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!
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.
