There are a number of classic hip hop songs which come to mind when reflecting on the better days I experienced in my youth. Without a doubt, lyricist Ice Cube’s track “It Was a Good Day,” from his 1992 album The Predator, serves as one such song.
In my opinion, it’s one of those rare hip hop tracks in which its remix [“It Was a Good Day (Remix)”—released on the 1994 album Bootlegs & B-Sides] is equally as enjoyable as the original song. Describing his intentions for the track, one source reports that Ice Cube stated:
“The inspiration [for “It Was A Good Day”] was my life at the time,” he said. “I was at the top of the rap game. It was the summer of ’92 and I was in a hotel room, really in a state of euphoria. I had all the money I had dreamed of. I was in a good frame of mind. And I remember thinking, ‘Okay, there’s been the riots, people know I will deal with that. That’s a given. But I rap all this gangsta stuff; what about all the good days I had?’”
I can appreciate Ice Cube’s reported intention of wanting to share a positive message when much of his content related to negativity. Bear in mind that life consists of positive, neutral, and negative elements.
Per my view, especially in regard to the practice of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), it’s unwise to conflate these factors with a dichotomous good or bad perspective. For context relating to this matter, I invite you to consider how the ABC model of REBT functions.
REBT theory maintains that when an unexpected Activating event occurs and a person uses an irrational Belief about the situation, it’s one’s unhelpful attitude and not the undesirable circumstance that causes unpleasant emotional, bodily sensation, and behavioral Consequences.
Rather than remaining self-disturbed, an individual is invited to try Disputation which may lead to an Effective new belief that’s used in place of an unproductive self-narrative. With the ABC model, a person learns to stop needless suffering which is caused by unhelpful assumptions.
Of the four major irrational beliefs recognized in REBT literature, global evaluations or negative ratings of the self, others, and life, tends to function as a mechanism of self-disturbance. As an example, I could needlessly believe that I’m bad, you’re evil, and that life itself is worthless.
Negatively rating or globally evaluating in this manner is irrational, because this form of unfavorable belief lacks balance. For instance, I may have bad traits, you may have evil (if you believe in such a concept) attributes, and life itself involves worthless moments.
However, traits, attributes, and moments don’t necessarily warrant the qualifiers of bad, evil, or worthless in entirety. Take for instance an apple that has a bruise on it. Is the entire apple displeasing simply because one area is bruised?
I argue in the negative and in doing so I maintain a balanced perspective. So, too, is the antidote to imbalanced beliefs such as that pertaining to global evaluations or negative ratings of the self, others, and life.
Therefore, stating that Ice Cube raps about negativity isn’t synonymous with expressing that he’s bad or that the lyricist raps about only bad things. Rather, a balanced positive, neutral, and negative perspective is necessary when describing the complexity of life.
It isn’t a good or bad quality to seek balance in this regard. Noteworthy, one may globally evaluate oneself, others, and life in an imbalanced and overly positive manner. The question then arises, does doing so cause unpleasant consequences in accordance with the ABC model?
This is where Ice Cube’s song “It Was a Good Day” is especially relevant within the context of this blogpost. Reportedly, the lyricist realized that he didn’t share as much positive content as he did in regard to negativity.
Imaginably, Ice Cube understood that addressing only or mostly negative tales was an imbalanced approach to life. Therefore, he ostensibly created a hip hop classic which positively evaluated his day.
Apparently, while experiencing self-described “euphoria,” the lyricist drafted “It Was a Good Day,” rating his experience at a specific point of his life as “good.” From an REBT perspective, does Ice Cube’s belief-consequence (B-C) connection cause undesirable consequences?
It’s worth noting that REBT serves as a scientific approach to well-being. With this understanding, let’s briefly explore something the lyricist says in the song, as a means of testing the hypothesis (does a positive B-C connection cause an unfavorable response?).
In the second verse of the track Ice Cube states, “Plus nobody I know got killed in South Central L.A. Today was a good day.” Imagine that you maintain a realistic and existential view of life. As such, you don’t delude yourself into believing that you’re guaranteed to live until old age.
In fact, you know that life is impermanent and uncertain. Better yet, you know that without a doubt you’re gonna die someday. Some people would view this knowledge as “bad,” though you’re wise enough to know it’s merely a negative element of a balanced existence.
To live means that one will inevitably die. There’s nothing bad about this objective truth. All the same, in your wisdom of the moment, you realize that although you’ll die one day, you haven’t yet expired today. As well, no one you personally know has died today.
And so you tell yourself (believe), “I and nobody I know died today. Therefore, today was a good day.” Being the logical and reasonable (collectively “rational”) thinker I presume you are, I suspect that when sharing Ice Cube’s belief you’ll experience a desirable consequence.
Even if you experience nothing more than relief from your positive B-C connection, this outcome is arguably preferable to other negative consequences which stem from irrational beliefs. Wonderfully, we can test this hypothesis in order to assess its validity and reliability.
If through use of a positive global evaluation at the end of your day you examine your life and conclude, “I’m not dead yet, so it was a good day,” will your B-C outcome result in – at bear minimum – relief? For some people, I suspect the answer is yes.
Regarding other people, perhaps those who self-disturb with unproductive beliefs about their very existence, I imagine the answer is no. In any case, I’m talking about you and not those other individuals. Could you replicate the experience of relief by taking an Ice Cube approach to life?
Personally, this hypothesis has been tested and for more times than not I’ve been able to reproduce the desired effect of contentment. This is one of the main reasons I appreciate the track “It Was a Good Day.”
Ice Cube’s reported intention of wanting to share a positive message when much of his content related to negativity is similar to how I draft and post blog entries. Because a significant portion of my REBT work involves negative elements of life, I tend to write about such matters.
Still, as the current blogpost is intended to reflect, not everything in life is bad. There truly are many undesirable, unfavorable, and unpleasant traits, attributes, and moments within life. As such, I write about a lot of these matters.
Nonetheless, life isn’t all bad. In my experience, there are some moments in time which are subjectively considered to be good days. Thus, I maintain that using a realistically positive global evaluation of one’s day isn’t necessarily unhelpful.
The key to rational living in this regard is that one considers the positive, neutral, and negative elements which are inescapably linked together in life. This means that I’m not advocating a ridiculous “good vibes” approach to living. That method is such a silly waste of my time.
Here, “silly” is a euphemism for “crazy.” If you want a wacky standard of living, I welcome you to be the self-determined and autonomous being you so obviously are and be as crazy as you wanna be. You’ll hear no complaint and receive no unwarranted objection from me.
Sure, I’ll mock your irrational beliefs and question your self-disturbed behavior. However, I won’t stand between you and crazy outcomes. Live yo most crazy life possible, if that’s what you truly desire from life!
At this point in the blogpost, I find myself ending as Ice Cube did in “It Was a Good Day,” as he said, “Hey, wait, wait a minute […] stop this shit. What the fuck am I thinkin’ about?”
If you’re looking for a provider who works to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply helping you to feel better, I want to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
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