Since Hip-hop music was created in 1973 by Clive Campbell it has been a field most dominated by men and not women. Hip-hop music has displayed not only memos of what it is like to live in certain areas, but also the individuality of men and women. Pamela Hollander composes an academic essay concerning female identity and how the character of women in music has altered from decade to decade in the Hip-hop atmosphere. The theme of women identity is prevalent throughout the essay and the associations Hollander makes her points evident through her analysis of intimacy, nurturing, love and spiritual growth in Hip-Hop songs.
Bitch Bad Analysis Lupe Fiasco’s “Bitch Bad” directed by Gil Green, is conceptualized around how the perception from both males and females of females is impacted by mainstream rap in the modern hip-hop world. Fiasco develops this by telling stories in different scenes of the video and explains them out in the lyrics. Lupe Fiasco took an objectified approach to several sensitive issues and tried to rectify them by illustrating the detrimental messages delivered in media as an ethical appeal to his audience. He used examples from modern hip-hop and broke down the overarching meaning in attitudes developed in result to what mainstream media depicts. Text Breakdown
Whether we are watching the news or reading the newspaper, we hear stories of how women are brutally abused by their husbands, someone who had promised to love her in sickness or in health. Many times we hear that these women end up dead, because the abuse was so brutal that they couldn’t take it anymore. These stories though, are most commonly heard of in the black community, also known as the ghetto. In the article “From Fly Girls to Bitches and Hoes” Joan Morgan connects the abuse of black women in their community to the lyrics of Rap and Hip Hop artists, and how they are influencing the black male. In the title alone, Morgan raises the question of how we went from asking a girl “Suga how you get so fly?”
Hip Hop is seen as something inspiring, but most people see it as a way to speak out the truth about a problem. As in “Hip Hop planet” being able say the truth can sometimes worsen any situation because sometimes what we say can promote violence and whatever happens after is not in our control. The essay is about how hip hop has changed into speaking out the issues that need to be taken care of in order to maintain a proper society. McBride talked about how rappers use violent lyrics to degrade women and gays and because of this it shows how the music has evolved into something entirely different that no one would have ever expected to have changed. In James McBride's essay “Hip Hop Planet,” he argues that hip hop has a negative influence on American Culture despite people thinking of it as inspirational and how people live through different experiences in life despite of your race.
Although the essay seemed to jump around alot and have no central thesis, I was able to take away a few key points from the essay. A major topic in the essay was the black community’s relationship with rap and hip-hop. The essay claims that frustrations are felt when “black diasporic communities are taken out of control of their originators and producers” (5). Hip-hop and rap have been appropriated by the masses, and have lost sight of their origins in the black community. This appropriation draws from the commercialization of hip-hop and rap, and artists turning their music into simply a commercial good.
Often rappers to promote themselves as dominant and relevant figures of power, they likely rap about their material wealth and desirability among women. In order to convey their popularity among the female population, sexist and objectifying illustrations and language are used and ultimately establish belittling perceptions of women. Negative portrayals of women in the media bring implications which span beyond the simple entertainment of youth. The undeniable presence of rap in modern culture prompts maturing youth to have misleading impressions of women as loose individuals who are readily at the disposal and control of men. While such portrayals of women in the media influence the behaviors and attitudes of young men, they are equally as harmful among members of the African American female population.
According to the video, women in color have a higher chance of getting sexually abused. Young males watch hip-hop music videos and objectify women and do not see them as an individual. This issue must be dealt with the hip-hop culture. I would like to say that both males and females are responsible for sexist images. Males label women as objects and do not consider them with any value.
Dr. Dyson presents the problem of misogyny and the exploitation of minority groups in rap music in a way that still makes the artist accountable, while reminding us that these exploitations have always been in western society. Dr. Dyson is saying that rap music is not all equal and can push unhealthy ideas about the relationship between men and women. Yet there is still a culture value within the music that many people within the the African American community can connect with, even if that connection is a sad reflection on the current status of affairs. For example, many rap songs glorify prison, which is a sad example of the disproportional effect that prison has within the black community. Some black men grow up thinking that is where they belong because so many in their family’s have ended there for crimes that are common among everyone but are most punishable on blacks.
