Nicki Minaj Resisting Oppression and Objectification

Hip hop culture has been criticized in recent years because it promotes many troubling issues such as gun violence, violence against women, the objectification of women, misogyny, and sexism. Rappers either perpetuate these problems by glorifying them in songs or speak out against them through songs of resistance. Many rappers who wish to speak out against social issues use their platforms as rap artists to reach the public, in an effort to end injustices in the world. While there are countless male rappers who use their rap platforms as a way to reach many people, female rappers who wish to enact social change are more rare. Nicki Minaj is one example of a successful female rapper who uses her platform as a rap artist as a way to resist social problems. Nicki Minaj uses musical and lyrical artistry in her song Feeling Myself to resist the oppression and objectification of women by men that is common in the rap industry because she has struggled with both issues in her experience as an African American female rapper.

Minaj uses musical artistry to resist oppression and objectification in her song by controlling her voice and the other sounds in her song. The first way in which Minaj uses musical artistry to strengthen the message of her song is by manipulating the sound of her voice. She raps the majority of this song in a low and gruff voice to assert that she is in control of men, but she also changes her voice to sound like a baby when she wants to demonstrate that she manipulates men. Specifically, Minaj spends a verse of this song rapping in a gruff and aggressive voice about how men enjoy thinking about her in a sexual manner, thus asserting that she believes that she is attractive and desirable. By using an aggressive tone of voice, Minaj tells the listener that she feels in control of men. She is not rapping affectionately about these men who are attracted to her, and she is not rapping about having a mutual relationship with these men, but rather she is rapping about being the object of a man’s desire and admiration. In that way, she is asserting that she is to be desired but that she does not need to reciprocate by desiring the man, thus violating the social expectation that a woman must be flattered by a man’s attention. By rapping aggressively about men being attracted to her, Minaj asserts that she has so many men attracted to her that she is not attracted to them. Rather, she is in control of men through her sexual allure, but men do not have control over her because she is not attracted to them in return. Through rapping about men in this unconcerned yet controlling way, Minaj reinforces the message of this song as resisting male objectification of female sexuality.

Although Minaj raps in an aggressive tone of voice when she is conveying that she can control men, she raps in a babyish voice when she raps about manipulating men. When she raps about being sexually intimate with a man, her voice becomes higher pitched and her syllables are shorter. This change in voice sounds manipulative in a childish way because Minaj is feigning intimacy and childish innocence, when really she still has the intention of controlling men. Minaj’s tone of voice when she raps in this song increases the impact of this song’s message.

Minaj’s aggressive, cutting rap voice throughout the majority of this song contrasts with Beyoncé’s soft, seductive singing voice. Beyoncé has a seductive, sensual, and soft voice that seems to control men through manipulation rather than force. At one point in her singing, Beyoncé says, “I stop the world, world stop.” At this moment, all sound in the song stops for a second. Then Beyoncé says, “carry on” and the music continues. This is one of the most important connections between lyrics and music in this song because it encapsulates the entire message of the song. Minaj and Beyoncé’s message in this moment is that they effortlessly control all motion in the entire world and can stop everything at their slightest word. Although Minaj has used devices to assert that she controls men throughout the entire song, Beyoncé now continues that message to say that they are in charge of the entire world. This example of musical artistry in the song Feeling Myself reinforces the message of the entire song, which is that Minaj is in control and that she resists oppression and objectification by men.

It is also significant that, throughout this song, Minaj has built a man’s grunting noise into the beat of the song. On a consistent interval throughout the entire song, one hears a man’s grunting noise as if he is being punched in the stomach. This noise contrasts with Minaj’s aggressive feminine rapping voice and also gives the impression that she is beating up a man with her words. This noise is repeated so consistently throughout the song that it convinces the listener that Minaj is defeating a man. This consistent sound throughout the song reinforces the idea that Minaj is resisting the oppression and power of men.

Minaj uses the musical artistry in this song and her other songs to speak out against being controlled by men. As rap is often seen as a male-dominated genre, Minaj uses her rap songs to gain a voice for women. In her sexually explicit songs, Minaj gains the attention of both men and women. Her goal is to resist the oppression that men put on women especially in the rap world. Since male rappers are typically seen as tougher and more powerful than female rappers, Minaj pushes to be seen as bad and powerful. By sexually objectifying herself, Minaj defies the male producers and artists with whom she collaborates because she objectifies herself before they can.[3] Minaj makes the statement that she beat them to it, or that she is faster and more powerful than they are. In exploiting her own sexuality, Minaj defies male objectification of females in rap.

In her song Feeling Myself, Nicki Minaj also uses textual artistry such as rhymes and allusions to contribute to her message of resistance. Minaj uses her platform as a rapper as a way to advocate for resistance because she feels that she needs to empower women and resist oppression by men. Minaj promotes messages of resistance against oppression and objectification in this song, using lyrical artistry, in three specific ways [4]. First she boasts of her wealth as a female rapper, thus resisting the oppression of female rappers in the rap industry. Second, she exploits her own sexuality in an attempt to defy male objectification of women, which is prevalent in rap music[5]. Finally, she boasts of her skills and accomplishments in her rap career, thus empowering women to try to have their voices heard in the same way that she does[6]. These three facets of her resistance are shown through lyrical artistry and strengthen her overall message of resistance against oppression and objectification of females by males in rap.

