Un-Quiet Queen”

MELVIN L. WILLIAMS AND TIA C.M. TYREE

4. THE “UN-QUIET QUEEN”

An Analysis of Rapper Nicki Minaj in the Fame Comic Book

INTRODUCTION

Comic books are popular texts that facilitate a reflexive discussion on different aspects of culture. According to comic book scholar Scott McCloud, comic books serve a deeper purpose. As juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, they intend to convey information and produce an aesthetic response in the viewer (McCloud, 1994). Female superheroes are not as often represented as male superheroes, and when superheroines are represented, many scholars and critics are quick to criticize the problems within their representations. Beyond the often-overt sexual representations, lie more complex issues regarding race, ethnicity, class and sexual orientation in superheroine portrayals. Similarly, in Hip Hop, Black female rappers are often downplayed and stereotyped as the primary focus of misogynistic lyrics and images, despite their integral role in the evolution of Hip Hop culture. Male rappers have outnumbered female rappers and male industry leaders have outnumbered female industry operatives, resulting in a system of domination that has perpetuated a greater visibility of men’s prerogatives, masculine scripts for female rappers and little sustainability for the careers of female rappers (Phillips, Reddick-Morgan, & Stephens, 2005). Like Black superheroines, many female rappers have been reduced to sexual scripts that reflect misogynistic characterizations of women as predatory, sexual deviants who will fulfill sexual fantasies. Therefore, when female rapper, Nicki Minaj was chosen in 2013 by Blue Water Comics to be featured in its Fame comic book series, a greater question emerged: Would the first Black female Rap superheroine in a comic book further propagate the misogynistic stereotypes and sexual scripts present in the history of comic books and Hip Hop culture, or would she offer a positive counter-stereotype? This current study draws on phenomenology commonly associated with the social construction of reality theory as well as the concept of sexual scripting (with a heightened emphasis on Stephens and Phillips’ (2003) sexual scripts for Black women). Additionally, Saini’s (2009)’s Black superheroine stereotypes were explored. In essence, Nicki Minaj’s Fame comic book was analyzed to determine the presence of Stephens and Phillip’s (2003) sexual scripts and Saini’s (2009) Black superheroine stereotypes.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY THEORY

The social construction of reality theory asserts the sociology of knowledge rests on the presumption that knowledge is a cultural product shaped by social context and history. The reasonableness of knowledge in everyday life presents itself as a reality interpreted by individuals and is subjectively meaningful to them as a rational and coherent perspective (Heath, 2005). From this orientation, Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1967) described reality as a “quality appertaining to phenomena that we recognized as having been independent of our own volition” and knowledge as “the certainty that phenomena are real and they possess specific characteristics” (p. 1). Individuals conceive their own distinctive social reality through contact and interaction with others and the media-generated images around them. Gamson, Croteau, Hoynes, and Sasson (1992) asserted that media-generated images of the world are used to construct meaning about political and social issues. As a result, the lens through which one receives these images is not neutral but evinces the power and point of view of the political and economic elites who operate and focus it (Gamson et al., 1992, p. 374). Under this prism, readers perceive the social construction of reality as invisible, while the process of constructing meaning from such media-generated images is deemed natural and normal. The “reader” is privileged over “audience” under Gamson et al.’s (1992) perspective, because of his or her heavy emphases on those who decode such messages through sights and sounds as well as printed text. As a social group, Rap artists’ describe and sell their realities to their audiences (Tyree, 2007, p. 49). Rap lyrics are first-person narratives that retell what the artists (allegedly) saw or did and recount events that happened personally or specifically to them (Light, 1992; Steaman, 1992; Rose 1994; Kelley, 1996; Barrett, 1999; Snoop Dogg, 1999; Armstrong, 2001). For rappers and their fans, Rap music is an opportunity to tell or hear their realities, respectively. Kotarba (1994) notes the perspectives of postmodernists support the view that “culture is reality” (p. 148).

LITERATURE REVIEW: NICKI MINAJ IN POPULAR CULTURE

Nicki Minaj is a Trinidadian-born American rapper, singer, songwriter, actress and television personality whose musical career began in 2007 with a mixtape called Playtime is Over (Butler, 2013). After success with three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009, Minaj signed a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment, which was a critical move in her rise to global celebrity. Released in 2010, Minaj’s debut studio album Pink Friday peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. During this time, Minaj also became the first female solo artist to have seven singles simultaneously charting on the Billboard Hot 100 (Trust, 2012). Two years later, her second album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded debuted at number 1 on iTunes, making her one of the best-selling female solo artists of all