ENGL 1101 - Fall 2020 - Hip-Hop Reader - PEASE

The Norm and Popularity of Sexualizing Women in Rap Music 

  The ongoing trend and reoccurring popularity of male rappers objectifying and sexualizing women in their songs has become an accepted norm throughout the decades. It's easy to see by the vulgar and explicit context in music videos and lyrics. Many male rap artists have gained success and wealth by producing music that centers around the objectification and degradation of women and their bodies. 

    However, not all male rap artists' success is based on the sexualization of women. Tupac and Chance the Rapper are two. Tupac was well known in the 90s for rapping lyrics that acknowledged the mistreatment and sexualization women commonly faced. Chance the Rapper, a more modern day artist, is widely known for his songs that include his family, moments of his childhood, and his faith. Not only does he include these in his songs, but also the positive outlook he has for women. Tupac's song "Keep Ya Head Up," from 1993, and Chance the Rapper's song "That's Love," from 2013, both demonstrate how rapping about the empowerment of women can be popular and successful even though they're written decades apart. In "Keep Ya Head Up," Tupac describes and expresses the importance of women and the roles they played in his life. He raps, "I wonder why we take from our women/ Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?/ I think it's time to kill for our women/ Time to heal our women, be real to our women." It can be understood how he views the importance of women. "Even surrounded by the world of gangsta rap, its values, and its fatal violence, Tupac saw the sexism that was around him - that he in many ways supported - and knew that it was simply wrong." Periodicals, Evanston Public Library.  Chance the Rapper raps about the love and care he has for women. In his song "That's Love," his lyrics say, "What's better than rhymes, nickels, dimes, and dollars and dubs/ Is dialing up your darling just for callin' her up/ It ain't nothing better than fallin' in love". It is evident, in their lyrics, that Chance the Rapper and Tupac specifically acknowledge the importance of women and empower them by standing up against the oppressions they endure.

    Unlike Tupac and Chance the Rapper, artists like Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne have made a name for themselves by performing songs that popularize the degradation and sexualization of women. Snoop Dogg's song "Ain't No Fun," from 1993, and Lil Wayne's song "Lollipop," from 2008, show evidence of how extreme misogyny towards women is prevalent in the hip-hop/ rap culture. "Ain't No Fun," has strong graphic imagery and harsh explicit lyrics towards women. These lyrics, "And then I'm through with it/ there's nothing else to do with it/ Pass it to the homie, now you hit it/ Cause she ain't nuthin' but a bitch to me," reflect Snoop Dogg's perception and treatment of women. Lil Wayne, is also known for degrading women and sexualizing their bodies. Lil Wayne's "Lollipop", is a very controversial song that raps about women performing sexual acts with their bodies by twerking and playing with lollipops in a lewd way. His lyrics, "Shawty wanna' hump, you known I'd like to touch ya lovely lady lumps," and music video support the idea that sexualizing women is normal. Both artists and songs from two different time periods exhibit how sexualizing, degrading, and objectifying women is ongoing.

      Neha Makkapati, a Daily Nexus campus reporter at the University of California, Santa Barbara, expresses her stance on the misogyny of women in rap songs and reports how most women feel when hearing these remarks made about them. "Women have always been a central focus of degenerative in rap lyrics. Rappers are constantly telling women how to present themselves or act to their pleasure, portraying women as solely objects of their sexual gratification and depicting them as nothing more than "gold diggers" and "cheaters"'. Although artist like Tupac and Chance the Rapper include just the same amount of vulgar and explicit language in their songs as Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne do; Tupac and Chance the Rapper use it in a more non-offensive context and are less demeaning towards women. 

      These artists frequently rap about women because of the strong influence women have over them. While Tupac and Chance the Rapper had their mom, wife, or girlfriends mostly present in their songs and rapped about them in a more caring and respectful way, Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne rapped about women from hookups or one night stands. This leads to the reason why women are a reoccurring topic in their songs. On the contrary, an artist that doesn't mention women in their songs but many things of importance in his life is Rich the Kid. According to the blog Gambling Deals, rap artist Rich the Kids has included "136 instances of money-related language in his music." In the song "4 Phones," Rich the Kid mentions, "I made a hundred thousand in the same clothes/ I dropped a whole quarter, now my neck froze" referring to the large amount of money he has accumulated and the items such as diamonds he has purchased. 

    It can be determined by the differences in in these songs, performed decades apart, that women played an important role in these artists' lives. Tupac and Chance the Rapper empowered women in a positive way, whereas Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne sexualized women and their bodies. It's reasonable to argue that rap music from the 90s that objectified and degraded women has become an accepted and normal way to portray women in the current century. This recurring theme in rap music supports the claim of how male rap artists gain wealth and success that centers around the objectification and degradation of women and their bodies. With more progressive rappers, like Chance the Rapper, who are up-in-coming in the hip-hop/ rap industry, one can hope that they will bring a positive light and break down the barrier of this negative, deplorable, and popular norm.