Minaj uses allusions and rhymes to spread her message that she has become wealthy through her career in rap despite being oppressed by men, and that other women may have the same success if they try. Minaj first alludes to her “black card” which she spends at “Saks.” The black card is a luxury credit card, and Saks is a designer clothing store for women. In using these allusions, Minaj informs the listener that she is wealthy. In the next line, Minaj alludes to Chanel, an expensive handbag brand, saying that she buys many of their handbags. This allusion adds to the message that Minaj is quite wealthy. In the next few lines, Minaj uses alliteration and allusions when she says, “Dal Mavericks” / “my Maybachs” / “magnet.” The first allusion is to the Dallas Mavericks, a basketball team who Minaj is claiming to have connections to, thus bolstering her status. Next, she alludes to the Maybach luxury sedan, claiming that she has multiple of these expensive cars. These lyrical devices all create the message that Minaj is a successful female rapper. This in itself is a message of resistance because there are so few successful female rappers compared to the multitude of successful male rappers[7]. In this song, Minaj asserts that she has defied male oppression against females in the rap industry and she has become a successful and wealthy female rapper, which is a great feat. Thus, she uses her song as a vehicle of resistance against male oppression of females.

Just as Minaj uses her song as a way to resist male oppression, she uses lyrical devices such as rhymes and allusions to exploit her own sexuality and resist male objectification of women. Minaj uses creative lyrical artistry to describe sexuality in this song, working explicit sexual lyrics into rhymes and allusions. She first says, “Jack off / whacks off” / “Whacks on? Wax off,” which is an allusion to the widely-known Karate Kid movie. This is a play on words and a rhyme because she is describing how men think about her while they are pleasing themselves while also alluding to a popular movie. By making the statement that men think about her while pleasing themselves, she objectifies her sexuality and believes that therefore she is defying men’s desires to objectify her sexuality[8]. Next, Minaj raps about her sexual encounter saying, “Nicki it’s tight,” / “you right,” / “takin’ that pipe.” In these lines, Minaj describes her sexual encounter with a man using rhymes. By rapping about her sexual encounter in this explicit and open way, Minaj sexually objectifies herself. Thus, she feels that she is defying men who wish to objectify women because she beats them to it by objectifying herself first. Many female rappers engage in this type of resistance, although it is debated whether or not this is an effective method of resisting objectification[9]. Minaj feels that she needs to resist men objectifying women in the rap industry because it is common for men to rap about female bodies and their desires with them. By rapping about her own body in this explicit way, Minaj tries to objectify herself and therefore acknowledge, disapprove of, and resist male objectification of women.

Finally, Minaj uses rhymes and allusions to resist oppression of female voices in the rap industry and in society by rapping about her lyrical skills and accomplishments as a female rapper. She begins with the allusion, “National anthem hats off,” thus alluding to the United States National Anthem. This song is highly respected by most Americans, and Minaj is stating that she should be respected in the same way that this song is respected. Next, Minaj makes a similar assertion with the following lines: “Changed the game with that digital drop / Know where you was when that digital popped.” In these rhyming lines, Minaj again makes the statement that she is a highly successful rapper and subtly references the 9/11 attacks. It is commonly discussed that all Americans who were alive on September 11, 2001 remember precisely where they were and what they were doing when they learned of the terrorist attacks. Minaj references this by stating that her song was as impactful for the public as the 9/11 attacks and asserting that everyone remembers where they were when she released one of her songs. This is an incredibly powerful statement because she is likening her song to one of the most impactful moments of American history. Although her song was nowhere near as impactful as the September 11 attacks, she is stating that her song is in fact as important as that event. Later in the song, Minaj uses another allusion to boast of her importance as a female rapper. She says, “Keep gettin’ gifts from Santa Claus at the North Pole.” This line is an allusion to the popular Christmastime legend Santa Clause who is said to live at the North Pole. Minaj really means that she keeps receiving gifts of drugs, most likely cocaine, from her drug dealer. This line is significant because she is stating that she is so successful and well-known that she receives free drugs, even though they are quite expensive. Minaj uses lyrical artistry in these examples to boast of her success in the rap industry, despite being oppressed by men, and thus empowering other women to achieve success as well.

