GENDER AND POPULAR CULTURE

Hip-hop perpetuates stereotypes By Tichakunda Tsedu

Abstract Hip-hop is one of the most popular music genres but also one of the most sexist. Hip-hop and rap lyrics are well known for being degrading to women and perpetuating gender stereotypes. This article analyses hip-hop videos and lyrics to underscore the extent of the problem in mainstream and less commercially successful hip-hop. It also illustrates how the problem is perpetuated by female artists both in local African and American hip-hop.

Key words hip-hop, rap, gender stereotypes, Jezebel, song lyrics

I ntroduction Originating in the homes and streets of New York to describe the lyrics of many chart-topping singles in the 1970s, hip-hop has truly travelled across produced by the genre. Indeed, gender equality and beyond the Atlantic, similar to the slave is clearly not a hot topic in rap when you begin ancestors of many pioneers of this legendary to dissect the lyrics and unearth the messages urban culture. On its journey it has embodied a being delivered. spirit and authenticity that continues to make its social and economic impact all the more significant. The woman represented in hip-hop is first and Its commercial success is undeniable and countless foremost empowered by her body - simply note rappers have made millions selling their music and the high numbers of underdressed females lifestyles to the world. flaunting their bodies in bikinis and underwear in many hip-hop videos. The sheer proportion of Along with its growth and increased socio-cultural women to men in some music videos effectively influence, hip-hop has retained its most funda- indicates strong gender and power relations mental traits: a lyrical and factual engagement favouring men. The fate of women is thus one distinctly dominated by males. And what about which has left them voiceless and without real the females in hip-hop? Well, we have commonly substance in music videos - and in the studio. seen over the years that “misogynistic” and What becomes clear is that the idea of “the “demeaning” have become the clichés relied upon Jezebel” still holds a firm place within the media,

PAGE 22 • GENDER AND MEDIA DIVERSITY JOURNAL women. According toWard andHarrison occurred especiallyamongstyounggirlsand attitudes, amongstothers.Thishassignificantly andsexual dissatisfaction, weightconcerns correlation betweenmediaconsumptionandbody Numerous studieshaveindeedfoundsome their ownbodies. how younggirlsandwomeningeneralfeelabout thin withperfectskin)hasindeedcontributedto of women(i.e.mediarepresents womenasalways perpetual lackofdiversityintherepresentation blacks, asnon-citizensinsociety. Moreover, the country displayedwhiteAmerica'sperceptions of Americans inearlyadvertisingandmediathat about others.Forinstance,thelackofAfrican on individualperceptions ofreality andbeliefs The mediahasawidespread influenceandimpact Media effects rappers. and lookingatperspectivesofmalefemale how theyare portrayedinraplyricsandvideos aims toexplore womeninhiphopbyconsidering ensuring men'ssexualgratification.Thispaper stereotypical notionsthatafemale'svalueisin which continuetoobjectifywomenandreinforce particularly inhip-hop/raplyricsandmusicvideos that identifiesblackwomen asloose,sexually be understoodtotheprevailing stereotype popularculture,In modern theJezebelmythcan Jezebels inmusicvideos women incontrol groups.” stronger supportofthesestereotypes thandid women asobjects,orsexrecreation offered exposed toimagesdepictingmenassex-driven, ment ofstereotypical attitudesaboutsex.Women magazines “isassociatedwithstronger endorse- content) inmusicvideos,televisionprograms and sure tosexualcontent(asopposednonsexual 1 , expo- off. and enthusiasmtothepointthatherbikinicomes At onepoint,awomangyrateswithsuchvigour swipe acredit card betweenawoman'sbuttocks. them bypouringchampagneonandeven women dancingandstrippingwhilemendefile video isapartyatmosphere withhalf-naked be released byahiphopartist.Thesceneinthe controversial andsexuallyexplicitmusicvideosto Take Nelly's of sexualdesire inthemedia. all tooclearthatwomenofcolourremain objects contemporary hip-hopmusicvideosanditbecomes representations ofblackwomen.Onelookat by themediaintermsofdiversityitsmainstream the 21stcenturyandthere hasbeenlittledone of sexuallyactiveblackwomen.Fastforward to mammy asshewasreplaced bywilderdepictions witnessed thedownfallofwiseandrespectable From the1940'sonward, Americantelevision sexist, racistnotionsofwomencolour. trade andslaveryonlyentrenched thesenarrow, with large,saggingbreasts.slave Theinternational insatiable lustforsex,andtheywere oftendepicted of thesewomenmainlyfocusedontheirapparently travelers encountered nativewomen.Descriptions be tracedtopre-colonial timeswhenEuropean aggressive andpromiscuous. Thisstereotype can Hip hopstar:Nelly. GENDER ANDMEDIADIVERSITY JOURNAL•PAGE 23 Tip Drill 2 , certainlyoneofthemost Screenshot takenfromTipDrillvideo GENDER ANDPOPULARCULTURE

