’t know how it could be edited, the whole song is talking about drinking. Based on the video I would say this is sadly one of the more tame songs out there. They seem to be over 21 and going out for a normal night of clubbing. The girl who took a shot at the beginning wasn’t driving, her friend did, so that’s actually responsible. One of the worst songs/videos I’ve seen this year is Tik Tok by Ke$ha. The new Miley video is pathetic. She’s not even 18 and apparently her Dad doesn’t care what she does. So sad.

  12. I believe it is so sad that the kids today give into this kind of pressure and my best friend is vp @ a local hs and he says it is sad to see in person.

  13. My wife was in the same room, but not watching the video and asked why they all felt like a “cheese stick?” I had to laugh. What would Weird Al do with the current generation of songs, eh? Seems like a “cheese stick” wouldn’t be as harmful as drinking, but makes me think of driving a ’77 Vega instead of an Escalade.

  15. It’s sad everyone is seaking a escape from this world through drinking, drugs,sex but this only brings a very short escape and lifetime of misery. I think they should show the other side of the coin like the smoking add were it ends with the guy in the wheelchair on oxygen. The comment before hit on the head we are in a war for our youth.

  16. It is sad the shallowness of meaning promoted in much of today’s music. It leads me to wonder if our youth are searching for anything deeper or if they are just so inundated by these “live for the party in the moment” messages that reality keeps finding itself in the backseat.

  18. You are definitly correct about the slang term “g6”, Urban defines g6 the same way, but within the context of the song it deals with getting high or a buzz as a result of the all the drinking, so when the hook comes in, in other words; it is saying lets get a buzz and feel high and ballin like a g6 b/c thats how we live, (or “thats how we do”) It is is not code for anything sexually explicit but most youth drinking deals with sexual behavior.
    My wife teaches hip hop dance, and says she thinks its a lame song.

  19. This is very helpful because I teach a curriculum in public schools that lets kids come up with a list of songs. Each must talk about alcohol in some way. Then we label the song as glamourizing drinking or portraying the reality of it. I like to know something about the songs, and this one is one I need to know. But I will still let them hash it out -nothing like a few high schoolers getting in a debate over which category the song fits in and teaching my lesson for me. Another thing we look at is the contracts between the alcohol and music industries…

  20. David… I love what you do. I think it’s great to let them discuss (and even debate) it.

    I think of Pink’s song a while back “So What.” She is depressed and decides to go drinking and start a fight. In the video she’s saying, “I’m alright,” while almost tearing up. Kids see that and notice that possibly this whole song is a “front” … something she’s trying to convince herself, but not true.

    Good stuff brotha!!!

  21. WOW! I am new to the youth ministry. I am looking at this site for the first time trying to gather ideas/lessons/youth lifestyles/etc….

    I can relate to this G6 song/video. I once was in this situation myself. Thought it was cool to drink hang out with the friends and make a social faux pas. 15 years ago I was directly in the mix of this. I do however see where it is wrong now.

    Jonathan what else do you have to relate to this? I think I am going to approach them Wednesday night and talk to them about whats hot in society and gather their thoughts on things and build my Sunday School lesson from that.

  22. Allen… one of the most powerful lessons you can use is the story from your own life. Sure, I could show you some places on our web site that have discussion starters from music, movies, etc. (Just jump on http://www.TheSource4YM.com and take a look at all those choices from the FREE RESOURCES & IDEAS drop down menu)… and, yes, those small group questions and scriptures are nice. But the power of your story, how God changed you, and how He wants to change them is POWERFUL.

    I encourage you to use both.

  23. The song has a great beat and if the words were different, it would be awesome. The words are terrible for our teenage kids!! Sippin’ sizzurp in my ride…..have you looked up “sizzurp”? It’s a drink that has codeine in it. It’s not only encouraging OTC Drugs as a high, it’s also suggesting drinking it while driving! Why can’t they have songs with this kind of beat, just different words?????

  24. you dont get it
    kids dont listen to music for the lyrics
    nobody sits at a dance by the speaker and tries to pick out every single word they say…
    they listen to the song for the beat and the rhtyhym and nobody really cares about the words or what it means to be honest..it could be saying something that doesn’t make any sense at all and people would still like it for the beat itself and nothing else
    i am 16 and this is how kids feel about music..so stop wondering about how it affects our lives because we pay no attentiuon to the lyrics at all :S
    and i suppose a few led zeppelin…ozzy osborn..aerosmith..loverboy songs didnt have anything about partying in them either, correct? … *sarcasm*

  29. It’s actually about abusing cough syrup (sizzrup), not alcohol. Flying like a G6 just means getting high in general. Slizzard is taking a combination of OTC medications. There’s also the lyrics “sober girls acting like they’re drunk” which indicates they’re not really drunk, but the syrup makes you feel and act like it. When it says “like a three 6,” three 6 refers to a mafia. It’s a worse song than you think once you get to know the drug culture.

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