An Examination of Modern Hip-hop

These lyrics to G-Eazy’s “No Limit” Remix are accompanied in the video by rapper A$AP Rocky casually lying down on a mountain of dollar bills as G-Eazy takes us through a dark alley. The focus of the music video in the beginning shifts between A$AP Rocky throwing his bills and the alley until the camera zooms in on the females figures clothed in strips of thongs and bras. Their faces are hidden, but the rest of their bodies are displayed provocatively in front of the camera lens.

Already, in barely 30 seconds of the video, the video has established a crucial image: guys with money and swagger accompanied by half-naked women. It doesn’t matter that we can’t tell any of the girls apart from each other. What matters is that viewers understand the power and influence the male rappers in the music video hold. They have the power, denoted by money; thus, they have all the girls. It is this very image that perpetuate the continuous and underlying issue in hip-hop culture: hypermasculinity.

Hip-hop originated in the late 1970s as a powerful platform for social and political statements. Hip-hop culture is rooted in the oppression and injustice toward Black and Hispanic communities, and its music is a direct vocal expression of Black anger toward these injustices. Works such as “[Expletive] Tha Police” by N.W.A and “White Manz World” by Tupac angrily confront police brutality toward African Americans and echo the injustices toward a black man in a world ruled by white men. Early hip-hop also consists of Gangsta Rap, where the aforementioned artists and other notable people like Ice-T use compelling rap lyrics to provide social commentary on the violence and crimes in their neighborhoods. However, this coherent culture has gone hand in hand with hypermasculinity and misogyny. Hypermasculinity denotes exaggerated masculinity through emphasizing physical strength, virility, and aggression.

But why is hypermasculinity so ingrained in hip-hop culture? Moreover, how are race and class inextricably connected to hypermasculinity? Anti-violence activist Jackson Katz provides an answer to these questions in his books about race, class, and media on the construct of violent masculinity. Katz suggests that machismo in the hip-hop industry is born out of a sense of helplessness against the violence in neglected neighborhoods of color. “If you're a young man growing up in this culture and the culture is telling you that being a man means being powerful…but you don't have a lot of real power, one thing that you do have access to is your body and your ability to present yourself physically as somebody who’s worthy of respect,” he wrote. The physical body, as stated by Katz, becomes a symbol of power that is directly accessible, as opposed to real unattainable power when one lives in a state of instability and violence. Therefore, hypermasculinity in hip-hop, a genre born out of struggle and response to oppression itself, is a shield against the violence and long history of oppression that still remain unresolved.

Male hip-hop artists conform to this exaggerated masculinity through rejecting vulnerability, exuding strength, and maintaining a macho appearance and a tough, harsh lifestyle. Misogyny stems from this culture as male artists continue to portray themselves as physically strong men who are entitled to women and to intercourse with them. As a result, women are degraded as nothing more than subjects of sexual intercourse. Lyrics of modern hip-hop tracks often refer to women in casually derogatory terms, including references to their genitalia, while male power is signified by the reference to male genitals. Derogatory terms for women also become a way for males to debase other male characters and strip them of their manhood, as the female character becomes degraded in the process.

This is best demonstrated in YG’s track, “Handgun,” in which he advised, “All a man gots is his [expletive] and his word / So whatever that man says, he gots to do / And if that [expletive] is yours, protect it by all means.” YG references the male phallus as a physical symbol of masculine power and implies that males are entitled to females (referenced by their genitalia) and are responsible for their well-being. “Powerglide” by Rae Sremmurd similarly emphasizes male dominance through sex with females with lyrics such as “I'ma have that [expletive] on lock like Hulk Hogan (yeah).” Though both artists use females and sex as a way to assert male dominance, neither song demonstrates how females are being degraded in the process of humiliating males. But in “Rake It Up” by Yo Gotti, the word “bitch” is used for the purpose of humiliation. The lyrics state, “I know the bad bitches but know [expletive] who bitches too / They should bleed once a month 'cause that's what these bitches do.” In this example, the word “bitch” is used to imply that the male does not exhibit the characteristics of a man, be it physically or through character. Reference is made to menstruation in attempts of shaming the male for having female characteristics. Not only does this attempt at feminization intend to crush the masculinity, but it also effectively shames women by associating their femininity with the degradation of male character.

In hip-hop music videos and lyrics, females are often objectified as sex symbols. Female dancers featured are often scantily-dressed in "sexy" getups, showing little more than their buttocks and breasts in music videos. Lyrics of songs continue to objectify females as subjects of sex, basing a female’s value on the size of certain feminine body parts. In Kanye West and Lil Pump’s music video, collections of naked, dismembered female statues, were on display as Kanye and Lil Pump walk down through the narrow corridor. In the lyrics of the music video, Kanye raps “I like my [expletive] sucked, I'll buy you a sick truck / I'll buy you some new [expletive], I'll buy you that nip tuck.” Kanye references intercourse and suggests that the act of intercourse can be bought with something of monetary value, and the female’s feelings regarding the intercourse does not need to be considered. Female identity and character are taken out of the picture as their bodies are being taken apart and judged by their male counterpart. These lyrics are outright derogative and damaging to the female body as it becomes apparent that female value is being based upon appearance above all else.

