Lost Ones Poem Summary

“Lost Ones” and Gendered Stereotypes Even though it is more inclusive than most hip-hop narratives, the portrayal of women in “Lost Ones” is still problematic. While the boyfriend begins his verse committed to collaborating with his girlfriend, as shown by the lines “Now I ain’t tryna pick a fight with you, I’m tryna talk,” and the use of “we” in lines like “I feel like we ain’t ready for this…we still kids ourself/ How we gonna raise a kid by ourself?/ Handle biz by ourself?” A significant change occurs in the next line, when he asks “Where am I gon’ get that money?” There is a stark contrast between this question and his initial position of joint responsibility, because it assumes he alone will be financially responsible for the child. Relying
beginning, a stark juxtaposition against his initial position of joint responsibility.
Though this line acts as both a conclusion and a summary of the problem as a whole, it clearly takes a different tone. Referring to the woman as "bitch" (when the speaker himself referred to her as "baby girl") drastically changes the tone of the relationship to one of misogyny and anger. This whole verse suggests that this woman (and women in general) are manipulators looking to trap men into marriage.
Without pause, she runs through a series of reasons she is not having an abortion, starting where the previous verse left off: it's her choice, and hers alone: "This my body nigga, so don't think you finna force shit!" Then she starts blaming him for putting her in this position: "Knowing all the right things to say, I let you hit raw, motherfucka." Here she's placing blame on him from the
Placing sole financial burden on men both unfairly alleviates their role as caregivers (notice it's the woman who talks about "love") and shifts their perspective on what fatherhood means (and whether they think they can succeed at