During my senior year of high school, lyricist E-40 released the album In a Major Way that featured the track “It’s All Bad” and which featured vocals from the lyricist’s underage son Droop-E.
The structure of the track involves E-40 lamenting various problems of the world, as though he’s imparting knowledge to child. Thus, in the break of the song, the following dialogue between the lyricist and his son unfolds:
Droop-E: So is that what they do?
E-40: It’s all bad.
Droop-E: It’s crazy out there, huh?
E-40: It’s all bad.
Droop-E: Is it gonna be like this when I grow up?
E-40: It’s all bad.
Given my headspace in adolescence, I agreed with E-40’s perspective. I thought life was entirely unfair and that there was very little worth living for. As such, “It’s All Bad” was like a soundtrack for my unproductive outlook.
Many years since and from a Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) perspective, I recognize the phrase “it’s all bad” as relating to the irrational belief of global evaluation. Regarding this form of illogical and unreasonable assumption, one source states:
People exhibit a natural tendency to make global evaluations (i.e., overgeneralize) about themselves, others, and the world. This tendency is probably a result of the cognitive system’s innate ability to generalize rapidly from specific occurrences to facilitate learning or ensure safety, for example. More specifically, people tend to draw global, stable, and more or less definitive conclusions based on low-frequency behaviors or events. From a logical point of view, this process can yield erroneous inferences, so no firm and general conclusions can be drawn based on inductive reasoning.
In the song, E-40 uses global evaluations by excluding relevant information about other aspects of life. For instance, when Droop-E hears that the current state of affairs is apparently “all bad” and he asks about his future prospects, E-40 discounts applicable facts when using global evaluations about the improbability of improvement.
When thinking about how I’d work with a child whose parent instilled this sort of irrational belief system, I imagine a young client could develop an “all bad” outlook about other people. Contemplating how to approach this imagined client, I consider what one source proposes:
Draw a circle and divide it into eight pie-shaped wedges. Label every other pie wedge with a (+) or a minus (−). Have your young client complete this circle with regards to someone who they believe is a total no-good-nik for acting so badly.
Once completed, discuss whether having one or more (-)s indicates that the person is totally bad. Explain that it does not make sense to think that because a person acts badly, s/he is without any positive qualities. Encourage the young client to separate judgments of another person’s behavior from judgments of their overall worth and value as a human being.
I find this to be a helpful and illustrative tool that could be used with minors and adults alike. As an example, if in the song E-40 declared that life was “all bad” and I was seeing him for psychotherapy, I would use this tool to demonstrate that not everything is bad.
Likewise, if I worked with minors and saw Droop-E in a psychotherapeutic setting, I would illustrate how he, other people, and life weren’t all bad. Undoubtedly, there may be many undesirable traits associated with fallible human beings and an imperfect existence.
However, rarely (if ever) is it the case that I, you, or life is entirely bad. What do you think, dear reader? Could use of this tool help you during times when you unproductively conclude of yourself, others, or life that “it’s all bad”?
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Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
Bernard, M. and Terjesen, M. D. (2020). Rational-emotive and cognitive-behavioral approaches to child and adolescent mental health: Theory, practice, research, applications. Springer. Retrieved from https://dokumen.pub/rational-emotive-and-cognitive-behavioral-approaches-to-child-and-adolescent-mental-health-theory-practice-research-applications-9783030539016-3030539016.html
David, D., Lynn, S. J., and Ellis, A. (2010). Rational and irrational beliefs: Research, theory, and clinical practice. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://www.pdfdrive.com/rational-and-irrational-beliefs-research-theory-and-clinical-practice-d185044938.html
E40TV. (2014, November 7). It’s All Bad [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/QQ-kDyj5rbA?si=4EFR_iuUtF0klTmh
Hollings, D. (2022, March 15). Disclaimer. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/disclaimer
Hollings, D. (2024, March 28). Distorted inferences. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/distorted-inferences
Hollings, D. (2024, May 11). Fallible human being. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/fallible-human-being
Hollings, D. (2024, April 2). Four major irrational beliefs. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/four-major-irrational-beliefs
Hollings, D. (2023, October 12). Get better. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/get-better
Hollings, D. (2023, September 13). Global evaluations. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/global-evaluations
Hollings, D. (n.d.). Hollings Therapy, LLC [Official website]. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/
Hollings, D. (2023, September 19). Life coaching. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/life-coaching
Hollings, D. (2023, January 8). Logic and reason. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/logic-and-reason
Hollings, D. (2024, May 5). Psychotherapist. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/psychotherapist
Hollings, D. (2022, March 24). Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rational-emotive-behavior-therapy-rebt
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Droop-E. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droop-E
Wikipedia. (n.d.). E-40. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-40
Wikipedia. (n.d.). In a Major Way. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_a_Major_Way
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