Deconstructing The Representations of Black Womanhood and White Female Sexuality in Contemporary Hip-Hop Music

99 Problems and a Bitch is just one: Deconstructing the representations of black womanhood and white female sexuality in contemporary
Hip-Hop music
Postgraduate dissertation by: Julian biy Obubo MA Media and Public Relations
Newcastle University
2010
Abstract I present hip-hop as a cultural space dominated and policed by black males. Within this space, the masculine and the feminine are in constant oppositional struggle. With the current male domination of the genre, I suggest that black female rappers articulate masculinity in order to have their voices heard in this space. I also present hip-hop as a commercially constructed representation of authentic black culture which compels its performers to appropriate dominant stereotypes of blackness (I focus on sexuality). Using a feminist textual analysis of recent hip-hop lyrics and videos I attempt to deconstruct the complexities in the negotiations of power, sexuality and gender. In arguing for hip-hop as a patriarchal site of constant struggle I explore the representations of white women in hiphop and demonstrate that they are portrayed by black male rappers in ways consistent with the process of othering or exoticization.
Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations
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Acknowledgements Id like to thank my loving father Rodger Obubo first and foremost for his continued support and constant inspiration. Although this dissertation involved a topic that we could not easily discuss, he always gave me support and good guidance throughout the research and writing phase. My second debt of gratitude goes to my Facebook support team of Tokie Adebiyi, Rob Davies, William Smith, Rotimi Kuforiji and Afo Babatunde who not only showed interest in the work I was doing but also gave me suggestions as to possible lyrics or music videos I could analyse. Id like to thank Justin Tay for providing me with much needed distractions and entertainment during the laborious weeks of research and writing and for being an academic sparring partner on issues of identity, race and culture. Thanks also goes to Dominik Plonner for his inquiries about my work and his probing questions which led to new ideas I could develop in the dissertation. I owe a big thanks to the entire family at Jesmond Parish Church for their constant motivation and prayers (I needed that!) Id like to especially thank my lovely sister Laura for offering to proof read some of my writing and for her academic interest in my work. Id also need to thank Dr. Monica Figueroa for introducing me to advanced concepts of race and ethnicities and critical white studies. To anybody who casually asked me what my dissertation topic was and had to bear through a ten minute monologue from me about why hip-hop is so fascinating, I do owe you all much thanks for getting my brain cogs moving. My final and biggest thanks goes to my dissertation supervisor Dr. Carolyn Pedwell for her prompt and detailed feedback on drafts of my work and pointing me in the right direction when my ideas became a bit muddled. I can only hope this work positively reflects the support you all have shown in different ways. Muchas Gracias Julian
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Table of contents
Chapter 1- Introduction Chapter 2- Literature Review 2.1- Gender negotiations and hip-hop 2.2- Constructing whiteness as the other in hip-hop Chapter 3- Methodologies Chapter 4- Discussions on black masculinity and the production of representations of black womanhood in contemporary hip-hop music 4.1- Private vs Public: Hip-Hop, domesticity and intimacy 4.2- Dispossession narratives and representing the black female body Chapter 5- Female rappers negotiations of gender roles and sexuality in hip-hop 5.1- Black Female Compulsive Sexuality? 5.2- Parallels in male and female rap negotiations of gender and sexuality Chapter 6- Representing the white female in contemporary hip-hop Chapter 7- Conclusion Bibliography Discography page 5 page 7 page 13 page 16
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Chapter 1
Introduction We need a feminism that possesses the same fundamental understanding held by any true student of hip-hop. Truth cant be found in the voice of any one rapper but in the juxtaposition of many. The keys that unlock the riches of contemporary black female identity lie not in choosing Latifah over LilKim, or even Foxy Brown over Salt-N-Pepa. They lie at the magical intersection where those contrary voices meet- the juncture where truth is no longer black and white but subtle, intriguing shades of gray. Joan Morgan Hip-Hop Feminist (2004) Hip-hop music has developed from its humble beginnings in the public housing projects of the South Bronx, New York to its current status as one of the most lucrative genres of popular music. Hip-hops style of resistance and rebelliousness has meant the genre has courted controversy over the years from Supreme Court cases of obscenity to Congress hearings on violent lyrics.1 The genres socially controversial lyrics and its inception in the impoverished and predominantly Black and Latino quarters of New York has often led to the view that it faithfully represents the life and ideologies of the community its performers come from. Debates rage on even today about the cause and effect of hip-hop lyrics. This dissertation is located within the stream of academia that seeks to deconstruct the problematic issue of representing womanhood within the genre of hip-hop. An intersectional approach of addressing race, gender and sexuality simultaneously is employed in this study. The foremost objective is gaining an intersectional understanding of representations of black womanhood, with a secondary aim of understanding white female sexual representation in hip-hop. Using theories drawn mainly from black feminists in the field of cultural and media studies, and textual analytical treatments of music lyrics and videos, the three analysis chapters of this dissertation seek to:
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http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1558664/20070503/2pac.jhtml
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1- Unpack and scrutinize the causative agents for the dominant representations of black women in male performed hip-hop, with an emphasis on representations of gender and sexuality. 2- Examine the negotiations of sexuality and gender in female performed hip-hop. 3- Examine the representations of the white female in contemporary hip-hop.
The title 99 Problems and a Bitch is just one is a play on a popular rap lyric from Jay-Z: Ive got 99 problems but a bitch aint one2. The intention of this title is to present this dissertation as addressing the intricacies and contradictions in the representation of womanhood in hip-hop and thus move away from the popular academic style of placing rappers in impermeable categories. The word bitch for instance is a polysemic term in hiphop which can be used as a term of endearment as well as an insult. It is these unstable or grey areas that this study seeks to shed light on. Why do female rappers represent themselves in particular ways? What parallels of representation can be drawn between female and male rappers? How to female rappers negotiate sexual power relations in heterosexual courtship? Such questions will be posed and hopefully adequately resolved in the analysis chapters of this work. The following chapter is the literature review which brings together feminist approaches to representations of black women in popular culture. The review examines the history of stereotypes of black sexuality in America and seeks to understand hip-hops location within the discourse of black sexuality. The chapter also critically assesses academic literature that employs feminist grounded theory and psychoanalytical theory in their approach to understanding stereotypes of whiteness in the black imagination. The literature review in essence forms the academic backbone of this study, and the arguments and analyses conducted in the following chapters will be based on ideas established in the literature review.
Jay-Z- 99 Problems
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Chapter 2
Literature Review Contemporary feminisms now recognize the difference of experience between women, and that these differences account for different forms of oppression. However, Maynard (2001) argues that these different experiences are largely not explored in depth; they are merely stated and not expounded on. One such difference is that of race. Black feminists have pointed to the inherent racism of analyses and practices which assume white experiences to be the norm and use these as the basis from which to generate concepts and theories, and fail to acknowledge the internal differentiation of black women (ibid. p.124) Collins (2005, 1991) argues that oftentimes race is merely added to the already existing feminist theoretical frameworks (Maynard, 2001 p.125) with the simple assumption that it amplifies the inequality and oppression the women face, thus little attempt is made to understand and address how race qualitatively changes the nature of [the] subordination [inequality and oppression] (ibid.) Gerda Lerner (2001) suggests that black women have been left doubly invisible (p.45) not only by scholarly neglect and racist assumptions, but also because of their position as Blacks and women - two groups which have traditionally been treated as inferiors by American society (ibid) It is with this framework of the intersection of race, sexuality and gender that this research work aims to unpack and explore issues regarding the representation of black women in contemporary hip-hop music. Additionally, this work will employ aspects of critical white studies in examining the representation of white (and non-black) women in hip-hop in attempt to better understand not only how black women are understand, but how the issue of sex and gender is constructed by performers of hip-hop music. Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 7
Angela Davis in her article Black Women and Music: A Historical Legacy of Struggle (1990) argues for the centrality of black music in constructing the identities of black women. Davis links black music to black womens racial, sexual, and political identities, arguing that black music is a critical factor in the fashioning of a black collective consciousness (Rose, 1994 p.153) Cashmore (1997) and Taggs (1989) construction of what black music is can be seen as a critique of Davis position, as they argue against any essentialism in what is considered black music. For them, black music is a social construct, and not easy to qualify. It is oftentimes defined as such so as to expose it in opposition to music by white performers. However, debates on the nature or definition of black music should not detract from the importance of forms of popular culture in society, and music by black performers is often a site for the production, resistance, amplification and reification of dominant representations of black people (Collins, 2005, hooks, 1992, Rose, 1994). Cheryl Gilkes (1983) argues that black women are being punished with an assault of negative images because of their multifaceted threat to the status quo- their assertiveness and...use of every expression of racism to launch multiple assaults against the entire fabric of inequality (p.294) Collins (1991) provides a sociohistorical account of the production of negative controlling images of black women in her work Black Feminist Thought. She argues that the dominant ideology of the slave era fostered the creation of four interrelated, socially constructed controlling images of Black womanhood, each reflecting the dominant groups interest in maintaining Black womens subordination (p.70-71) According to Collins, the process of forming these controlling images was to Other the black woman: to define her in opposition to the white woman (hooks 1992, Nagel 2003, Young 1999). White women were thus raised to the status of true women, and mythologized as possessing the virtues of piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity (Collins, 1991 p.71) The controlling images Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 8
