Rap and Hip Hop music is usually consumed by teens and young adults. It is thought to be a more urban genre due to its content, which often describes living in poverty, gang activity, violence, drug use, and often also refers to rising above these things and achieving financial power and respect. The energy and power associated with these types of music is very attractive to American youth culture, and the rap industry is thriving and highly influential. This music is opposed by older generations for its offensive content, favorable positioning of violent conflict resolution, and blatant references to sex. African Americans may also oppose this type of music because it paints a very single minded, often derogatory picture of Black culture.

Eric K. Watts, in “An exploration of spectacular consumption: Gangsta rap as cultural commodity,” questioned why rap music is able to be marketed in this country despite its content, which is often deemed inappropriate. He notes that Gangsta rap narratives often discuss African American male identity and their social experience. These narratives talk about living in urban America and making ends meet. The demographic that identifies with this music is primarily urban, black youth. They relate with the references to ’street’ as well as ‘indecent’ behaviors and understand the circumstances which drove their favorite artist to take part in the confrontations, illegal activities, and uplift material possessions. The idea of making ends meet is a desired theme of rap music fans and valued because it shows opportunity for everyone. Wearing similar jewelry and clothing, as well as owning  CD’s from their favorite rapper, makes urban youth feel that they are one step closer to success and power and this group creates a huge market for cultural products of the rap industry. 

Somehow this genre, which most would guess was alienating to a majority of the country, has gained mass appeal. When observed through a critical lens, one starts to notice that the issues discussed in rap narratives often coincide with larger American culture values such as consumerism and the love of material wealth. Young people in any demographic group are able to latch on to the common thread of materialism and rebellion and are then able to relate to rap music and its content. According to Watts, young people “can share in an artist’s attempt to ‘live large’ by replicating and consuming the imagery”.  Those who live a life style similar to that which is referenced in rap music relate to the idea of the rapper being a product of the ’street;’ but White American youth, as well as other demographics, are able to relate to this genre’s general principals, because rap songs have powerful messages that draw a mass audience in.

  Watts refers to a term called spectacular consumption, which he claims leads Americans to “over-value, and sell the ’street’ orientation”. Even though many young people may not live an urban lifestyle, the popularity of this culture causes youth to value it anyway. Rap music has achieved enough popularity and power to be considered ‘cool’ and sell. Watt argues that “hard-core rap artistry participates in a complex and fluid set of economic exchange relations among the lived experiences of artists, the operations of a consumer culture, and the dictates of rap music industry.” He also notes that racially provocative material sells and that black cultural artifacts are currently considered ‘trendy.’ Overall, the mass production of rap and hip hop music and the promotion of its products, coinciding with the values and messages of its artists, lead this genre to be one of the most consumed in American pop culture today.

I will be considering Lady Sovereign and Lil’ Mama’s overall presentation of race in hip-hop and rap music.  This will be done by critiquing their style, musical lyrics, and comparing them to a theory of “discursive practices.”  In the Storey   text, Herman Gray mentions three discursive practices of contemporary television representations of Blackness. These three practices include pluralist, assimilationist, and multiculturalist. 

Keeping in mind the pictures above, these two female hip-hop artists do not seem that different.  The one thing that I find stands out is Lil’ Mama’s use of hats and extra jewelry to portray her more urban roots.  These symbols make connections to African American stereotypes of “ghettoness.”  With this said and their genre of music being hip-hop, these women are still shown wearing a considerable amount of make-up.  Through their clothing and general appearance, they are representations of feminist and critical race theory critique.

 As for their music… Check out their MySpace pages!

***Lil Mama’***

***Lady Sovereign***

This is where the two artists diverge from one other.  The topics that Lady Sovereign and Lil’ Mama rap about are different, not completely, but none the less.  Lady Sovereign talks about her English roots and Lil’ Mama about her ‘hard’ past.  It also seems as if Lady Sovereign is unable to rap about the same things that Lil’ Mama is.  Whenever a White person mentions being from the ‘hood,’ questions and looks normally follow; which illustrates Gray’s discursive practices.

