Homosociality and Black Masculinity in Gangsta Rap Music

J Afr Am St (2011) 15:22–39 DOI 10.1007/s12111-010-9123-4 ARTICLES Brotherly Love: Homosociality and Black Masculinity in Gangsta Rap Music Matthew Oware Published online: 20 March 2010 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract Hip hop, specifically gangsta rap music, reflects a stereotypical black masculine aesthetic. The notion of a strong black male—irreverent, angry, defiant and many times violent—is pervasive in gangsta rap music. This badman trope, as characterized by Robin Kelley (1996), oftentimes encompasses hypermasculinity, misogyny, and homophobia. It should come as no surprise that this genre of rap music is rife with sexist themes and lyrics. Yet, what has not been fully explored are the progressive ways that male rappers express themselves towards others considered comrades or “homies.” Homosociality (Bird 1996; Sedgwick 1995), non-sexual positive social bonds, exists in gangsta rap music between men. This study explores the notion of homosociality in this genre of music, analyzing the lyrics of male rap artists who have sold one million or more of their compact discs, for a total of 478 songs. I attempt to further unpack the idea of hegemonic black masculinity, presenting an alternative understanding of its deployment and manifestation in this music. Keywords Black masculinity . Hip hop . Rap . Homosociality Gangsta rap music, the most popular selling subgenre of rap music, is predicated on an essentialized and limited construction of black masculinity. Various scholars have discussed the notion of black male authenticity within rap music (Kitwana 2002; Ogbar 2007; Rose 2008). Many rappers construct a black male subjectivity that incorporates the notion that masculinity means exhibiting extreme toughness, invulnerability, violence and domination (Anderson 1990, 1999; Collins 2005; Majors and Billson 1992; Neal 2006). Moreover, the cornerstones of gangsta rap music—hypermasculinity, misogyny, and homophobia—pervade the genre. Howev- er, what has received scant attention are the instances where black male rappers express their humanity towards other men they consider their friends. This research M. Oware (*) DePauw University, 306 Asbury Hall, Greencastle, IN 46135, USA e-mail: [email protected] J Afr Am St (2011) 15:22–39 23 explores and highlights this little analyzed aspect of the medium via content analysis of rap lyrics. In the end, black male rappers exhibit more than the staples of gangsta rap, forcing a re-examination of this group and black masculinity overall. Rappers routinely engage in hyperbolic masculinity, rhyming about their virility and strength, flaunting their muscles or pumping their chests on their album covers and music videos. An element of rapper discourse is the invincibility of the rap artist. No rapper encounters defeat by his competitors. Indeed, according to many gangsta rap artists, it would take an army of soldiers to even hurt them. One of the reasons that these individuals are seemingly impenetrable rests in their brandishing of weapons from small hand guns to large semiautomatic weapons that are aimed at their opponents. Moreover, rapper etiquette dictates a propensity for violence towards those who show disrespect. The imagined or real death of a competitor or rival engenders no remorse or sorrow. Taken together, these characteristics personify what it means to be black and male in gangsta rap—a “real nigga.” Ogbar (2007) writes: Subsequent rappers like Tupac and Jay-Z have celebrated the thug life while underscoring their real nigga status. Within this framework, rappers who extol ghettoized pathology (drug selling, gang banging, violence, pimping, etc.) affirm their realness. All other groups become peripheral and must conform to the standard established by this group. So lyrically and stylistically all artists place themselves within this contextual framework and to varying degrees appropriate [apparent] young African American male styles and markers (p. 43). This embodiment or performance of supposed black manhood manifests itself by male rappers engaging in “beefs” or verbal battles (and sometimes physical disputes) with challengers who feel that they have been disrespected. The most famous and tragic of these feuds happened between gangsta rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. and their record labels, Death Row and Bad Boy records. Unfortunately, both rappers were murdered by unknown assailants. More recently we witness the tensions between rappers 50 Cent and Ja Rule, as well as Jay-Z and the Game—all exhibiting hypermasculinity. In their works, Neal (2006), Majors and Billson (1992), and Collins (2005) discuss how hypermasculinity constructs a kind of “strong black man,”“cool pose,” and “real man” demeanor among black