of the black matriarch, mammy, welfare queen and Jezebel helped to position black women in opposition to white women, black women were defined as libidinous, emasculating, sexually aggressive women, Black womanhood served as a reservoir for the fears of Western culture (Collins, 1991 p.72) a dumping ground for those female functions a basically Puritan society could not confront (Christian, 1985 p.2) Joane Nagel (2003) in Race, Ethnicity and Sexuality argues that in order to maintain racial/ethnic hegemony in a multiracial society, the dominant race seeks to de-normalize the sexualities of those they consider others. This is done usually by claiming that the other men are hypersexualized or hyposexualized and the other women are promiscuous. This form of stereotyping permits the crossing of ethnosexual lines by men from the dominant ethnicity (this would give license for sexual contact between white men and non-white women) but forbids men from other races/ethnicities from engaging sexually with women from the dominant race. The denigration of the sexualities of black women (and men) served not only to subordinate them, but perhaps more importantly to preserve American patriarchy. (Collins, 1991, hooks, 1992) Phillips and Stephens (2003) in their work on exploring more controlling images, contend that Collins four images of the Jezebel (sexually aggressive) Mammy (de-sexed, desexualized, submissive) Matriarch (emasculator, aggressive) Welfare Mother (immoral, lazy, perpetual breeder) became the foundation for framing African American women sexuality through the eyes of the wider culture, the African American community, and eventually, through which African American women themselves came to understand their position in American society (p.8) Stephen and Phillips conclusion that African American women came to internalize these constructions of their sexuality can be said to deny black women agency in the negotiation of their sexuality, this view echoes Calvin Hernton in the book Sex and Racism in America (1965) where he states the Negro woman became promiscuous and Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 9
loose, and could be had for the taking. Indeed, she came to look upon herself as the South viewed and treated her, for she had no other morality by which to shape her womanhood (p.124) Staples (2004) argues that controlling images arent only sustained and spread through media and popular culture, but also through official government policies. In 1965 the then US Assistant Secretary of Labour Daniel Patrick Moynihan was commissioned by the federal government to examine the African American family structure as a response to the growing civil unrest at that time (Phillips and Stephens, 2003) The ensuing account, popularly known as The Moynihan Report aided in the reification of the myth of the emasculating matriarch. Through his actual use of the term matriarch, Moynihan essentially presented African American women as emasculating, controlling and contemptuous females who did not need a man beyond using his seed for childbearing (Phillips and Stephens, 2004 p.10) Watkins (1998) argues that the report became the dominant and widespread paradigm for comprehending black urban life (p.218-219) The argument for the recognition of black womens agency should not be taken as a denial of any impact whatsoever of the controlling images of black female sexuality. Evelyn Higginbotham (1992) suggests that a legacy of the myth of black female sexual deviancy has been a silence on the part of black women to discuss their sexuality. A politics of silence developed among black women as a strategy to demonstrate the lie of the image of the sexually immoral black woman (Hammonds, 2001 p.384) However, argues Hammonds (2001) one of the most enduring and problematic aspects of this politics of silence is that in choosing silence black women also lost the ability to articulate any conception of their sexuality (p.384) This politics of silence Hammonds argues, has ramifications on the academic approach of black feminists:
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To date, through the work of black feminist literary critics, we know more about the elision of sexuality by black women than we do about the possible varieties of expression of sexual desire. Thus what we have is a very narrow view of black womens sexuality. The restrictive, repressive, and dangerous aspects of black female sexuality have been emphasized by black feminist writers while pleasure, exploration, and agency have gone under-analyzed. (Hammonds, 2001 p. 385) Clarke (1983) supports this position, arguing that black women, in resisting the myth of their sexuality being depraved have overcompensated and begun to shun and repress issues relating to sexuality, desire and pleasure. The wish not to be constructed as the other has led black women to align themselves with the patriarchal notions of true womanhood outlined by Collins (1991)- piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity (p.71)
Countering this politics of silence is the role of black female performers of hip-hop music. Tricia Roses 1994 seminal work on hip-hop music and culture Black Noise thoroughly examines the impact of female rappers in hip-hop, and deals with their negotiations of gender and their representations of black sexuality. Rose puts forward that three central themes predominate in the works of black female rappers: heterosexual courtship, the importance of the female voice, and mastery in womens rap and black female public displays of physical and sexual freedom (1994, P.147) Far from participating in the politics of silence, female rappers have carved out a female-dominated space in which black womens sexuality is openly expressed (ibid. p.170) a space where black female rappers creatively address questions of sexual power and interpret and articulate the fears, pleasures and promises of young black women whose voices have been relegated to the margins of public discourse (ibid. p.146)
This space in hip-hop that allows black women to express their sexuality is not free from inconsistencies however. Rose contends that like their male counterparts, female rappers at times voice ideas that are in sync with elements of dominant discourses (1994, p.146-147) Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 11
with some lyrics affirming patriarchal notions about family life and the traditional roles of husband, fathers and lovers (ibid, p.150).These inconsistencies are viewed by hooks (1992) to be part of a sort of coping mechanism used by black female performers:
Bombarded with images representing black female bodies as expendable, black women have either passively absorbed this thinking or vehemently resisted it. Popular culture provides countless examples of black female appropriation and exploitation of negative stereotypes to either assert control over the representation or at least to reap the benefits of it. Since black female sexuality has been represented in racist/sexist iconography as more free and liberated, many black women singers, irrespective of the quality of their voices, have cultivated an image which suggests they are sexually available and licentious (hooks, 1992, p.65) Kimberle Crenshaw in her work on the trial of rap group 2 Live Crew on charges of obscenity introduces the concept of subversive opposition in black popular culture. Crenshaw (2000) in discussing the stereotypes of the hypersexuality of black men suggests that instead of resisting these stereotypes or engaging in a politics of silence on black male sexuality, black rappers may attempt to challenge the dominant discourses by becoming the very social outlaw that society fears and attempts to proscribe (p.222). This notion of subversive opposition can be argued to be employed by black female rappers/singers, who may view their representations of themselves as challenging the dominant discourse even though others may view them as reproducing it. Phillips and Stephens (2003) are concerned with the effects of these representations of black women in hip-hop on adolescent black girls, and instead of referring to representations as images, they prefer the term sexual script (p.5) and with this they argue that images/sexual scripts are teaching young black women to negotiate their sexuality according to what they see and hear. Again, their work doesnt take agency into account, and their arguments seem to stem from a hypodermic needle standpoint of media effects. What their work does show however, is that the issue of effects of negative stereotypes is a
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debate that is ongoing in the black community, and any attempt to better understand and contextualize these stereotypes should be commended. The 2 Live Crew controversy that Crenshaw analyses was also centred around the feared effects of hip-hop on society. Crenshaws analysis shows the multifaceted approach to understanding the representations in hip-hop. She cites prominent black scholar Henry Louis Gates defence of 2 Live Crews lyrics as serving a political end to explode popular racist stereotypes in a comically extreme form (2000, p.218-219) Gates approach downplays any possible negative impact of the lyrics of 2 Live Crew. He sees their lyrics as a sexual carnivalesque with the promise to free us from the pathologies of racism (p.219) The different approaches, uses and gratifications that can be obtained from a single media text (in this case a hip-hop song/video) are a testament to the difficulty in attempting to draw a single thematic conclusion on the representations of black women. Crenshaw adds that the underlying factor in the obscenity trial of 2 Live Crew was the policing of black sexuality and a wish by the dominant culture to substantiate the myth of the deviance of black sexuality.
2.1- Gender negotiations and hip-hop
Rose (1994) disapproves of the gendering or coding of hip-hop music as masculine. Singling out the work of Nelson George (1989) for criticism, she states that for George and for media critics in general, it is far easier to regender women rappers than it is to revise their own masculinist analysis of rap music (p.152) However in Roses analysis of themes in female rap, the emasculation of men is a recurring theme. Her work shows that the repeated male rapper sexual script where the men were the dominant partners was simply inverted by women rappers. Instead of a balance or equality being reached, women rappers positioned themselves as the dominant sexual partners. The denigration of females Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 13
by male rappers can then be said to be analogous with the emasculation of males by female rappers. From Roses research it seems irrespective of the gender of the performer, representations of heterosexual relationships in hip-hop are about power over the other. Phillips and Stephens (2003) category of gangster bitch as a type of female rapper typifies the question of masculinization in hip-hop. Gangster bitches lyrics deal with topics that are typically the preserve of male rappers- drugs, crime, guns, violence and extravagant materialism. Lauren Berlant (1988) suggests that there is a vulnerability of womens voices to devaluation in the public sphere. Womens expression of resistance to oppression, Berlant argues, is turned into a form of complaint or bitching: an admission and recognition both of privilege and powerlessness, circumscribed by a knowledge of womans inevitable delegitimation within the patriarchal public sphere (Rose, 1994 p.162) The masculinization of female rappers can then be seen in this light of potential devaluation. Female rappers in their quest to be seen as equal with their male counterparts will explore and exploit themes similar to male rappers and this process homogenizes the genders. Thus female rappers masculinize in order to have their voices heard. According to hooks (1992) hip-hop as a genre evolved to eschew the feminine: male creativity, expressed in rap and dancing, required wide open spaces, symbolic frontiers where the body could do its thing, expand grow, and move, surrounded by a watching crowd. Domestic space equated with repression and containment, as well as with the feminine was resisted and rejected so that an assertive patriarchal paradigm of competitive masculinity and its concomitant emphasis on physical prowess could emerge (p. 35) The masculinization of the genre however does not eliminate dialogue between male and female rappers, structural differences still exist in their respective negotiations of power in Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 14
heterosexual relationships. Roses (1994) position is that the representation of black women by male rappers is multicausal, but primarily influenced by a fear of emasculation. The controlling image of the black female emasculator, fostered by depictions in popular culture and government accounts such as the Moynihan Report she argues runs counter to the the dominant cultural formula that equates male economic stability and ones capacity to be a family breadwinner with masculinity, thus making black mens increasingly permanent position at the bottom of or completely outside the job market a sign of emasculation, dependence or femininity (p.171) Western societys fixation with oppositional dichotomies for Collins (1991) helps in the understanding of the negative representation of black women by black male rappers. Collins points out that dichotomous thinking categorizes people, things and ideas in terms of their difference from one another (p.68) She gives examples of dichotomies such as black/white, male/female, mind/body, subject/object, reason/emotion (ibid) One part is not simply
different from its counterpart; it is inherently opposed to its other Whites and Blacks, males and females....are not complementary counterparts but they are fundamentally different entities related only through their definition as opposites. (Collins, 1991 p.69) Black women, according to Collins are situated in a position whereby multiple inferior halves of these dichotomies converge (black, female, body etc). Due to dichotomies rarely representing different but equal relationships, by their nature they are unstable and the tension is resolved by subordinating one half of the dichotomy to the other (ibid p.70) Using Collins notion of oppositional dichotomies, the nature and process of the subordinating of one half of the dichotomy, in this case the black male/black female dichotomy is what Rose (1994) is concerned about in her analysis of male rapper Ice Cubes lyrics about women. For Rose Ice Cube suggests that many men are hostile toward