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Another example of a video in which women are on) to provide a sample of women's represen- portrayed in sexually degrading ways is Bucket tation in hip-hop lyrics. The local song was selected Naked by Papoose3. In the video the rapper walks because of its popularity on radio and television, around an office using a mobile phone that allows while the American song is not as popular on him to be able to see through women's clothing. mainstream radio. The purpose is to show that Thus the entire video features Papoose exposing misogyny is common in both mainstream and less various women in their underwear as they try to commercial hip-hop. go about their work. Certainly not all rap videos degrade women to such an extent but it is Alchemist featuring Prodigy: “Keep the heels on”5 common to see men with cash, cars, alcohol and as many women as possible with as little clothing Girl I wanna make you cry, I wanna make you on as possible. Jay-Z's Big Pimpin4 is an example scream/ of a video in which women outnumber the men. I wanna make you sweat, make you wet when In this video, there are only a handful of men and you dream/ dozens of bikini clad women. Representations Pick you up at lunch so we can do the back such as this further strengthen the notion that seat/ male success and pleasure comes from having You can't concentrate at work, thinking about multiple female partners. me/ Killing it, tip drilling it, I'm spilling it all over the Case study: song lyrics place, yeah I got her feeling it/ Your man never made your body shake like that/ Bet he don't know his girl makes her face like that/ Off a long dick, hog spit in her ass crack while I long dick did it, yeah from the back huh/ Honey's sophisticated mommy raised her like a lady/ But every woman's got a freaky side I'm going crazy/ Ready to pop it off, you hit them with the proper talk/ They put their guard down and give a nigga Screenshot taken from MVP video. what he wants/ While videos visually display the way many are Roll the blunt, pour a drink, nigga get the buzz perceived in the world of hip-hop, song lyrics are going/ the starting point. A critical analysis of hip-hop Keep em talking, don't let em think for a lyrics reveals an equally degrading representation moment/ of women. This section will look at two songs: Turn the music up, lights down, we gon fuck one from South Africa (L-Tido's It ain't my fault) right now/ and one from America (Alchemist's Keep the heels