Works Cited 

Periodicals, Jonathan. “The Feminism of Tupac.” Evanston Public Library, 16 Nov. 2016, www.epl.org/the-feminism-of-tupac/. 

“The Rappers That Brag Most About Money.” Gambling Deals, 28 Sept. 2020, www.gamblingdeals.com/news/the-rappers-that-brag-most-about-money/. 

Makkapati , Neha. “When Misogyny Masquerades as Entertainment: Looking at Today's Rap & Hip Hop.” The Daily Nexus, 7 Mar. 2019, dailynexus.com/2019-03-07/when-misogyny-masquerades-as-entertainment-looking-at-todays-rap-hip-hop/. 

From the beginning in hip-hop industry to today, there is reoccurring trend of the popularity and norm of male rappers objectifying and sexualizing women in their songs. Through music videos to lyrics it can be easily inferred and seen the way men have described and talked about women in a vulgar and explicit context. Rappers like Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne have become successful from popular songs that includes the degrading and sexualization of women. Snoop Dogg's song "Ain't No Fun" from 1993 to Lil Wayne's song "Single" from 2010, shows sheer evidence to how the popularity of misogyny of women is still here and normal in hip-hop culture today. 

Male rap artists who have become successful and equally as popular as Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne is Tupac and Chance the Rapper. Tupac was well known in the 90s for the acknowledgement and upbringing he had for women that were commonly faced with mistreatment and sexualization. Chance the Rapper, a more modern day artist, is wide known for his songs that include his family, childhood, and faith. Not only does he include this in his songs, but also the positive outlook he has for women. In 1993, Tupac's song "Keep your Head Up" and Chance the Rapper's song "Mixtape" in 2016 can conclude how the empowerment of women in their songs is still popular and successful throughout the decades. Although artist like Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne include just the same amount of vulgar and explicit language in their songs as Tupac and Chance the Rapper do; Tupac and Chance the Rapper use it more in a non offensive context and less demeaning towards women and people. 

All through the hip-hop industry, there is an ongoing end to the popularity and norm of male rappers objectifying and sexualizing women. It's been easily seen for many years that male rapper's tend to describe and talk about women in a vulgar and explicit way. Male rappers like Lil Wayne are successful from the way they talk about and show off women in their songs and music videos. Today, it's a common trend to see this happen with a variety of popular artist. 

Chance the Rapper, an equally popular and well known artist in the hip-hop industry is more commonly known for writing about his family, childhood, and faith. When mentioning women in his songs it's more in a positive outlook and less demeaning way. Although both him and Lil Wayne include an amount of explicit words, Chance the Rapper uses them in a less offensive context, unlike Lil Wayne. 

Savannah Mock 

Ice Ice Baby Language Analysis 

    Ice Ice Baby, one of the most popular songs in the 90s and to this day, by Vanilla Ice, contains not only a catchy chorus and creative lyrics, but includes an extensive amount of detailed figurative language. The significance of the use of figurative language in Ice Ice Baby, is to paint the image of the life of Vanilla Ice while he lives in Miami becoming a successful rapper. 

   Within the entire song Vanilla Ice does an amazing job describing the way he excels with rhyming by using similar words every two lines. Just for a little glimpse on how often and creatively he used assonance, Vanilla Ice blurts out, "Deadly when I play a dope melody / Anything less than the best is a felony". Vanilla Ice was still able to make sure every two lines were evenly rhymed, while being able to still get the point across to how great and creative a rapper he was. From the whole song and especially this lyric, you can assume he wants his audience and anyone else who hears this song, to know how confident he is about himself. 

   Throughout the middle of the song, Vanilla Ice begins to describe an altercation his friend, Shay, and himself had with a few guys on the side of the street who were strung out on drugs. "Chumps" as how Vanilla Ice painted them, pulled out a gun in front of Vanilla Ice and Shay. The detailed imagery Vanilla Ice included, allows someone reading the lyrics to get a clear understanding of the sight and sounds of what happened within those seconds. "Gunshots rang out like a bell", led to the vivid description of the amount of danger the altercation had. Vanilla Ice and Shay then hopped in their 5.0 convertible and drove away as fast as they could. On the streets of Miami, which is always busy, Vanilla Ice chose to be very precise when emphasizing how hard it was for him and his friend Shay to get away from the shooting, "Jumped in my car slammed the on the gas / Bumper to bumper the avenue's packed / I'm trying to get away before the jackers jack". Because of how descriptive the use of his lyrics were, it allows us to conclude that Vanilla Ice's life in Miami was chaotic and sometimes dangerous.