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women, because the fulfilment of male heterosexual desire is significantly checked by womens capacity for sexual rejection or manipulation of men (p.172) Rose (1994) and Asbury (1987) support the position which blames the structural oppression that black males are under inhibits them from fulfilling their masculinity in the ideal American way, if financial and social clout cannot provide [the black man] with masculine virility, then the private social sphere is the next best alternative. (Rose, 1994 p.171) Rose also notes that some male rap lyrics suggest that state authority figures and black women are similarly responsible for black male disempowerment and oppression. Asbury (1987) links this denial of masculinity as a reason for physical abuse of black women by black men.
2.2- Constructing whiteness as the other in hip-hop
Shulamith Firestones The Dialectic of Sex: The Case For Feminist Revolution (1971) claims racism is an extension of sexism. She develops a construct defining the white man as the father, the white woman as the wife and mother, and Black people as the children. Transposing Freuds theory of the Oedipus complex into racial terms, Firestone implies that black men harbour uncontrollable desire for sexual relations with white women. They want to kill the father and sleep with the mother (Davis, 2001 p.53). Firestone states that in order to be a man the Black man must untie himself from his bond with the white female, relating to her if at all only in a degrading way. In addition, due to his virulent hatred and jealousy of her Possessor, the white man, he must lust after her as a thing to be conquered in order to revenge himself on the white man (1971 p.110). Firestones psychoanalytical interpretation of black male/white female sexual politics is situated in a continuum of analyses which aim to deconstruct the myth of the black mans insatiable lust for the white woman (Collins, 2005 p.161) Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 16
Collins (2005) explains the issue of interracial sexual relationships through a gender/race intersectional approach: One mark of hegemonic White masculinity lay in its ability to restrict the sexual partners available to black men. African American men were forbidden to engage in sexual relations with all White women...In this context, any expansion (de-legalizing antimiscegenation laws) of the pool of female sexual partners enhances African American mens standing within the existing system of hierarchical masculinities (p.262) The connection of this issue of interracial sexual relationships and hip-hop, lies primarily around the subject of body aesthetics, an area in which Young (1999) argues that black women have historically being represented through their bodies which bear the markers of their deviance from white norms of feminine propriety and attractiveness (p.68). The aesthetic hierarchy of the female body in mainstream American culture, with particular reference to the behind and hips, positions many black women somewhere near the bottom (Rose, 1994 p.168) Hip-hops cultural history of counter-hegemony thus leads its lyrics to talk about the butt in ways that attempt to challenge racist assumptions that suggest it is an ugly sign of inferiority (ibid). However, although this promotion and celebration of the aesthetics of black female bodies can be seen as a welcome change to the dominant discourse, it also contributes to an already entrenched understanding of womens bodies as objects of consumption (ibid p.169) Additionally, this limited cultural space of hip-hop can be argued to produce the oppositional dichotomy of black women/white women. In the wider American cultural space, the black woman half will be subordinated to the white woman. However, in a space dominated by black men who celebrate the black female body, it is the white woman who is subordinated. Like, Collins argues earlier, this process can be seen to be enhancing black mens standing within the existing system of hierarchal masculinities, but a point that Rose (1994) fails to address is the devaluation of white women within the space of hip-hop. The inferiorization of white womens bodies is analogous to the inferiorization of black womens Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 17
bodies in the wider dominant culture. Thus, the othering of black and other non-white women in a wider American context is reversed in the limited space of hip-hop, with white women now being classified as the other. As with all constructions of the other, white womens position in hip-hop comes with a myriad of sexual connotations. hooks in Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination (1992a) argues that just as white people have characterized blacks as the other and have been fascinated by them, so also have black people othered white people and they have maintained a steadfast and ongoing curiosity about them (p.338) This research will be primarily concerned with the sexual facet of the othering of whiteness, and hooks (1992) assertion that there is an assumption that the body of the Other will provide a greater, more intense pleasure than any that exists in the ordinary world of ones familiar racial group (p.24) would form the foundation of a thorough examination of representations of white women in hip-hop.
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Chapter 3
Methodologies Deconstructionism is the taking apart and undoing of a text in order to seek out and display the assumptions of [that] text (Barker, 2008 p.36). This dissertation principally seeks to deconstruct issues of gender, race and sexuality in hip-hop by textual analysis of music lyrics and videos. More emphasis however would be placed on song lyrics, and oftentimes the videos and lyrics would be analysed concurrently. Additionally, prior work in the fields of gender and race will be adapted and redefined in the examination of hip-hop music with the aim of generating new theory on intersectionality in contemporary hip-hop music. The dissertation is grounded in feminist approaches to sociology and black popular culture. Robinson and Richardson (2008) state that feminism, broadly is a political project that explores the diverse ways men and women are empowered or disempowered (p.178) and that statement summarizes the intention of this study. With regard to the selection of texts, Pough (2007) and MC Lyte (2004) contend that a shift in female rap occurred around 1996 with the release of Lil Kims first album Hardcore, and Foxy Browns Ill Na Na. 1996 can be regarded as the year a transition was made from the socio-political narratives of the likes of Queen Latifah and Salt N Pepa to the more sexualized and gangsta imagery of Lil Kim and Foxy Brown. The female rap lyrics analysed in this dissertation would therefore be all post-1996, with most coming after 2000. The male texts will also be drawn from a similar time frame even though the genre has had fairly consistent narrative content since the late eighties. The choice of which texts to analyse is informed by the concept of theoretical sampling (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) which sees the researcher choosing cases that they deem a lot can be learned from (Stake, 1994). This form of sampling is in opposition to statistical Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 19
sampling where a fixed criteria (e.g date, chart number) is set and the cases to be studied are drawn from that pool. The choice of cases in this dissertation is evaluated by the emerging theory. Footnotes would be used to highlight songs with similar narratives that could not be dealt due to word count constraints in the body of the research.
The polysemicity of hip-hop calls for a multi-methodological approach to the texts, from a semiotic reading of visual material in hip-hop, to a semantic deconstruction of common words used in lyrics. The methods employed in this dissertation aim to reflect the plural and interdisciplinary nature of modern cultural studies.
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Chapter 4
Discussions on black masculinity and the production of representations of black womanhood in contemporary hip-hop music This chapter seeks to unravel the relationship between the social construction of black masculinity and the ways in which male rappers negotiate their sexual relationships with black women in their lyrics and music videos. The issue of hip-hop as a masculine genre which was brought up in the literature review will be expanded on, and the way in which this masculine genre develops and propagates certain images of black womanhood is primarily what this chapter seeks to resolve. Cashmore (1997) puts hip-hops popularity down to the appropriation of American stereotypes of black culture by black artists (in this case black rappers) themselves. Cashmores argument rests on the concept of capitalism and the process of othering (projecting unto racialized groups certain traits which the dominant group fears or seeks to control). The others can be seen as those who are not part of the power system, those with no hegemonic authority. Thus, what is then termed authentic black culture is a collaboration of these two concepts. Blacks are described as the other- everything whites are not. This representation is then commodified and sold, what Deborah Root terms the commodification of authenticity (1996, p.78) Paul Hochs (2004) work White Hero Black Beast: Racism, Sexism and the Mask of Masculinity puts forward the notion that the other is constructed to embody all the forbidden possibilities for ultimate sexual fulfilment and [becomes] the very apotheosis of masculine potency (p.98) Crenshaws (2000) notion of subversive opposition would see the black male rappers (in an attempt to resist these stereotypes) assume the characteristics of the constructed other, and hooks (1992) would suggest that these stereotypes are appropriated so the artists can reap the benefits (p.65)
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This intricate appropriation of a hegemonically defined black culture then produces cultural artefacts that are then marketed as authentic. Therefore, hip-hop as a product of black culture and an art-form with an emphasis on storytelling and cultural commentary is in many ways preoccupied with the notion of authentic blackness, being a real nigga or keeping it real. Hip-hop historian and critic Mark Anthony Neal argues that the mid-nineties East Coast vs West Coast rap feud was primarily about authenticity. In other words which coast better represented the stereotypical images of black life. The coast that was more gangsta, more ghetto, more hardcore... was deemed as more authentically hip-hop, and by extension, more authentically black than the other(Neal, 2004a, p.58) Another example of authentic blackness is presented by Watkins (2005) talking about rapper Lil Jons inclusion of hardcore pornography to his repertory so as not to appear too pop (p.210) Here, Lil Jon embraces the controlling image of the hypersexual black stud and through hip-hop, presents this image as authentic black masculinity. Hip-hop as a genre has a history of social commentary, rebelliousness and counterhegemony. These traits of the genre have led it to be very sexually explicit, violent and expletive ridden. However, in the resisting of the cultural and musical status quo, the rappers inadvertently confirm the long held stereotypes of their masculinity- virile, hypermasculine, given to criminality, recklessness and even racism (Samuels, 2004, p.59) Diawaras (1993) assertion that gangsta rap produced images of blackness that challenged attempts to police the black body is partially right in that it acknowledges the promotion of a black beauty aesthetic that was fundamentally different from that of white America. This resistance and endorsement of the black female body was quite rightly challenging a culture than had historically devalued the black womans body, so it was in essence resisting white attempts to police the black body, however, the other side of the coin was that it instituted Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 22