men, respectively. Specifically, a particular presentation of self (Goffman 1959) emerges due to the limited opportunities that many black males face in their daily lives. In discussing the masculine aesthetic he identifies as the “Strong Black Man,” Neal (2006) claims its genesis began 400 years ago due to the enslavement, violence, and continued economic exploitation of this group. As a result, black males created a “functional myth” to help them handle their plight (p. 21). Majors and Billson (1992) write that although black males defined their manhood similarly to white males—provider, breadwinner, procreator, and protector—they did not have the necessary resources to fulfill these roles. Consequently, they created the “cool pose,” understood as “[u]nique patterns of speech, walk, and demeanor...it is a ritualized form of masculinity that entails scripts, physical posturing, impression management, and carefully crafted performances that deliver a single, critical message: pride, strength, and control” (p. 2–4). Concurring 24 J Afr Am St (2011) 15:22–39 with Neal (2006) and Majors and Billson (1992), Collins (2005) writes “because so many African American men lack access to forms of political and economic power that are available to elite White men, the use of their bodies, physicality, and a form of masculine aggressiveness become more important. Black men experience violence, often at the hands of other Black men” (p. 190). This type of masculinity informs the “code of the street,” whereby black males who live in predominately urban and poor environments comport themselves in a manner deterring any sort of altercation with other individuals; thus, males must come off as aggressive or inclined to violence in order to prevent violent confrontations from ensuing (Anderson 1999). This behavior is reinforced and magnified when concentrated poverty, high crime and joblessness exist in these settings (Anderson 1999; Massey and Denton 1993; Wilson 1996). Popular gangsta rapper 50 Cent presents an example of this violent hypermasculine stance when he states, “You see me in the hood, I got at least two guns/I carry the glock, Tony car my M-1s.” (2003). These aspects of black manhood present concomitant weaknesses, namely a “stunted, conservative, one-dimensional, and stridently heterosexual vision of black masculinity” (Neal 2006, p. 24). This constricted masculinity leads to blatant misogyny and homophobia in rap. Misogyny abounds in gangsta rap. More than any other aspect of this musical genre, misogyny has been the focal point of hip hop research (see Perry 2004 and Sharpley-Whiting 2007 for detailed analyses). The excessive deployment of demeaning and denigrating language towards women, especially black women, permeates the music (Adams and Fuller 2006). For example, using lyrics analyzed in this work, on their compact disc D12 World (2004), the group D12 has a song entitled “Bitch” with lyrics stating, “Wiggle that ass, bitch...Yeah, I called you a bitch, bitch.” In addition to degrading language, the objectification of women occurs in the portrayal of them in skimpy clothing, vacuously gyrating around fully-clothed males, epitomizing current rap videos. Tricia Rose (2008), the foremost authority on hip hop, writes “Hip hop’s sexism is visible, vulgar, aggressive and popular...clearly, the issue isn’t if [emphasis mine] hip hop—as it has evolved in the commercial arena over the past dozen years or so—promotes sexist and demeaning images of black women as its bread-and-butter” (p. 114). Agreeing, Perry (2004) writes that rap music often presents women as hypersexualized “gold diggers” who attempt to take advantage of men (p. 128). Kelley (1996) contends the denigration of women arises from the fear of female sexuality—black males’ failure of meeting the wants or desires of black women. Other scholars argue that the images in videos and messages in the music are reflective of the real tensions between black males and females. Black females making advancements beyond black males in the workplace and in school necessitates a need for said males to regain their footing by “putting women in their place” (Cole and Guy-Sheftall 2003; Collins 2005; Kitwana 2002). Collins (2005) states that one of the benchmarks of current “real man” black masculinity includes control of black women (p. 189). Consequently, a hegemonic form of masculinity develops in the medium of rap wherein black males attempt to dominate black women aurally (in the music) and visually (in music videos) (Sharpley- Whiting 2007). Indeed, Collins writes, “Black men’s visibility within basketball, rap, J Afr Am St (2011) 15:22–39 25 and hip-hop culture has provided a new and highly visible cultural arena for reasserting an adult Black masculinity...” (p. 191). Another pervasive

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