One can see clearly through the examples of Minaj’s lyrical artistry that she is using her rap song as a vehicle for resistance, but one must also understand the rapper’s reason for this resistance. In many of her songs, Minaj presents her body in an over-sexualized way, and she does the same in her song Feeling Myself. She believes that by showing off her body in an overly-sexual way, or self-objectifying, she empowers women to be more comfortable with their own bodies.[1] This is Minaj’s way of resisting the common trend of male rappers objectifying women in their songs. Many male rappers only mention women and their bodies as objects to be looked at, yet Minaj, a woman herself, raps about womens bodies and her own body in her songs. Minaj’s stance is that women’s bodies are powerful and beautiful and should be seen and admired.[2] By not having any men singing about her body in this song, Minaj removes the male as the objectifier and rather uses self-objectification. By doing this, she states that female bodies are desirable even if there is no male present to affirm that. Minaj sees this as empowering for women because she is telling them that they do not need a man to objectify or enjoy them, but rather that they can objectify and therefore empower themselves.

Nicki Minaj uses her platform as a popular female rapper to resist the oppression and objectification of women in hip hop culture. She first uses musical artistry in her song Feeling Myself to enhance the message of her song. Her cutting and aggressive tone of voice as well as the sound of a man’s grunting in the background of the song promote her message of a capable and powerful woman controlling a man. Additionally, Minaj uses lyrical artistry such as allusions and rhymes to add to the meaning of her song. She alludes to expensive brands to emphasize that she has a lot of money. Additionally, she uses rhymes to sexually exploit herself in an attempt to defy male oppression of women in hip hop. Finally, Minaj uses rhymes and allusions to boast of her accomplishments as a female rapper, thus defying the oppression of women in rap with her success as a widely-known rapper.

References

Cosimini, Seth. “”I’m a Motherfuckin’ Monster!”: Play, Perversity, and Performance of Nicki Minaj.” Feminist Formations 29, no. 2 (2017): 47–68. doi:10.1353/ff.2017.0016.

Hunter, Margaret, and Alhelí Cuenca. “Nicki Minaj and the Changing Politics of Hip-Hop: Real Blackness, Real Bodies, Real Feminism?” Feminist Formations 29, no. 2 (2017): 26–46. doi:10.1353/ff.2017.0015.

O’Meara, Jennifer. “Voicing Girlhood in Popular Music: Performance, Authority, Authenticity.” Women & Music 21, (2017): 199–202. https://hoover2.mcdaniel.edu:2443/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.hoover2.mcdaniel.edu:2443/docview/1949578333?accountid=12333.

Semperger, — Allie. “Minaj, Nicki.” Contemporary Musicians, edited by Tracie Ratiner, vol. 70, Gale, 2011, pp. 131–133. Gale Ebooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX1997800048/GVRL?u=west41605&sid=GVRL&xid=0b8b11a6. Accessed 16 Oct. 2019.

Smith, Marquita R. 2014. “‘Or a Real, Real Bad Lesbian’: Nicki Minaj and the Acknowledgement of Queer Desire in Hip-Hop Culture.”
Popular Music & Society 37 (3): 360–70. doi:10.1080/03007766.2013.800680.

[1] Hunter, Margaret, and Alhelí Cuenca. “Nicki Minaj and the Changing Politics of Hip-Hop: Real Blackness, Real Bodies, Real Feminism?” Feminist Formations 29, no. 2 (2017): 26–46. doi:10.1353/ff.2017.0015.

[2] Cosimini, Seth. “”I’m a Motherfuckin’ Monster!”: Play, Perversity, and Performance of Nicki Minaj.” Feminist Formations 29, no. 2 (2017): 47–68. doi:10.1353/ff.2017.0016.

[3] Hunter and Alhelí. “Nicki Minaj and the Changing Politics of Hip-Hop: Real Blackness, Real Bodies, Real Feminism?” (2017).

[4] Semperger, — Allie. “Minaj, Nicki.” Contemporary Musicians, edited by Tracie Ratiner, vol. 70, Gale, 2011, pp. 131–133. Gale Ebooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX1997800048/GVRL?u=west41605&sid=GVRL&xid=0b8b11a6. Accessed 16 Oct. 2019.

[5] Smith, Marquita R. 2014. “‘Or a Real, Real Bad Lesbian’: Nicki Minaj and the Acknowledgement of Queer Desire in Hip-Hop Culture.”

Popular Music & Society 37 (3): 360–70. doi:10.1080/03007766.2013.800680.

[6] Semperger, — Allie. “Minaj, Nicki.” Contemporary Musicians.

[7] Semperger, — Allie. “Minaj, Nicki.” Contemporary Musicians.

[8] Smith, Marquita R. 2014. “‘Or a Real, Real Bad Lesbian.’

[9] O’Meara, Jennifer. “Voicing Girlhood in Popular Music: Performance, Authority, Authenticity.” Women & Music 21, (2017): 199–202. https://hoover2.mcdaniel.edu:2443/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.hoover2.mcdaniel.edu:2443/docview/1949578333?accountid=12333.

[10] Semperger, — Allie. “Minaj, Nicki.” Contemporary Musicians.

[11] Smith, Marquita R. 2014. “‘Or a Real, Real Bad Lesbian.’

[12] Semperger, — Allie. “Minaj, Nicki.” Contemporary Musicians.