            With the three discursive practices mentioned, I see rap and hip-hop to be multiculuralist, for African Americans.  Multiculturalist is the practice of diversity with an emphasis on mobility and individualism.  Blacks are free to move around, grow, and be themselves, no longer suppressed by the White culture.  In this case, diverse settings are presented and blacks are welcome and more likely to include their own culture and past in these texts.  Blacks live their own lives as Americans, not highlighted as Black Americans.  Rap and hip-hop can be seen as an example of this because it originated in the African American community; the music is their own or a part of their heritage.  Blacks are not constrained by other races when making this music.  Quite ironically, I find that those of the White race are constrained through rap and hip-hop music.  They are unable to speak about the same topics and even criticized if they try to dress and act in the same manner as those in the Black community. When White Americans take on the persona of Black American, whether in the music industry or not, they are often designated as a ‘wigger,’ which is essentially a White person taking on the characteristics of an Black person.  

            When looking at rap and hip-hop through a critical race lens, one is able to see a paradox.  Those of the White race, including Lady Sovereign, are trying to step foot into the African American domain of popular music.  They are trying to achieve status through aligning themselves closely with the characteristics, persona, and dress of Black celebrities. This is not completely cohesive because White Americans did not grow up as African Americans and are unable to refer to those childhood hardships in their lyrics.  Thus, Lil’ Mama is able to portray herself as a strong black woman, who has been through a lot and is ready to take on more.  Whereas, Lady Sovereign portrays her race as more uptight and concerned with her looks, her music also includes deviations to a dance beat, as opposed to a hard rap driven beat.

It seems that black youths tend to assimilate to the rap culture’s definition of Black masculinity if they begin to associate themselves with the artists and their struggles.  Overall, the rap culture seems to be fairly pluralistic in nature. It tends to be Afro-centric and express pride in being African American while rejecting those African Americans that do not identify with the rap culture. This alienates potential fans of this music who are not African American. However, the spectacle of the genre, trendiness of Black culture, and the power and rebellion expressed in the lyrics of many songs gives white youth cause to continue to listen to this music. Often, this genre dispels women, because there is a strong male dominance within this music and often women are seen as objects. In music videos for this genre women are usually props and in the lyrics of these songs women are over sexualized and easily won over by money and gifts.

Overall,  a rich niche group exists that relates to the content of this music, which tends to value African Americans as a group. On the other hand, the genre has experienced great popularity and pull with many young people who may not relate as easily because the culture valued by rap artists and their lyrics has been deemed cool and therefore being a rap fan is cool. Hip Hop still has a great impact on society even though it’s lyrics often contain content that applies more to those who live an urban lifestyle. It is so commonly played on pop radio stations that its influence is widespread and its appeal goes across many races and socioeconomic groups. Because the artists rap about going from having nothing to having money and power these desires in listeners draw them into this type of music.

When you think of jazz and the blues, hip hop is not the immediate genre of music that comes to mind.  But, these musical forms lay the foundation for popular hip hop music today.  The blues and jazz are considered black musical forms, brought to America during the period of slavery.  The music caught attention from all races, and other genres of popular music were born.  Hip-Hop artists often mention jazz and blues singers as being their idols for their careers.  The singers they idolize were brought into this country initially as black bodies to work for white people.  This fact directly relates with the production and distribution of hip-hop music.

“Black musical forms have been ‘the juice’ that has driven American musical expressions, and whites have gotten rich off it” (Kelley).  Hip-Hop music is under direct control of whites, and is also purchased by mostly white adolescents.  You may argue that black artists have their own recording companies and produce their own material.  The truth is, black artists are controlled by white recording companies.  For example, Dr. Dre and Knight created Death Row Records.  But, this recording company would be inexistent if it were not for Interscope.  Interscope was founded by Jimmy Lovine and Ted Fields.  They control the distribution of Hip-Hop music and many other forms.  While, black-owned production companies do make millions of dollars each year, they do not control the key component of the “music-making nexus.”  This key component is distribution.  Death Row records responds to the demands of the major labels for a marketable product.  In turn, these major labels (ie: Interscope) respond to the demands of the audience.  In the case of popular hip-hop music, this audience is young and white, accounting for 66% of listeners of popular hip-hop.

Norman Kelley explains the reasoning behind this situation.  He says, “the war for control of black music was won years ago by corporate America, aided by black leadership that has never understood the cultural and economic significance of its own culture.”  If black leaders had realized their music, jazz & the blues, spawned a $12 million music industry in the US, the hip-hop scene may be completely different.  Instead, the music is controlled by white recording companies.