black male policing of the black womans body and sexuality. hooks (2004) refers to this desire for control as black male compulsive sexuality(p.74)- she argues is as a result of the societal maltreatment and emasculation of the black man, with sex and the black female body becoming the primary location for fulfilment of a masculinity which is denied and suppressed in a racist patriarchal American society. Hip-hop allows black males to exercise their masculinity, albeit only on record, but it is a space where they are allowed to police the boundaries of their culture. They can define what is beautiful3at the expense of white women and they can also violently resist oppression without ramifications4 hip-hop thus becomes a commodified sphere with black men as the adjudicators of what is acceptable and what is not. The pressures and frustrations of the outside white patriarchal society are channelled into lyrical displays of male aggression and braggadocio. This hegemonic power that black males have within the limited space of hip-hop holds no currency outside of it, it is essentially power wielded by powerless men. A realm in which black males can enter in order to access the societal prescribed definition of masculinity. The awareness of this limitation is expressed through the vehement repression of all potential challengers to black male patriarchy i.e white men, white women, black women and other rappers. Whiteness becomes inferiorized, and a source of parody (Hess, 2007) white women are othered and hypersexualized and presented as deviant, pre-existing controlling images of black women are propagated and questions are raised of rival rappers authenticity (blackness) if challenged. Additionally, according to hooks (2004) the sexual revolution of the 60s/70s allowed black males to claim the stereotypes of their sexuality (potency, large penises, libidinousness) and use it as an outlet against white patriarchy, sex became a site of white male subjugation by the black man, so while white men might dominate them in other spheres of power, when it came to
3 4
See Sir Mix-A-Lot- Baby Got Back See N.W.A- Fuck tha Police
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sexuality black men ruled (p.75) The blaxploitation movies of the 70s are a good example of using black male sexuality against the white man. In the struggle over space the black female body becomes the ground on which battles of black authenticity are waged (Baldwin, 2004 p. 160) with two-camps emergingGhettocentric and Afrocentric. The Ghettocentric articulating black hypersexuality, and the Afrocentric seeking to distance black sexuality from any notions of deviance. Tate (1997) suggests that there is an ongoing debate over who best tells black stories: our blues people (Ghettocentric) or our bourgeoisie (Afrocentric) (p.70) Both camps ignore the nuance in representing issues of sexuality and instead fall back on the polar stereotypes of black hypersexuality and the politics of silence.
4.1- Private vs Public: Hip-hop, domesticity and intimacy Collins (1991) and hooks (1984) present dichotomous thinking as the central ideological component of all systems of domination in Western society (Collins, 1991 p.68) As explained earlier, dichotomous thinking pits two people, items or concepts in opposition. One such oppositional dichotomy is that of the domestic/public or private/public. Gillis and Hollows (2008) explain that western society often constructs the private sphere as feminine- the proper place for women, while the public sphere is imagined as masculine (p.4) This explanation has similarities with hooks (1992) description of hip-hop as resisting and rejecting the feminine so that an assertive patriarchal paradigm of competitive masculinity and its concomitant emphasis on physical prowess could emerge (p. 35) Indeed, the private/public oppositional dichotomy is displayed in several hip-hop songs, such as rapper Chingys song Pullin Me Back. The song describes a situation of being confronted by his partner about his possible infidelity (which he doesnt own up to or deny in the song) his reply:
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Walked in the house wit hard work, my head hurt Instead of arguin' can I have dinner wit some dessert? Uhh-uhh She talkin' bout this phone number she found Ain't gimme time to put my bags down, she straight up clownin' ...outlines the difference between the private/public sphere, he, being the man is the one coming in from hard work (the public) into the house (the domestic) and he expects his partner to display the virtues of true womanhood (Collins, 1991 p.71) by being submissive and therefore not questioning and arguing with him about a number, and by being domestic and instead cooking him dinner with some dessert. Her lack of submissiveness is depicted not just as her disregard of proper conduct in her domestic sphere but also as an affront to his masculinity. He then goes on:
Before we end up fightin' lemme me leave I'm exhausted, and this here, I don't need Now I'm wit the fellaz, ridin' and drinkin' She blowin' my two-way up5, but I need some time for thinkin' His response is to leave the feminine domestic sphere and reaffirm his masculinity in the public by riding and drinking with other males. The myth of the overbearing and emasculating black woman is represented here by his partner constantly sending him messages, and having the audacity to confront him without feeding him or allowing him to put his bags down. Drug and crime narratives in hip-hop music present a particularly interesting facet of the public/domestic oppositional dichotomy. The public is usually constructed as the site of the masculine activities of drug deals and street violence, and the domestic, represented by a loyal partner is imagined as a safe haven for these men. Rapper Jadakiss in You Make Me Wanna shows his appreciation for his partner for all the nights she sat up and bagged the
Two-way pager- mobile device for sending and receiving messages
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raw6 Jadakiss presents himself in the song and the accompanying music video7 as the active agent in the relationship, with his partner cast in a supporting role: She carries the money, the hammers8 and material9 across town And understands she's fine And understands she's mine She understands the grind10 Cook cleans and irons The video shows Jadakiss coming home from the streets to his partner who has been engaged with the domestic tasks of ironing and cleaning the house. For her support of his drug trade and budding rap career, he is shown giving her keys to a new mansion he has acquired as well as a jewellery box with different coloured gems which she is shown constantly admiring. Jadakiss music video also places his female partner in an icon of domesticity- the kitchen. Other rap videos combine the kitchen not with food making, but with the preparation of crack cocaine. Juelz Santanas Make it work for you11 and Fabolous Welcome to my workplace12 for example show the rappers making eye contact with the camera and rapping while the women are engaged with the domestic act of standing by a stove and preparing the cocaine, which upon preparation will be given to the men to sell in the streets (the public)13
Raw= uncut cocaine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEN0KRUYmGs&p=37AAC9903B89A20E&playnext=1&index=11 8 Hammers- pistols 9 Material- cocaine production equipment 10 Grind- the drug trade 11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGd6LUmTEJo
7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alCtHnIXYwk In a similar narrative to Jadakiss song, rapper Nelly in Luven Me also displays his appreciation for his partner with the words:
13
12
Livin at ya granny house you kept the dope for me And wouldn't hesitate to go to court for me Jay-Z in Girls, Girls, Girls shows disappointment with his model chick who doesnt cook or clean but appreciates his project chick: Got a project chick, that plays her part And if it goes down y'all that's my heart
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The subordinating of one half of oppositional dichotomies to the other also occurs with the detachment/intimate dichotomy, with intimacy representing the feminine, and thus the less valued half. Black womens location at the site of multiple inferior halves of oppositional dichotomies and hip-hops hypermasculinity presents a peculiar opportunity for the articulation of intimacy within hip-hop music. Rapper J.Cole on his song Throw It Up displays this aversion of emotional intimacy: Im hitting14 dimes from Atlanta up till Pennsylvania They catch feelings, and I switch next I made it clear baby, just sex Im too young to settle down shorty, get dressed J.Coles clarification that hes only after sex and not an intimate relationship can be seen as an attempt to regain his masculinity and reassert his position as a hypersexual black male who cannot be seen settling down and developing an emotional bond with one woman. A clear example can be seen in the Chingy song One Call Away where he chronicles his relationship with a woman. Early on he raps:
Told her "I'm going home" she asked can she go too I'm like "Yeah boo, I can't see me without you" This suggestion of intimacy however has conditions, as on the next verse, Chingy states: It's up to you, I'm the man but baby just let me know Cuz if you got an attitude I could treat you just like a hoe This line brings back the earlier discussed issue of repressing any challengers to black male patriarchy within hip-hop. Chingy suggests that he has the power to both love and
Baby girl so thorough she been with me from the start Hid my drugs from the NARCs, hid my guns by the parts The term project refers to public housing in American inner cities, here Jay-Z identifies his partner by her association with the projects, by extension her association with the domestic- the house.
14
Hitting- Having Sex
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disrespect the same woman, any challenges to his authority/masculinity would be met with a treatment he reserves for prostitutes. Rapper Juveniles 2006 song Rodeo presents a particularly interesting depiction of retaining masculinity after displaying signs of intimacy or vulnerability, in a song primarily about his adoration of strippers bodies, he states:
We aint beefing right now, we on a positive vibe, But I still keep the homicide squad on the side The juxtaposition of a positive vibe and a murder squad display Juveniles rejection of the feminine. His mention of the homicide squad is to remind the listener that while participating in the pleasurable act of observing womens bodies he is not at all vulnerable and is still ready to kill any challengers at a moments notice. Rose (1994) sees the power of women to curb or halt black male heterosexual advances as a significant cause of the common representations of black women in hip-hop music. A resistance to this power held by women then results in exaggerated stories of total dominion over women (ibid, p. 172) As argued earlier, any obstacle to the exercising of unchecked black male masculinity is repressed, and the perceived hindrance women pose to fulfilling that masculine aim is circumvented by the men by not allowing themselves to display any characteristics that can be deemed feminine. This avoidance of intimacy can also be linked with the common euphemisms for the act of sexual intercourse in contemporary hip-hop. Apart from the ubiquitous fuck, terms like hit it, beat that pussy up, pipe her, drill, smash, tear it up are common and they not only contain connotations of physical violence, but they serve to remove any notions of intimacy or even worse love from the act of sex. The terms are very mechanical in nature, and focus not on the individuals concerned, but mainly on the physical process of sex. This rejection of the feminine also accounts for the widespread reference to the penis, or dick when talking about sex. Terms Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 28
like hop on this dick get the dick or rappers Ying Yang Twins stating be your ass still, long dick coming15 situate the penis and thus the man as the most important participant in the act of sex. Ultimately, the choice of these words remind the listener that sex in hip-hop is a display of masculine power and an attempt at subjugation and should not be confused with love-making. 4.2- Dispossession narratives and representing the black female body Black male patriarchy in hip-hop also manifests itself in the repeated motif of taking or sleeping with another mans woman. The infamous rep feud between New York rappers JayZ and Nas escalated after the former claimed on rap song to have slept with the mother of Nas child.16 Ludacris on I Know You Got a Man raps about being a better lover than a womans current partner, and Nelly in Spida Man warns all men that their partners are likely to sleep with him simply because of his status and his Ferrari Modena Sypder sports car. Rick Ross music video for Super High17 shows the rapper pulling up on a motorcycle beside a woman having an argument with her partner. Upon noticing the rapper on the motorcycle she begins to show interest in him, and without verbally communicating with him she exits her partners car and hops unto the back of the motorcycle, holding onto Ross as he rides off rapping. The dispossession of another mans woman in hip-hop is symbolic of a discrediting of the dispossesseds authenticity. An authentic black man is supposed to police his womans body, keep her in check and provide her with enough sex so she wouldnt seek it elsewhere. The dispossessor hyposexualizes the dispossessed, fundamentally stripping him of his masculinity by denying him control over his woman. Dispossession narratives in hip-hop often depict the woman leaving her man upon noticing the superior material wealth of the rapper. Rose (1994) argues that American
Ying Yang Twins- Pull My Hair http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1451446/20011213/jay_z.jhtml 17 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtY2wHs44qI&feature=av2e

