Hip-Hop Hypocrisy
Big names like Travis Scott, Post Malone, and 2 Chainz dominate today’s music industry and they all have one thing in common. The fast-paced chanting or rhyming over a beat, known as rap. The music is catchy, but when you actually listen to the words of most rappers, you’re likely to hear some pretty offensive terms.
Rap music was not always the way it is today. The origins of rap music come from Africa, where thousands of years ago, village storytellers would tell stories while playing handmade instruments. This form of communication is also known as Griot. Griot was commonly used during the period of slavery. While the slaves were in the fields they would use music of this style to communicate and cope. It is still used as a form of storytelling in Africa today.
More recently, rap has become a popular genre of music. In 1979 Sugarhill Gang released a song called Rappers Delight, which is known to be the first rap song to gain popularity. Rap music during this time period celebrated self-expression. “Old school rap” centered on appreciating life, as defined by Urban Dictionary “…focusing on simply hanging out, or looking for women, rather than glorifying crime and prostitution.” Artists in the ’70s were self-proclaimed drug-free and their music featured different topics than rap songs today.
Rap music released after this is often thought to disconnect from these ideals. There was a significant shift in focus during the ’80s towards the acquisition of materialism and personal wealth. However, African Americans and other minorities in inner cities were marginalized and experienced a decreased standard of living as well as a rise in drug use and related issues. Whereas the 1970’s rap was an expression of good times and love of music, 1980’s rap music focused on messages of social injustice called “message rap.” This music foreshadowed the emergence of modern globalization and social conflict that is present today.
In 1989 MTV aired its first rap centered show called “Yo! MTV Raps”. Then in June of 1991, the album Niggaz4life by N.W.A reached number one of the Billboard 200. Since then the hip-hop/rap genre has dominated the Billboard Top 100. Today rap music has a heavy presence in our culture. In the ’90s, it may have been uncommon to hear rap songs on mainstream stations, now we hear artists like Drake or Kanye West whenever we turn on the radio. Many pop songs even feature a rap verse from a popular artist. Despite its popularity on mainstream media, the lyrics in the music can be extremely inappropriate and degrading towards women.
The rap genre targets a young age group. Its audience typically ranges from age 16–24. These young people are the same pro-feminist generation that has been affected by the #metoo movement and The Women’s March. How can such a progressive generation be so supportive of this misogynistic music? Is it possible to call yourself a feminist and listen to rap music? While many artists use their platform to degrade women, they also use it to promote their views on other progressive social issues such as police brutality, racism, and political views. Popular rap artist J. Cole raps about self-image, stereotypes, and crime among other social issues. His song Crooked Smile may even be considered feminist, as he raps about how it is more than just what is on the outside that matters with lyrics like “Oh, you a woman? I don’t know how you deal, with all the pressure to look impressive and go out in heels, I feel for you, Killing yourself to find a man that’ll kill for you.” He addresses the ridiculous standards that women are held to, just to be considered presentable. While some of his other music includes degrading lyrics towards women, he also uses his platform to speak out in a positive way.
This is common among many male rappers. 2Pac was known for rapping about poverty and teenage parenthood. However, many of his lyrics degraded women by spreading the idea that all they are good for is sex. Some rappers’ extreme sexualization of women may even promote rape and abuse. For example, Kool G’s song Hey Mister Mister promotes physical abuse of women with lyrics such as “I’m bashin her with the nine, inches away from pullin the trigger” accompanied by slapping noises in the back of the track. In DMX’s song X is Coming, he raps “and if you got a daughter older than 15, I’mma rape her.” The song is about getting revenge on a man breaking into his house and raping his daughter in front of him.
Word choice is another important aspect of rap music. Women are often referred to as “ho” or “b*tch” and almost every lyric sung about them is about sex in some way. The music glorifies objectification and prostitution of women. Women are portrayed as sex objects and represented as objects that exist to bring pleasure to men. Men degrade women and fail to acknowledge that women are able to exist and be successful without them. They throw around terms such as “gold digger” implying that women use their looks to manipulate men and take their money.
The degradation of women in rap music would, seemingly, make it impossible for females to enter the genre. However, there are a few well-known women rappers such as Cardi B, and Nicki Minaj. While their presence in a male-dominated field is a coup for female artists, they occasionally sexualize themselves, furthering the objectification of woman. For example, Cardi B recently released a new song, Money, in response to a cheating scandal with her baby daddy Offset. The song is meant to be extremely feminist with lyrics describing how she is a hardworking mother who can support herself, and how she is not dependent on a man. However, in the first verse of the song Cardi says, “I ride on his d*ck, in some big tall heels.” To add to the sexualized lyrics, many, if not all of popular female rap music videos, depict women in skimpy clothing mixed with promiscuous dance moves. Cardi’s Money music video features topless women, stripper poles, and twerking. The result is the music becomes overshadowed by the erotic performance. Some might argue that women are actually taking back control. Others might see it as giving the okay to use offensive and sexual lyrics about women.
It’s a wonder that these women even find success in the industry at all. Female rappers have an extremely tough time being taken seriously. The number of signed female rappers has always been significantly lower than the number of male rappers, but in 2003 there was a great enough amount of women producing rap songs that the Grammy created a Best Female Rap Solo Performance category. Unfortunately, this category was taken away two years later. In 2010, there were three female rappers signed to major labels compared to 40+ in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Rick Ross. founder of Maybach Music Group explained in an interview why he hasn’t signed any female artists. He said, “ I never did it, because I always thought that, like, I would end up f**king the female rapper, f**king the business up … if she’s looking good and I’m spending so much money on her photo shoots, I gotta f**k her.” He continues to say other offensive things about women as well.
The objectification of women in rap music and the music industry as a whole has become the norm. Misogynistic lyrics are promoting a culture where young men feel superior to their female peers. Paradoxically, this is occurring at the same time feminism is on the rise. It is important for fans and listeners to consider the impact the lyrics are having on shaping our own opinions and judgments. There is a clear prejudice against women being expressed in the genre of rap music. In the music industry in general, women are exploited in music videos that have been created by male artists to show off their masculinity. Overall, not all rap is bad, but as a listener, it is important to recognize the message and the manner which the artist portrays women.