Kelley discusses the idea of neocolonialism while making this argument.  Neocolonialism refers to products “produced in a raw periphery, sent to the imperial motherland, finished into commodities, and sold in metropolitan centers or colonies.”  This stunts the economic growth of the raw periphery because here there is a lack of ability to engage in manufacturing products for its own need and export.  I’ll explain.  Hip-hop music is typically produced in inner cities (the raw periphery), the music is finished in a recording studio, turned into commodities through the major record labels, and sold to the suburbs.  The inner city where the music was initially produced does not reap the benefits of their production.

These ideas of the production and consumption of hip-hop music relate directly to the critical theory of Political Economy.  Scholar, Bourdieu, claims, “Consumption is predisposed consciously and deliberately or not, to fulfill a social function of legitimizing social difference.”  He is not interested in what the differences are, rather how these differences are used by the dominant class as a means of social production.

Corporate America is the dominant class, and they dominate the production of hip-hop music, even though without the black musical roots of jazz and blues, there would not be a $12 million industry to distribute.

Norman, K. (2002).  The Political Economy of Black Music.  Canada: Akashic Books.

“Since their inception, music videos have evolved as a postmodern, commercially successful, and engaging variety of popular media. Through images and sound, music videos both construct culture, and are an ‘expression of culture’” (Williams, 2003). With this expression of culture, especially in the hip-hop genre, involves the women being used as sex symbols to bring in viewers. For example, for strip clubs and gentlemen clubs, there is usually a picture or figure of a woman to advertise to the public there are women to be seen. This is similar to the music videos produced by most hip-hop artists, the music video not only advertises a certain kind of music but also a lifestyle (Moncrief, 2004). This lifestyle that is sold through hip-hop music videos persuade viewers that women are desirable and are the visual need for most men.

The persuasion of viewers to see women as that sex symbol not only affect the men, but also the women who see these videos as well. “Images women see of themselves on television may adversely affect the way they see themselves and what they can and should aspire to” (Clory, 2001). This impact on women can also be linked to the use of eating disorders that women use to lose weight, but that is for another topic (Smolak & Levine, 1996). Women see these videos and think that they are supposed to let the men control their actions and that they have to dance like a stripper.

Women are used as decorative objects in music videos, this is becoming more apparent as the videos become much more flagrant and advanced. Sherman and Dominick (1986) concluded that, women were more likely to wear revealing clothing than men. Music videos have also portrayed Black females participating in more sexual behavior than other groups (Brown & Campbell, 1986). In a study conducted by Moncrief (2004), data showed that women portrayed in both the rock and country music genres are far less sexualized, proving that hip-hop music videos use women as attractions, or visually appealing objects. “Overall, hip-hop primary and supporting video figures revealed the most body parts” (Moncrief, 2004).

The images and representations approached by Betty Friedan can also be applied. Friedan described her study with images in women magazines during the WWII: “’Why is it never said,’ Friedan observed, ‘that the really crucial function, the really important role that women serve as housewives, is to buy more things for the house’ (p. 206)” (Storey, 2009). Friedan saw the images as what they really meant, not entertainment or visual appeal, she gave a caption to what the images were really meant to say, she gave them a representation. The visual representations that women in hip-hop encompass aid in developing stereotypic constructions of women as sexual objects. Women in hip-hop music videos are expected to show cleavage, dance, shake their butt, and possibly include sexual innuendos like licking their tongues, grabbing their butt or showing skin in places usually unexposed. These images are why the dominant conception of women in hip-hop music videos consists of the terms- ‘hoe,’ ’stripper,’ and sometimes ‘victim.’

The way women express themselves in these music videos are not how younger viewers should be learning to represent themselves. The young women of our world today should be viewing women as independent, strong, and capable of protecting themselves. A great representation of how women should be seen in music videos would be the music video ‘Irreplaceable’ by Beyonce. This video depicts how Beyonce protects herself from a man who cheated on her and also represents her as being a strong, young female empowered to take care of herself. Teaching young women how to carry themselves in a respectful and appropriate manner leads to those women knowing how to protect themselves and having respect for themselves.

 Beyonce’s “Irreplacable” video:

Click here to view the embedded video.