16
15
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culture equates male economic stability... with masculinity (p.171) Poverty and a lack of opportunity is viewed as emasculating and feminine (ibid) The space of hip-hop provides black males with an opportunity to escape the emasculation of joblessness and poverty and this leads to an exaggerated materialism; celebrating masculinity, but more importantly clearly rejecting the feminine. The hip-hop myth of material wealth guaranteeing female attraction is however constrained by the simultaneous myth of women as golddiggers, who seek to emasculate men by robbing them of their money. So while money brings you women in hip-hop, an authentic nigga should be wary of allowing these women too close to his money. The pimp persona in hip-hop is an illustration of this ideology (Sharpley-Whiting, 2007). Finally, regarding the body; the black female buttocks (booty, ass) has become an icon of sorts in hip-hop (Collins, 2005, Rose, 1994, hooks, 1992) Sir Mix-A-Lots 1992 number one single Baby got Back signalled the fervent push to reject the dominant white body aesthetic and replace it with the black body. Welcome, as it was that a once maligned body type was being praised and admired, Baby got Back as Rose (1994) puts it [contributed] to an already entrenched understanding of womens bodies as objects of consumption (p.169) hooks (1992) states that contemporary representations of the butt do not subvert racist/sexist representations, as they still emphasise the expendability of [womens] bodies (p.64) Perhaps no other recent hip-hop video has caused the same amount of controversy18 as Nellys 2004 Tip Drill music video19 The songs chorus goes:
It must be ya ass, coz it aint ya face I need a tipdrill, I need a tipdrill
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-05-06-forum-nelson_x.htm http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1558664/20070503/2pac.jhtml 19 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgxQhvEDBfk
18
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The video depicts Nelly and his friends wandering through a mansion filled with legions of bikini-clad black and latina women enthusiastically gyrating their buttocks as the men throw money and champagne at them. Nelly even swipes a credit card through the gluteal cleft of one of the dancers. Perhaps most interesting is the camera angle, often hardly ever showing the womens faces, with the rappers coming down to butt level to engage with the camera while womens behinds shake merely inches from their faces. The song and video re-affirm hip-hops portrayal of black women as expendable faceless sex objects, and the black male as the hypersexualized stud. The credit card scene can be seen to symbolize the view of womens bodies as commodities; tradable body parts contained in the performance of black masculinity in hip-hop.
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Chapter 5
Female rappers negotiations of gender roles and sexuality in hip-hop
Keyes (2004) and Rose (1994) in their discussions of female rappers, both suggest a similarity between early female blues singers and contemporary female rappers. Rose contends both genres offer a womans interpretation of the terms of heterosexual courtship, [casting] a new light on male-female sexual power relations and depict women as resistant, aggressive participants. (p.155). Keyes sees female rappers as part of a continuum of early female blues singers [reflecting] and [celebrating] the ethos of working-class black womanhood (p.187). Roses Black Noise however, was published sixteen years ago at a time when the female rapper landscape was vastly different from the style today. Keyes work Rap, Music and Street Consciousness, a much newer publication spends far too much time examining Rose-era female rappers, and while she touches on modern female rappers who are still releasing albums today, she does not sufficiently explore the intricacies of the genre. Pough (2007) and early nineties female rapper MC Lyte (2004) suggest that there has been a shift in the genre from the likes of Queen Latifah, Salt n Pepa and MC Lyte of the late eighties and early nineties to the likes of Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Trina and Eve. For Pough (2007) female raps prevailing discourse is now sex, the pleasure of it, and its use as an instrument to achieve a goal whereas eighties and early nineties female rap focused female solidarity and questioning sexual double standards in society and hip-hop. Most critical examinations of female rappers have been focused on categorizing types of female rappers, from Keyes (2004) Queen Mother, Fly Girl, Sista With Attitude and Lesbian categories to Neals (2004b) Oversexualized rhyme-spitter and Baggy clothed desexualized mic fiend. While these categories certainly help in identifying thematic
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similarities amongst female rappers, they also tend to represent the artists as rigidly bound by these categories. The fluidity and ability to straddle categories is often overlooked, so how rapper Trina can go from wanting to fuck your daddy if your mammie wasnt playa hating on 2000s Da Baddest Bitch to expressing sadness that her fianc turned out to be a cheater on 2005s Here we Go is largely unaccounted for. Female rapper Nicki Minaj even manages to obscure the boundary between straight and lesbian identities.20 Following a continuum of research in female rap, this chapter seeks to establish common themes pertinent to contemporary female rappers, with particular emphasis placed on the articulation of power in female rap narratives. The theory established in the previous chapter of hip-hop as a masculine genre will be tested by observing how female rappers express gender roles and male-female sexual power relations. Samuels (2004) in examining the intersection of sexuality and race in hip-hop says the buying public views authentic hip-hop as music informed by the stock stereotypes of young black men (p.59) The previous chapter on masculinity and hip-hop has described the claiming or appropriation of black stereotypes by male rappers as a method of resistance (subversive opposition) as well as getting by and profiting by repackaging the controlling images as authentic black culture. Can the same argument be employed in the examination of female rap? hooks (1992) argues in affirmation that many black female artists have cultivated an image which suggests they are sexually available and licentious (p.65) this approbation of black sexual deviance is akin to black male celebration of their purported superior sexual skill. In addition, the term bitch, often used as derogatorily against black women has been claimed and accepted as both a term of endearment as well as a derogatory term for rival female rappers (Collins, 2005). Like male rappers, female rappers
20
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/sapphic-salon-nicki-minaj-and-the-lesbian-problem-in-hip-hop
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seek to exploit the dominant stereotypes of their sexuality. They go along to get along as hooks (2004 p.80) puts it, acquiescing and playing the role of sexual minstrel (ibid). This compliance of black female rappers in propagating stereotypes of black womanhood combined with hip-hops culture of rebelliousness (and refusal to participate in the politics of silence around black sexuality) is arguably a cause for the current representations of black womanhood by female rappers. Unlike the male rappers who seek to police female sexuality, female rappers not only celebrate it, but are also engaged in resistance of any patriarchal notions of dominion over women. If, as Rose (1994) puts it, the reason for male rappers dominant representation of black womanhood is because of womens power to reject male desire and manipulate them, then female rappers dominant representation of black womanhood is just that: a celebration of womens power to reject and to manipulate men. Female rappers are therefore involved in a hierarchal tussle for dominance in the cultural space of hip-hop. Their challengers are black men, white men, white women and other female rappers. This struggle for dominance sees female rappers emasculate black men, hyposexualize and thus inferiorize white men and women, and attempt to disauthenticate any rival female rapper by hyposexualization or accusations of a lack of material wealth, fundamentally questioning the rivals real bitch credentials. 5.1- Black Female Compulsive Sexuality? hooks (2004) sees black male compulsive sexuality as resulting from the black mans feeling of emasculation within a racist American society, thereby making sex and sexuality one of the few avenues to assert dominance. This theory can be adapted within the context of female hip-hop as black female compulsive sexuality which is as a result of patriarchal sexual repression of black women within American society and also within the created cultural space of hip-hop. Female rappers position in a masculinized and male dominated space leads them to use sex and sexuality as an avenue to assert dominance and control Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 34
over men. Male rappers primarily use the masculine coded script of crime and violence to display dominance over all challengers and correspondingly female rappers use the feminine coded script of sex and sexuality to attempt domination over men. This goal oriented use of sex is displayed in Trinas 2000 single Da Baddest Bitch:
I'm representin' for the bitches All eyes on your riches No time for the little dicks You see the bigger the dick The bigger the bank, the bigger the Benz The better the chance to get close to his rich friends I'm going after the big man G-string make his dick stand Make it quick then slow head by the night stand Like lightning I wanna nigga with a wedding ring Bank accounts in the Philippines The struggle for power within hip-hop sees female rappers emasculation of men become analogous with male rappers denigration of women. An interesting oppositional dichotomy arises out of this- the Dick/Pussy dichotomy. Just as was earlier argued that male rappers deploy the dick as an instrument of power and authority over the feminine, so is the pussy used by female rappers to control and assert power over men; as Trina proclaims in B R Right:
Pussy Power, we in control Foxy Brown directly links the use of her pussy to her increasing material wealth on Aint No Nigga: You know my pussy is all that Thats why I got baguette five carats and all that And Miami rapper Jacki-O declares on her 2004 song Pussy Real Good that: Girls we got power, coz we got pussies The pussy thus becomes a tool to de-masculinize men and present them as what male rappers would refer to as punks or bitch niggas or even pussies (as Rick Ross puts it in Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 35
his song In Cold Blood: pussies dont get pussy). Female rappers then confirm the common male rappers fear of being manipulated and effeminized by pussy. Characteristics associated by male rappers with femininity such as weakness, emotion and love are now projected on men who appear in some female rap sexual narratives, for only weak men they argue would lavish wealth on women simply to fulfil their own sexual desire. The masculine traits of tactical reasoning, shrewdness and stigma-less promiscuity are then appropriated by the female rappers, as they are using their pussies to exploit men. This appropriation of masculine traits to exploit men by female rappers also leads to another analogous topic in male performed hip-hop: a lack of intimacy in the sexual narratives. Just as male performed hip-hop shuns intimacy by predominantly referring to sex as something done with the dick, some female performed hip-hop21 supports this narrative of describing sex primarily by referencing the genitals. So when Trina raps on Step Your Game Up that fat wallets and big dicks is all I want she references dicks as opposed to a specific man or type of man. This phallocentricity restructures the dominant discourse of sex as something performed by two individuals (or lovers) to something primal and purely physical- sex becomes a basic act of receiving pleasure because a person with power deserves to. This female rap narrative views the dick (and the male body) as expendable bodies to exploit for pleasure and material gain. 5.2- Parallels in male and female rap negotiations of gender and sexuality The similarities we have seen in the narratives on negotiations of sexuality between male and female performed hip-hop supports the notion that the genre is predominantly about the gain and use of power. Although these parallel narratives can be most acutely observed in the overtly sexual songs, there is also an interesting conceptualization of gender power dynamics present in female rap songs dealing with themes of long term relationships,
21
(see Lil Kim- Magic Stick, Gimme That, Trina- Step Your Game up)
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commitment and love. As Rose (1994) suggests, while female rappers do de-stigmatize promiscuity and promote female sexual subjectivity, their sexual revolution does not always completely challenge already held patriarchal notions of male-female sexual relationships. Trinas 2006 song Here We Go and its accompanying music video serves as a good example of the contradictions in establishing new gender roles in female performed hip-hop. The song deals with Trina learning about her partners infidelity and consequently ending the relationship. Trina positions herself in a traditionally masculine role of introducing a life of luxury to her partner. She raps: You done forgot who introduced you to rocks22 And poppin all that Cris23and shit Like in most male rappers songs and music videos, Trina has the financial power in the relationship, and thus the ability to dictate terms. However, despite this, she says:
I thought I was a chick you could make your wife She thus falls back to the traditional gender roles that her earlier lines had resisted. Despite constructing herself as the material provider in the relationship, and as elevating the social status of her unfaithful partner, Trina still awards him power to determine the status of the relationship. The song and music video however conclude with Trina throwing her partner out of her house and expressing contentment with what she has left- her riches. Ebony Eyezs 2005 single Take Me Back also deals with infidelity, and like Trinas song, Ebony Eyez uses her position as the material provider in the relationship to question why her partner even considered cheating.
22 23
Rocks= diamonds Cristal= A brand of expensive champagne by Louis Rouderer
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hooks (1992) assertion that contemporary postmodern culture equates pleasure with materiality (p.69) is manifested in female rap narratives that subordinate the idea of romantic love (ibid) in favour of material possessions or sex (shunning the intimate). Foxy Brown and Jay-Z explore this explicitly on 1996s Aint No Nigga, with the chorus going:
(Female voice) Aint no nigga like the one I got (Male voice) no one can fuck you betta (Female voice) sleeps around but he gives me alot (Male voice) keeps you in diamonds and leathers (Female voice) friends 'ill tell me I should leave you alone (Male voice) hah hah, hah hah, hah hah, hah ha tell the freaks to find a man of they own In the song Foxy Brown and Jay-Z are involved in a dialogue very much centred around issues of intimacy, sex and gender. Jay-Zs narrative takes the view that while Foxy is thoroughly respected by him, she should not complain about him having sex outside their relationship based on the amount of material goods he continuously gives her. Foxy
Browns reply favours the money and luxury goods she gets out of the relationship more than intimacy or romantic love with Jay-Z. She makes reference to playing a part in his criminal accrual of money... so when you flip24 that coke remember them days you was dead broke but now youre stylin25 and I raised you basically made you into a don flippin weight..heroin and shit ...and by so doing associates herself with the masculine (organized crime/drugs) and this thus serves to justify her lack of a need of intimacy.
24 25
Process and distribute Showing off
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As argued earlier, in the quest for asserting power; black male rappers appropriate the popular stereotypes of them having an inclination to criminality and violence while black female rappers accordingly appropriate the most common stereotype of black womanhoodlasciviousness. Lacking the stock stereotype of criminality and violence, female rappers in rejecting the feminine have begun weaving narratives of drugs, crime and violence into their songs as Lil Kim raps on 2005s All Hail the Queen:
My revolver is a quick problem solver Don't ever think I'm slippin' Bitch I ain't dumb I carry a stun gun inside of my hair bun The gangsta bitch persona is an attempt at levelling the playing field in hip-hop. By including narratives of drugs, violence and crime in their songs, female rappers not only embrace the masculine, but attempt to remove any points of distinction between the genres of female hip-hop and male hip-hop. The gangsta bitch narrative appropriates a hypermasculine space within hip-hop, making sure that any topic male rappers deal with; female rappers can also talk about. The result is not a female angle on crime and violence, but instead a masculine narrative told by females. With rival groups competing within the limited space of hip-hop, masculine traits are taken on in the attempt to gain control of the space. Eves 1999 song Love is Blind is an interesting example of the use of gun violence to attack pathological patriarchy. Eve avenges for her bitchs26death in the hands of her boyfriend by shooting him: See I laid down beside her in the hospital bed And about two hours later, doctors said she was dead Had the nerve to show up at her mother's house the next day To come and pay your respects and help the family pray Even knelt down on one knee and let a tear drop And before you had a chance to get up
26
Used here as a term of endearment
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You heard my gun cock Prayin' to me now, I ain't God but I'll pretend I ain't start your life but nigga I'mma bring it to an end And I did, clear shots and no regrets, never By performing masculinity Eve attempts to disrupt the ills of patriarchy. The domestic violence in the black community that Asbury (1987) blames on black male repressed masculinity is resisted and killed off by Eve. Richardson (2006) urges that texts such as Eves Love is Blind should be read beyond mere negativity and should be seen as a type of hip-hop feminist symbolism (p.60), with black female rappers articulating violence as opposed to victimization.
Like their male contemporaries, female rappers appropriate stereotypes of their sexuality in their performance within the space of hip-hop. Their reclaimed hypersexuality is constructed in their narratives as sign of empowerment, and a tool to challenge black male domination in hip-hop. Furthermore, the quest to be regarded a worthy competitor of male rappers leads the females to shed traits that are viewed within hip-hop as feminine. Thus, for instance, intimacy is rejected in favour of de-stigmatized promiscuity. This masculinization of the female genre also leads to comparable themes of violence, drugs, crime and materialism found in male hip-hop. Despite the exercising of masculinity by black women being the dominant theme in female hip-hop, there is also a concurring challenge of patriarchy and a questioning of the sexual status quo present in female contemporary female rap narratives.
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Chapter 6
Representing the white female in contemporary hip-hop Hess (2007) brings forward the notion that within the black male dominated cultural space of hip-hop whiteness is often used as a source of parody. In music videos such as Nellys Ride Wit Me and Diddys Bad Boy For Life white people are presented as comic relief for the central black characters; they are depicted as dancing off beat and looking out of place in a black dominated space controlled by the rap artist and his posse. The Bad Boy For Life27music video shows rapper Diddy buying a house in Perfectown, USA. His neighbours are all shown to be white, and they seem surprised when his entourage including luxury Mercedes Benz cars drives up and a bevy of black woman troop down his tour bus into the neighbourhood. The curiosity Diddy initially receives from his neighbours turns to interest once they find out he has bikini-clad women dancing in his backyard. Nellys Ride Wit Me28 follows a similar plot of representing whiteness as de-sexualized and unexciting. In the video Nellys friends arrive at a bar with white people singing country music, finding the bar to be dull, they call Nelly and he arrives with a truck load of black women, and the white people join in Nellys party through the night. Comedic as they are, these videos are informed by what we established in the first chapter as a black male desire to control the hip-hop space. The parodying of whiteness serves to present it as less threatening and thus unable to challenge black patriarchy. hooks (1992) states that stereotypes of white folks in the black imagination arise mainly as responses to white stereotypes of blackness (p.341) Thus the response by male rappers to the white stereotype of blackness as more primal, exotic and entertaining (Nagel 2003,
