Outline:

Introduction 3

Looking at men 4

Looking at women 8

Conclusion 14

Bibliography 15

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Introduction:

In this essay I want to take a close and broad look at sexism in rap music.

There are many questions that have to be asked. One would be, in which ways rap music is sexist at all, how do rap lyrics degrade women. Therefore one has to take a look at the texts of rap music. One has to take a look at the lyrics. This is what I will do in the first part of the essay. I will present some lyrics and without difficulties show the misogynistic elements in them. But this i s only one component of this first part of the essay. I will also focus on the other issues that are directly concerned with men. As a premise I understand sexism as primarily coming from men directed at women. Of course by this I don’t mean that rappers are speaking directly to the women they degrade or that they speak exclusively to them. They speak primarily to fellow men, whereas they of course know that their music will also be heard by women. What I mean is that wherever sexism is it is primarily originated by men and it degrades women. That’s why, as a kind of groundwork, I will talk about the issues concerning men at first. Here I will discuss what the reasons for sexism could be. In the second part of the essay I will focus on the other side, on the side sexism is directed at. Here I will take a look at the women. I will do this especially in two respects. At first I will take a look at female rappers. One important question here is: how do female rappers answer their male counterparts misogynistic messages in their lyrics? Another topic of importance is the relationship between male and female rappers. Here a distinction has to be made between what female rappers think of sexist males and how they respond to the issue in public. We will see that the y on the one hand condemn what male rappers do but one the other hand don’t condemn them in public. We will have to see what the reasons for this contradictory behavior are. Another group of women should not be forgotten. These are the ones who are willingly supporting sexist stereotypes, women who more or less fit the descriptions of misogynistic accusations. I am talking about groupies and the young women who are dancing half- naked and sexually stimulating in music videos. Above I said consciously that sexism is primarily coming from men. But I will emphasize that women also play an important role, that they sometimes provoke

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sexism. Nevertheless, there are of course also reasons why women behave like this, why they fulfill misogynistic accusations. And throughout the essay it will have become evident that the reason why there is so much sexism in rap lyrics and the reason why women provoke sexism are identical. They lay in the historical past of the African American community.

I will close the essay with a conclusion. Here I will summarize my findings

and state my own opinion. I will also make some remarks on the music industry and its role in the fight against sexism. If one wants to fight sexism in rap music, and everybody should want to, first of all the situation of African Americans has to be changed. Then sexism will slowly vanish.

Looking at men:

Move bitch, get out the way

Get out the way bitch, get out the way Move bitch, get out the way Get out the way bitch, get out the way (from Ludacris, Word of Mouf, Move Bitch)

The cited chorus from Ludacris’ “Move Bitch” is a typical example of sexist lyrics in rap music. Evelyn McDonell says about this song, even though it was a great driving anthem, that “To female listeners, Ludacris’ swagger becomes n ot emboldening, but threatening” (McDonell). And she has reason to think so. In “Move Bitch” two things are coming together. Calling women names is one part of the misogyny very common in rap music. In rap songs women are often referred to as “bitches” or “hoe’s”. This alone is sexist and degrading women. But in “Move Bitch” there is also another sexist element present that is to be found very often in rap lyrics. There is aggression and violence mentioned, which is directed towards a women. The “bitch” has to “go out the way”. The same type of sexism, even more blatantly, is to be found in the song “A Bitch is A Bitch” by N.W.A.. Here rapper Ice Cube raps: “Bitch eat shit ‘n die” (N.W.A., N.W.A & The Posse, A Bitch is A Bitch). Violence against women can n ot be articulated (and promoted?) more

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vigorously or straightforwardly. The question arises what attitudes a woman must have to be called a “bitch”. In the end of the same song this is being explained in a nutshell. Interestingly the words are directed at a female audience:

There you have it. the description of a bitch. now ask yourself, Are they talking about you? are you that funky, dirty, money-hungry, Scandalous, stuck-up, hair piece contact wearing bitch? yep, you Probably are.

(N.W.A., N.W.A & The Posse, A Bitch is A Bitch; emphasis is my own)

As we see here, the women who are hated by these rappers, or to be more precise, the women who are hated by the first person narrators, are promiscuous, phony, materialistic liars. The whole song “A Bitch is A Bitch” is about this. It is about explaining what a “bitch” is. Since N.W.A are widely regarded as the first and at least as one of the most important gagster rap groups, the category of rap music, where violence, drug abuse and misogyny are most prominent, we should take some time to look at their lyrics a little closer. In “A Bitch is Bitch” it is explained that there are women who are lying to men in order to get expensive presents and money. That is supposedly all they care about: money and how they look, that they look good. This is also to be found in another song by N.W.A. This is from “I Ain’t tha One”:

See I'm from the street, so I know what's up

On these silly games that's played by the women I'm only happy when I'm goin up in em But you know, I'm a menace to society But girls in biker shorts are so fly to me So I step to em, with aggression Listen to the kid, and learn a lesson today See they think we narrow minded Cause they got a cute face, and big-behinded So I walk over and say "How ya doin?" See I'm only down for screwin, but you know ya gotta play it off cool Cause if they catch you slippin, you'll get schooled And they'll get you for your money, son Next thing you know you're gettin their hair and they nails done Fool, and they'll let you show em off

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