PAGE 24 • GENDER AND MEDIA DIVERSITY JOURNAL L-Tido: “Itain'tmyfault” wants itnigga/ Grab thesheetslikeshe'sbeingraped,butshe kill her/ to Dig hernailsinmyback,talkingbouttrying shoulder/ Then youlayemback,withtheirlegsonyour hurt/ Sloppy faceddivacatchabreathercozherjaw down/ Start suckingtheirtitsandpushheadright em/ Me Ipassthemontothehomiesaftercrush Tido keepitG,youlovewomen,cuffem/ Lil mamaloose,shelovestobefree/ a leash/ But damnhomie,youshouldgetyourgirlon couple g's/ You blowingmoneyfast,yeahyouspenda in thehills/ When theyseeyouinyourcarandmansion Now yougettingbigattentionforreal/ When youscoopemupinyour7-45/ You makeitrainandtheshortieslive/ homie/ Man thesegirlsgotyouspendingallyourchips Yeah, youpoppingbottlesofCrishomie/ In theclubwithsomefineasschickshomie/ Damn, Iseeyoudoingitbighomie/ your chickchoseme It aintmyfault,oh,saiditfaultthat you seethatI'mjustaG It aintmyfault,pardonmepleasewhycant her phoneImighttakehome It aintmyfault,that'swhyyou'realone,calling p, andlikeswhatshesees It aintmyfault,shesmilingatme,eyeing 6 Initially, women are depictedasmaterialisticand although thereasons forthisare notsoapparent. girlfriend wouldratherleavehimfortherapper, despite thecash,carsandjewels,thisman's uses moneyandstatustoattractwomen.However, primarily addressing abig-spendingmanwho subject ofthesong.Inthissong,rapperis not asblatantbecausethewomanismain In thesecondsong,genderstereotyping is stereotypes. limited andinappropriate, promoting blatant Overall thesong'sportrayalofwomenishighly being raped,butshewantsit”isveryshocking. the womangrabbingbedsheets“likeshe's side.” Theimagerycreated bythelastlineabout according tohim“everywoman'sgotafreaky as secondarytothewoman'sidentitybecause like alady,” therapperseesthesecharacteristics the subject,“sophisticated,mommyraisedher he acknowledgesproper anddecentattributesto representation ofwomeninraplyrics.Although presenting thewomanasunfaithful-acommon a relationship buthassexwithothermen,thus partner isnot.Thisindicatesthatshealready in Prodigy claimsheisintimatewithherinawayhis The woman'sfidelityisquestionedinthesongas wants.” “put theirguard downandgiveaniggawhathe and drinkingalcohol,thatiswhenawomanwill listener tosetthemoodbysmokingmarijuana having sexwithawoman.Heencouragesthe could saytherapperisproviding guidelinesfor to oneofsexualactivity. Readingthelyricsone degrading womenandlimitingtheirrole insociety woman. Thisconformswithhip-hopnormsof descriptions ofengaginginsexualactswitha message isbeingconveyed,besidesexplicit In thefirstsong,itisdifficult toascertainwhat GENDER ANDMEDIADIVERSITY JOURNAL•PAGE 25 GENDER ANDPOPULARCULTURE

GENDER AND POPULAR CULTURE GENDER AND POPULAR CULTURE GENDER AND POPULAR CULTURE interested in money, in the line “man these girls These two songs are indeed touching and got you spending all your chips homie... now you worrying: Touching, because we see that some getting big attention for real when they see you rappers have a soft side and can cherish and value in your car and your mansion in the hills.” What the women who brought them into the world, becomes clear is that the song is promoting the but worrying because although there is recognition belief that women are loose, easily unsatisfied in of the important role of mothers, all other women their relationships, and ready to jump to the next are typically depicted in negative ways. best opportunity that comes their way.

The rapper should be minimally commended for his rather creative approach to demeaning women, as he does not take the obvious route identified in the first song. An analysis of the lyrics reveals intentional attempts to portray women as immoral, wild beings. L-Tido states that “you should get your girl on a leash, lil mama loose, she loves to be free,” alluding to notions of female promiscuity. The idea of putting a woman on a leash is dehumanising and objectifying.

This song is popular on social networks, radio and television music shows, indicating the huge appeal of songs which put women down. As such, the Hip hop artist: 2 Pac and his mother. Source: The Maguire American trend toward misogynistic music has crossed the Atlantic and continues to influence Female rappers South African hip-hop music and reflect negative In a 2011 Forbes magazine article about hip-hop's perceptions of women in society. top earners or “Cash Kings”9, Nicki Minaj is the only female featured in the top 20. Besides the Momma’s boys blatant gender blindness in the title, it is indeed Hip-hop, with all its misogyny and promotion of clear that financially, female rappers are not doing violence and materialistic lifestyles, is not exclusively as well as their male counterparts. But why is negative toward women. Sometimes rappers try that? When we look at content, women certainly to deliver positive messages. Tupac Shakur do their bit to lyrically present themselves in the famously said in Dear Mama7: “And even though typical rap style: gangster living, guns, money and you was a crack fiend mama, You were always a of course typical degrading representations of black queen mama.” women. It is interesting to note that many of the successful female rappers have entered the game Similarly, Kanye West sings about his love for his on the back of popular male figures in the industry. mother on Hey Mama,8 telling a story of the Missy Elliot had Timbaland, Lil' Kim had Notorious sacrifices she made for him and his appreciation BIG, Foxy Brown had Jay-Z and most recently Nicki for all she did for him. Minaj had Lil Wayne.