The cultural practices including; graffiti art, graffiti writing, DJs, breakdancing and a unique fashion sense, evolved around the struggling community and the racial inequalities that were present at the time. Today, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly has become a defiant yet proud source of black culture in the face of those who don’t see hip-hop as anything more than a “race-baiter” or “thug” genre (Harris 2). The album successfully incorporates the struggles of oppression and racial injustice that caused hip-hop to emerge as a genre. This essay will work to analyze Kendrick Lamar’s cover artwork for To Pimp a Butterfly as well as his music video “Alright” in order to justify how, unlike the majority of hip-hop genre classifications today, Lamar genuinely fosters the afro-diasporic origins and institutionalized racism and oppression from which hip-hop became a
In Sexism and Misogyny: Who Takes the Rap?, Bell Hook talks about “gangsta rap” that produces misogynistic problem among black women. In this work of her, we can see the struggles of Black women because of their gender and race. In the “gangsta rap”, the stereotypes among Black women are being presented too much in the public by producing this type of music. She also talks about the reason why black men are creating this kind of music and highlights the participation of powerful white people who are
Black Women in Music: Listened to But Not Heard Despite the strides being made by black female artists in the music industry we still see the hypersexualization that black women must endure, compared to their white female counterparts. In this essay I will argue that Kimberlé Crenshaws view that women are not equally oppressed can inform the hypersexualization representation of black women in the music industry. I will defend this argument by looking at the hypersexualization of black women compared to white women in the industry.
According to the figure 2, it shows the various themes that male rappers mention. Some of the popular themes rapped about are material wealth, violence, drugs, and the “N” word. Even though degradation of women is not one of the popular themes, it is still a problem that needs to be resolved (White, 2010). The way male rappers shame African American women by comparing them with animalistic traits and objectifying them (Zhang, 2010). For male rappers, to expose their masculinity and this “manliness” is through the attitude that objectify women, practices that subordinate them, and derogation of men who adopt an egalitarian orientation equally affirmative of men and women and all sexual orientations (Weitzer, 2009).
In Hip Hop Music the portrayal of women is not only negative, but it can also be extremely violent. An example of this can be seen in songs from popular artists such as 50 cent who raps in his song P.I.M.P I was born to break a bitch (cited in Rose 2008). This is furthered by Weitzer, R. and. Kubrin, C. (2009) who stated that many rappers take pride in inflicting violence against women. Attitudes like this are harmful due to the fact they are distributing negative and violent depictions of women to vast amounts of people.
“We have always held artists, musicians, and writers accountable for using their voice to uplift and educate, specially in times of turmoil,” says hip hop artist Giovanni G. Turner, who is also president and in-house counsel RAHM Nation Recording. Rap has a long history of positive uplifting songs. For example, Ed OG & Da Bulldogs: Be A Father To Your Child has a great positive message to young black men and influence them on how the be a great father to their children and Lauryn Hill wrote inspiring music about women and self respect. Songs like “Institutionalized,” The blacker the Berry and “Alright” are songs that talk about the tension between White and African American in American.
In her essay, “Hotep and Hip-Hop: Can Black Muslim Women be Doum with Hip-Hop?”, Anaya McMurray illustrates the way in which black Muslim women use hip-hop to create a space for fluidity, movement, and expression while simultaneously exercising their agency through Islam. While some may question the possibility of Muslim women even pursuing a career in the music industry, black Muslim women actually have an ardent role in hip-hop. First, the importance of hip-hop’s purpose and origin should be addressed. According to McMurray, there have been six key sociopolitical forces in shaping the hip-hop generation. These include: “the visibility of black youth in popular culture, globalization, the persistent nature of segregation, public policy surrounding the criminal justice system, media representations of black youth, and the general quality of life within the hip-hop community” (McMurray, 76).