    In Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice also included different encounters with the use of similes in his song. Specifically, he uses a simile at the end of his song to declare how clean and fluid his rhymes are. Vanilla Ice explains," 'Cause my style is like a chemical spill / Feasible rhymes that you can envision and feel" lets us infer how he upholds and considers himself as a "lyrical poet". Already using various types of figurative language throughout Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice uses a very shocking metaphor at the end of his song to claim how brilliant a rapper he is. Vanilla Ice threw out, "If my rhyme was a drug I'd sell it by the gram", hinting to the audience how sellable and how high in demand his lyrics would be. 

   Ice Ice Baby is still one of the most popular rap songs throughout the decades and to this day has made Vanilla Ice an icon. It speaks highly to how well a rapper and writer he is. Especially in this song, his use of assonance, imagery, similes, and metaphors, allows his audience to understand the clear vision and meaning to this song and how he would personally describe his life. The significance and use of figurative language in Ice Ice Baby vividly paints the image of Vanilla Ice’s life  as a rapper in Miami. 

   Since the beginning of hip-hop culture and music, there has been countless artists, songs, and music videos all influenced or inspired by it. From analyzing "Rap Music" by Tricia Rose to watching old and new rap music videos, you can see the evolution of what hip-hop has become, by still being able to understand the focal points of its culture within the videos. The music video I chose that implicates that hip-hop history that remains influential with today's hip-hop artists is "Finesse" by Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B. When the music video came out in 2018, rather than it being taken place in current time, the theme was set in the 90s when the beginning of hip-hop and rap culture began. The video included many different forms of iconic symbols of hip-hop culture to demonstrate the influence and inspiration of what hip-hop history still carries today. 

The opening scene of "Finesse" shows the camera's point of view as the wall, facing in front of Bruno Mars and Cardi B, as they're holding multiple spray paint cans and creating different graffiti designs. The importance of what graffiti has in hip-hop culture is an underlying expression and can be interpreted in many ways. Graffiti allows hip-hop and rap artist to describe their music, freely express their emotions, and to show off to the public who they are. In the beginning of the music video, it's stated by Bruno Mars that he wants heads turning and the attention landing on him and Cardi B. Since graffiti allows Bruno to express his thoughts and emotions, the designs and work he puts in would lead others to turn their heads and look into what he's showing off.

A turntable, one of the biggest roles to the beginning of hip-hop, was also included in the video. The turntable was the biggest innovation to hip-hop history and really began the start to a revolution. When introduced, many hip-hop artist came up with different techniques like "scratching" and "backspin" which opened many different sounds and rhythms for the hip-hop community. As Rose discussed in "Rap Music", "... use of the turntables as talking instruments, and exposed the culture rather than structural parameters of accepted turntable use." (19). In "Finesse" the turntable played an influential factor for how the crowd would react to the energy and excitement of the music. Aside from "Finesse" or music videos, turntables are still seen today at many concerts and festivals with DJs using them.

DJs were added within the hip-hop community after turntables were introduced because of the energy and excitement they bring to everyone listening and dancing. In the music video, Bruno Mars is seen with other girls and guys listening and dancing to the music the DJ was playing for them. It can be visually seen how much energy the DJ had for the music she was playing and how she turned all the influenced all the girls and guys by them just watching her. It's well known today how influential DJs are to where they are playing. As Rose explained best, "The new style of DJ performance attracted large excited crowds, but it also began to draw the crowd's attention away from the dancing and toward watching the DJ perform." (20). Since the beginning, rap artists bringing in DJs for their sets has really changed the way people see and enjoy hip-hop culture today.

The last visual evidence of how hip-hop history is still influential to music and in the music video "Finesse" is, the breakdance crews. As shown in the background of the video, breakdance crews offer new elements to the performance of hip-hop and pop singers. As Rose stated in "Rap Music", "...inspired breakdancers' freestyle moves and sparked a new generation of hip hop DJs," (18), which led to modern time's back up dancers. The importance of breakdancers/crews have inspired many hip-hop and pop artist like Beyonce, Drake, and Nicki Minaj to include them in all of their performances. When seeing the breakdancers joining Cardi and Bruno on the dance floor, there's a sense of happiness and excitement everyone has with all together.

  The music video "Finesse" and Rose's article, "Rap Music", has shown many elements to how hip-hop history and the culture have influenced and inspired many artist throughout the years. Even in today's hip-hop and rap music, we can still pin point and identify the hidden components of hip-hop culture by reading Rose's article. The music video "Finesse" positively exemplifies hip-hop culture and history from the significant details throughout the video. They included many different forms of iconic symbols of hip-hop culture to implicate the influence and inspiration of what hip-hop history still carries today.