PAGE 26 • GENDER AND MEDIA DIVERSITY JOURNAL sell theirmusicisLil'Kim's“Howmanylicks.” A more explicitexampleoffemalesusingsexto in hip-hop. which willnothelpchangestereotypes ofwomen used sex,orratherhersexappeal,togetnoticed, lyrical skillsaswell.Butthefactremains thatshe however, thatIhavenowcometoappreciate her listening towhatshewassaying.Imustmention, interested inadmiringherphysicalattributesthan Nicki MinajandLilWayne. titled Rapper Diamond(afemalesinger)released asong an extreme case,contentsuchasthisiscommon. she hasencountered (sexually).Althoughthisis ethnicity, andindetail,thevarioustypesofmen intercourse. Inthefirstverse,shedescribesby anything andeverythingrelated tosexual soon beganmakingmusiccentered around commonly associatedwithhip-hopmusic,she and portrayingthegangsterimagelifestyle Although Lil'Kimstartedoff hercareer embracing Nicki Minaj'sfirstmusicvideo, audiences. Forexample,uponinitiallywatching to beusedassexualobjectsforthepleasure of that womeninrapcontinuetoallowthemselves succeed ontheirown.Besides,thefactremains Very seldomhavefemalerappersbeenableto Hit DatHoe , 12 areference tophysically 10 Iwasmore Source: hiphopjunkies.com 11 songs cold quartofbeer. Someofthemostpopular wearing nexttonothing,occasionallyenjoyinga music videosfeature womenparadingaround stereotypical andsexualisedmanner. Manyhouse as hip-hoptodepictwomeninatypical whether intentionallyornot,thesametendency commercial success,housemusichasadopted, Limpopo toDurban.Alongwithitseverincreasing of djsready torockAfricancrowds Southern from major force intheindustry, spawningamultitude House musichasoverrecent yearsbecomea Moving andgroovingtohousemusic of real concern. to produce musicwithsuchcontentisaquestion assaulting awoman.Whyfemalerapperdecides and thosewhorap,particularlyinmainstream representation. Thisincludeswomeninvideos remains hostileterritoryforwomenandwomen's within thehip-hopworld.Theindustryclearly become more vocalaboutthestereotypes found Civil societyandwomen'sorganisationsmust Conclusion andwayforward discussed inreference towomeninhip-hopmusic. promiscuous -reminiscent ofwhathasbeen GENDER ANDMEDIADIVERSITY JOURNAL•PAGE 27 gender balancetomusicand videos. make abetterandconsciouseffort tobringa Drake! reads “NickiMinajsittingthatassdownon though, thataheadlineononeofitsarticles of womeninrapmusic.Itisinteresting tonote, of informationandnewsregarding thestate website seentobeatrustedandreliable source An exampleiswww.femalerappers.net, a media sectors. at record labelsandinotherentertainment need tobeinkeydecision-makingpositions hip-hop. To affect real change,more women 13/14 refer towomenasloose,unfaithfuland 15 Itisessentialthatartistsandproducers GENDER ANDPOPULARCULTURE

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There is a need for more research into gender of women in hip-hop. Many lyrics are highly representation in music, including comparisons offensive to women, yet the same songs top radio between genres. This will give a broader, more and video charts. As for female rappers, they comprehensive picture of the state of women in remain largely underrepresented in the industry music videos, allowing for a more insightful analysis and have lagged behind male rappers in this of women throughout the entire music industry. respect. Finally, the content of some songs performed by females continues to degrade In conclusion, lyrics remain the formative point of women and perpetuate stereotypical perceptions departure when seeking to understand perceptions of women in society.

Notes

1 Ward, L. M., & Harrison, K. (2005). The impact of media use on girls' beliefs about gender roles, their bodies, and sexual relationships: A research synthesis. In E. Cole & J. H. Daniels (Eds.), Featuring Females: Feminist Analyses of Media. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK0QMrCA0hA) 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwcFI9LyO6o&feature=related) 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgoqrgc_0cM&ob=av2n) 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnNdJXv-FwM 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLwZpFn_YCg 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNcloTmvTeA 8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtpKqMpqGU0 9 http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2011/cash-king-11.html 10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZCUtnuAXg8 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhCD9qxlczo 12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6eykALaK1s 13 Professor -“Jezebel” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDMBB3lAMPE 14 Character ft. Professor - “Ex” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqJL9s0V6iQ 15 Attempts to get information regarding the gender composition of employees at the website were unsuccessful.

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