27 28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yd4GG3bed0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtSDWq6HsJE&feature=av2e
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Collins, 2005) is to cast whiteness as mundane, boring and sexually suppressive. Additionally, the stereotype of black males insatiable lust for the white woman (Collins, 2005, Lott, 1999, Pieterse, 1992) leads to a representation of white males lusting after black women. Bad Boy For Life shows a white neighbour peeping over the fence to spy on Diddy. Upon seeing black women in Diddys jacuzzi, the white neighbour looks around to be certain other white people arent watching him before he proceeds to gaze further and appreciate the music. Nellys Ride Wit Me depicts a Midwestern farmer going into the privacy of a public toilet stall in order to gaze at the black female body, symbolized in the magazine he reads entitled Black Boota featuring a black womans buttocks on the cover. Joane Nagel argues in Race, Ethnicity and Sexuality (2003) that dominant races maintain racial hegemony by de-normalizing the sexualities of those they consider others. This is done by either hypo or hyper sexualizing the males and presenting the females as promiscuous. To interpret Nagels theory in relation to hip-hop, we first have to acknowledge the uniqueness of hip-hop as a sub-culture that inverts the dominant social structure of American society, replacing white patriarchy with black patriarchy. Therefore if hip-hop is looked upon as a black space within a white space, we can argue for black people being considered the dominant race. In this case however, this dominant race has arrived at their identities by appropriation of white stereotypes of blackness. Within this black controlled space, black people now get a chance to define and other whiteness. Since the dominant race here already views its masculinity as hypersexualized (through appropriation), in the process of othering whiteness the white male is then hyposexualized and therefore not considered a sexual threat. This hyposexualization of the white male, thus gives the black male the licence for sexual contact his white women. Nagels theory sees the other female represented as promiscuous, and in adapting the theory to hip-hop, this view remains the same. By representing white women as promiscuous, the black male Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations Page 42
disrupts the white patriarchal myth of white women possessing the cardinal virtues of womanhood (Collins, 1991). As an act of cultural resistance, black male rappers construct white femininity in stark opposition from how the dominant white culture represents it. This not only serves to allow sexual access, but is also a counter-hegemonic gesture, an act of cultural rebellion, and a means of maintaining black masculine control of hip-hop. Rapper T.I. single Lets Get Away, and Chingys Balla Baby present an example of the removal of any political power from whiteness. T.I. raps: I'm chilling' with Brazilian women, heavy accents They black friends translatin', got 'em all ass naked, ass chasing... I like chillin' with women who like women Lightskinned... Asians, Jamaicans and white women Indians, Italians, Haitians and Puerto Ricans And Chingy, similarly: I like them black, white, Puerto Rican, or Haitian Like Japanese, Chinese, or even Asian (okay) Don't matter what colour on this occasion By naming white women alongside other exotics that are sexually accessible to them, male rappers remove the white female from the pedestal where she is placed by white patriarchy as the paragon of virginal, or at least good femininity. White women being put in the mix with exotic Asians and Puerto Ricans makes them as sexually available as these traditionally othered women. hooks assertion that there is the assumption that the body of the other will provide a greater, more intense pleasure than any other that exists in the ordinary world (1992 p.24) is supported by examples of rap lyrics that suggest the exceptionality of the sexual experience with a white woman: Lil Wayne- Brand New I can make a black woman scream like she white I can make a white woman scream like mike But before she start screamin she gotta check my mic29
29
Check my mic- perform oral sex
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Plies- Lose My Mind White girls fun, cuz all of them swallow30 DMX- Its All Good I got the white bitches saying: Its a Black Thing Coz I leave that hoe, with no dough and plenty of back pain The representation by male rappers of white women as sexually deviant complicates the oppositional dichotomy of white female/black female in hip-hop. While white female sexuality is being portrayed as debased, there is no oppositional idolization or exaltation of black femininity or sexuality. Black patriarchy in essence represses and controls the bodies of both black and white females within the space of hip-hop. Therefore, regarding sexuality, it is not so much an oppositional dichotomy of black and white females, but more of a parallel dichotomy. With regard to the representation of the body, the promotion through lyrics and music videos of the black womans buttocks does serve to inferiorize the white female body to that of the black female. While both bodies are indeed objectified and controlled, the black female is regarded as aesthetically appealing, and even less sexually explicit hip-hop songs still promote black female body aesthetics as the ideal.31 Sir Mix-A-Lots Baby Got Back although not considered a contemporary song perhaps presents the clearest example of the elevation of black womens bodies at the expense of white women. By identifying the butt as the location of racial/feminine superiority Sir Mix-A-Lot reaffirms the butt as a sexualized sign. His praise of the black butt reverses the dominant view of it as a sexualized sign of ugliness and deviance. Nevertheless, the song ultimately views womens bodies as expendable commodities, and any male defined parameters of attractiveness only provide for more avenues for the control of female bodies.
Swallow- to ingest semen See Dead Prez- Mind Sex, Common- Keith Murray- Candi Bar, The Roots You Got Me Mos Def & Talib Kweli- Brown Skin Lady
31
30
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The butt as a sign of deviance is of particular interest when considering Ludacris lyrics in Blow It Out:
Im the new phenomenon like white women with asses This line, as well as rap group Edubbs song Whooty32 which they describe as a white girl with a booty gives white women possession of a body part that has been historically defined as a sign of black sexual deviancy. In doing so, white women with booties are now as deviant and accessible as black women. This destabilizes the myth of white females as possessing the virtues of true womanhood. In conferring deviant status to white women, black male rappers who have appropriated the myth of their sexual deviance can now easily claim access to the white body as it has been also been made deviant by its attainment of the booty.
This chapter highlights the nuances and contradictions in the black male inverting of white male patriarchal society within the space of hip-hop. Although male hip-hop debases the sexualities of white females, there is no concurrent elevation of black female sexuality. Examining the treatment of whiteness in hip-hop best clarifies this dissertations emergent theory that the representations of black (and white) womanhood originates from struggles to establish and articulate power by black male rappers in hip-hop. Through parody, othering and exoticization of white female sexuality, black males remove the threat of white domination and exercise their ownership of the hip-hop space.
32
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdRnbuwZ7I0&feature=av2e
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Chapter 7
Conclusion The hegemonic appropriation of hip-hop from a fringe sub-culture into the mainstream American popular culture matrix has not only increased its visibility and popularity as a form of music, but it has also increased the interdisciplinary academic scrutiny of the genre. Tricia Roses seminal work Black Noise is regarded as the first major study into the genre, and the thoroughness of her work is manifested in the books continued influence today. This study follows in Roses tradition of exploring issues of gender, sexuality and race in hiphop. As the artists and narratives have changed significantly since 1994 when Black Noise was published it is important to address how these issues are negotiated by contemporary artists. The three analysis chapters discussions on representations of black and white women is premised on the theory developed earlier in this study of hip-hop as a cultural space that is commodified as representative of authentic black culture. Within this male dominated space, rappers perform masculinity in order to assert dominance. The denial of black masculine fulfilment in American society can thus be seen as a foundation for the main narratives in contemporary hip-hop. Materialism, crime, violence and sexuality become outlets for the articulation of power and control. The black male policing of the cultural space of hip-hop leads to a pathological black patriarchy which mimics and exaggerates white American patriarchy. The promotion of black female body aesthetics by male rappers, while significantly counter-hegemonic does not change the dominant representation of women as commodities and sexual objects. Performing masculinity also sees hip-hop narratives construct women as private beings, involved primarily with the domestic; housekeeping, cooking and raising children etc. We have also seen how these domestic representations are
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also woven into narratives of crime and drug-making. Performing masculinity leads to a subjugation of what is considered the feminine half of oppositional dichotomies. Therefore, men are presented as active, public, logical and sexual subjects, with women represented in the inferior halves as passive, private, emotional and sexual objects. Intimacy with a woman is presented as feminine and an emotion that must be repressed by real men. Male hip-hop narratives reject any indication of a surrendering of power, be it financial, sexual or otherwise. Womens sexual power to refuse the advances of men results in narratives of totally powerless women who are controlled by the male rappers money or superior sexual skill. The performance of masculinity is perhaps clearer shown in the chapter dealing with female rappers negotiations of sexuality and gender. Like their male counterparts, financial or sexual power is not surrendered. Courtship narratives represent the woman in the powerful role of the material provider and male supremacy is challenged by representing men as cheats who get kicked out of the female-owned house. The analysis of male and female rap shows an analogous usage of sexuality as a tool to assert power as well as reject intimacy. Female rappers in challenging the male domination of hip-hop enter the space of violence, crime and the drug trade which male rappers define as public and exclusively masculine. Female rappers are thus arguably rejecting womens positions in the weaker halves of oppositional dichotomies. Going back to the centrality of authenticity to hip-hop, the appropriated stereotypes of black female sexuality are essentialized by female rappers with their lyrics promoting them as true black womanhood. Contradictions do however exist in some female rap narratives, such as Trina in Here We Go establishing herself as the financial provider then relinquishing power to her partner regarding the status of their relationship.
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The representation of the white female in hip-hop displays the importance of power in the genre. Hypersexualizing white women is the ultimate act of counter-hegemony in hiphop as it inverts the social norms and structures of the dominant culture it is suspended in. The quest for power leads black male rappers to represent that which white patriarchy has deemed inaccessible to black men as not only accessible but debauched and with an insatiable lust for black men. The representation of white females is produced by the dominant discourse of womens bodies as sexual objects converging with a black male appropriation of deviant sexuality. Sex with the white female in hip-hop serves the dual role of asserting masculine dominance through sexual control of the female as well as exposing the inferiority of whiteness in the hip-hop space. The political power whiteness wields in society is devalued and neutered by the black males abusage of the white female. Ultimately, the need for power in the competitive and limited space of hip-hop can be considered a key factor in generating contemporary rap narratives. Rappers seek to demonstrate power over a rival, power over oppression (expressed as power over the police, or power over the white man) power over the feminine (male rappers using masculinity to express power over women, and female rappers using masculinity to express power over men). The tools in gaining this power include the gun, the dick, the pussy, money or simply just more intricate lyricism than a rival. Ott and Macks (2010) assertion that the real strength of Cultural studies is its concentration on the ever changing dynamic between media texts and the social systems that create them (p.146) is very applicable in the furthering of studies into hip-hop music. Research into the negotiations and representations of Latin and other non-African American identities in hip-hop is an area that can yield further insight into the genre as could intersectional research into non-US hip-hop music.
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Ott, B.L. and Mack, R.L. (2010) Critical Media Studies An Introduction. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell Pieterse, J.N. (1992) White on Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture, Wageningen: Veenman Drukkers. Phillips, L.D. and Stephens, D.P. (2003) Freaks, Gold Diggers, Divas and Dykes: The Sociohistorical development of adolescent African-American womens sexual scripts. Pp.149. Sexuality and Culture. Winter 2003 Pough, G. (2007) Hip-Hop Soul Divas and Rap Music: Critiquing the Love That Hate Produced printed in Hayes, E.M. & Williams, L.F. (Eds) Black Women and Music: More than the Blues, Chicago and Urbana: University of Chicago Press Richardson, E. (2006) Hip Hop Literacies Oxon: Routledge Robinson, V. and Richardson D. (2008) (eds) Introducing Gender and Womens Studies. Basingtoke: Palgrave Macmillan Root, D. (1996) Cannibal Culture: Art, appropriation and the commodification of difference, Boulder, CO: Westview Press Rose, T. (1994) Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Wesleyan University Press: Hanover, NH Samuels, D. (2004) The Rap on Rap: The Black Music that Isnt Either in Forman, M. and Neal, M.A. (eds.) Thats The Joint: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader, New York: Routledge Sharply-Whiting, T.D. (2007) Pimps Up, Hos Down: Hip Hops Hold on Young Black Women, New York: New York University Press Stake, R. (1994) Case Studies in Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Staples, R. (2004) Black Masculinity: The Black Males role in American Society pp.121135 in Murphy, P.F (ed) Feminism and Masculinities. New York: Oxford University Press Tagg, P. (1989) Open-letter: black music, Afro-American music and European music. Popular Music, 8: 285-98 Tate, G. (1997) Funking Intellect Vibe June/July Watkins, S.C. (1998) Representing : hip hop culture and the production of black cinema. Chicago: Chicago University Press Watkins, S.C. (2005) Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement. Boston: Beacon Press
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Young, L. (1999) Racializing Femininity in Arthurs, J. And Grimshaw, J. Womens Bodies: Discipline and Trangression. London: Cassell
Discography Chingy. One Call Away. Jackpot. Capitol. 2003 Chingy. Balla Baby. Powerballin. Capitol. 2004 Chingy. Pulling Me Back. Hoodstar. Capitol. 2006 DMX. Its All Good. Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. Ruff Ryders/Def Jam.1998 Ebony Eyez featuring Slim & Q. Take Me Back. 7 Day Cycle. Capitol. 2005 Edubb. Whooty (White Girl With a Booty) DAM!. 2009 Eve featuring Faith Evans. Love is Blind. Ruff Ryders First Lady. Ruff Ryders. 1999 Fabolous. Welcome to my workplace. Losos Way. Desert Storm/Def Jam J.Cole. Throw It Up The Come Up. 2007. Jacki-O. Pussy (Real Good). Poe Little Rich Girl. TVT. 2004 Jadakiss. You Make Me Wanna. Kiss of Death. Ruff Ryders/Interscope. 2004 Jay-Z featuring Foxy Brown. Aint No Nigga. Reasonable Doubt. Rocafella.1996 Jay-Z . Girls, Girls, Girls. The Blueprint. Rocafella/Def Jam. 2001 Jay-Z. 99 Problems. The Black Album. Rocafella/Def Jam. 2003 Juelz Santana featuring Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy. Make it work for you. What The Games Been Missing. Diplomat/Def Jam. 2005 Juvenile. Rodeo. Reality Check. Atlantic. 2006 Lil Kim featuring Puff Daddy. All Hail The Queen. The Notorious K.I.M. Atlantic. 2000 Lil Wayne. Brand New. The Drought Is Over Part 4. 2007 Ludacris. Blow it Out. Chicken-n-Beer. DTP/Def Jam. 2003 Ludacris featuring Flo Ride. I Know You Got a Man. Battle of the Sexes. DTP/Def Jam. 2010
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Nelly . Luven me. Country Grammar. Universal. 2000 Nelly featuring City Spud. Ride Wit Me. Country Grammar. Universal. 2000 Nelly featuring St. Lunatics. Tip Drill (E.I. The Tip Drill Remix). Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention. Universal. 2003 Nelly. Spida Man. Sweat. Universal. 2004 N.W.A. Fuck Tha Police. Straight Outta Compton. Priority. 1988 P.Diddy featuring Black Rob and Mark Curry. Bad Boy for Life. The Saga Continues...Bad Boy. 2001 Rick Ross. In Cold Blood. Deeper Than Rap. Def Jam. 2009 Rick Ross featuring Ne-Yo. Super High. Teflon Don. Def Jam. 2010 Sir Mix-A-Lot. Baby Got Back. Mack Daddy. Warner Bros. 1992 Snoop Dogg feauturing Lil Jon and Trina. Step Yo Game Up. R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece. Geffen. 2004 T.I. featuring Jazze Pha. Lets Get Away. Trap Muzik. Atlantic. 2003 Trina. Da Baddest Bitch. Da Baddest Bitch. Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic. 2000 Trina featuring Kelly Rowland. Here We Go. Glamorest Life. Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic. 2005 Ying Yang Twins. Pull My Hair. U.S.A. United States of Atlanta. TVT. 2005 Young Jeezy featuring Plies Lose My Mind. TM103. Def Jam. 2010
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Deconstructing The Representations of Black Womanhood and White Female Sexuality in Contemporary Hip-Hop Music

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99 Problems and a Bitch is just one: Deconstructing the representations of black womanhood and white female sexuality in contemporary

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

page 32 page 34 page 36

page 46 page 49 page 52

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

2.1- Gender negotiations and hip-hop

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

2.2- Constructing whiteness as the other in hip-hop

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Two-way pager- mobile device for sending and receiving messages

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Hitting- Having Sex

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Ying Yang Twins- Pull My Hair http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1451446/20011213/jay_z.jhtml 17 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtY2wHs44qI&feature=av2e

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

It must be ya ass, coz it aint ya face I need a tipdrill, I need a tipdrill

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-05-06-forum-nelson_x.htm http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1558664/20070503/2pac.jhtml 19 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgxQhvEDBfk

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Rocks= diamonds Cristal= A brand of expensive champagne by Louis Rouderer

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Process and distribute Showing off

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Used here as a term of endearment

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Check my mic- perform oral sex

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

Julian Ebiye Obubo 2010 MA Media and Public Relations

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