While females are overly sexualized in male artists’ hip-hop videos, female hip-hop artists also seem to conform to the sexualization of their own bodies through their music videos. However, female artists’ productions use sex to their advantage to level the power dynamics previously presented in hypermasculine hip-hop. Whereas females were presented to be subservient and inferior in male hip-hop, female artists chose to present a more fierce, dominant image through sex. For instance, in Motorsport, featuring Cardi B, Cardi raps: “Ride the [expletive] like a BMX / No [expletive] wanna be my ex (no) / I love, when he go on tour / ’Cause he [expletive] more, when I see him less.” In this line, Cardi chooses to present herself as more dominant in sex while sexualizing herself. Males are no longer entitled to have sex with their female counterparts; Cardi presents females with a choice and establishes herself as an equal, if not more dominant.

Female artists are entitled to take liberty in enjoying their sexuality in music productions, and they do, through sexualization. Nevertheless, their choice of sexualization often presents a fantasy-like, unrealistic representation of the female body that adheres to the standards put forward by male hip-hop artists. This brings the audience to question why female artists feel the need to objectify themselves in that manner when they can enjoy their sexuality without conforming to male artists’ unrealistic standards. Perhaps the issue lies within hip-hop still being a largely male-dominated industry. The lack of female artists means that female hip-hop artists must base their artistry upon the already existing standards in male hip-hop. Therefore, the female artists may feel pressured to conform to the only representation of femininity they know and cannot fully enjoy their sexuality without the standards of male hip-hop.

Hypermasculinity also ostracizes communities that are perceived to clash with its stereotypical standards of maleness. Most notably, much of this culture condemns the LGBTQ+ community and continues to stigmatize homosexuality. Homophobic slurs are common in the vocabulary of hip-hop artists who regard homosexuality to be the polar opposite of what hip-hop is trying to embody. Derogatory terms are used as insults to emasculate individuals and are repeatedly employed in the lyrics of hip-hop artists’ music, including music from Eminem and Lil Wayne. Hip-hop artists also like to include the term “no homo” in their raps to reject any homosexual undertone of the lyrics. Hip-hop culture's disdain for homosexuality almost seemed comedic when popular rapper Wiz Khalifa commented that the act of eating a banana is "sus," with sus being “commonly used to denote suspected homosexual tendencies,” because eating a banana could be mistaken as an innuendo for the act of providing oral sex (Urban Dictionary).

Despite the artists’ claims that they are not directly targeting the LGBTQ+ community, hip-hop listeners construe these lyrics as insults to both the community and to the person the slurs were directed to. Fans who do not identify as LGBTQ+ or LGBTQ+ allies recognize that the slurs are derogatory, but they also see the insults being applied in attempts of depriving other rappers of their masculinity. As a result, these non-LGBTQ+ hip-hop fans stigmatize homosexuality and ignore the diversity in the community because to them, the violent masculinity presented in the hip-hop is the norm. Homosexuality juxtaposes strength and power exhibited by masculinity; in the minds of these fans, it is impossible for a male to be strong and gay at the same time. Thus, homosexuality cannot coexist with masculinity.

Hip-hop fans that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community or identify as allies tend to feel uncomfortable when they hear the slurs or homosexuality being referenced without context. They regard the homophobic slurs as a double-edged sword, one that denounces homosexuality to emasculate other artists. Ultimately, whether or not the artist intentionally targets the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t matter because the derogatory slurs used still stereotype homosexuality in the process of shaming other artists. This is highly problematic as the slurs and stereotypes against the LGBTQ+ community do not reflect the struggles the community has faced. As a supporter of the LGBTQ+ movement myself, it is definitely hard to come to terms with hip-hop whenever derogatory terms are used because the history of oppression and violence behind those words is ignored for the sake of feminizing and humiliating other artists.

Aside from its stigmatization of homosexuality and objectification of women, hip-hop's often insensitive racial remarks in songs and cultural appropriation never cease to frustrate me as a listener who does enjoy hip-hop for the most part.

Huge hip-hop artists such as Nicki Minaj and the Migos tend to reduce Asian cultures to stereotypes in their music videos. In “Chun Li,” Nicki presents herself as a Chinese video game character, Chun Li, with chopsticks in her hair and a sexy, exotic take on traditional Chinese clothing. In the music video for “Stir Fry” by Migos, the rap is narrated with a kung fu backdrop in a modern Chinese restaurant setting. In both cases, the lyrics of the song have little to do with the content of the music video besides surface references to an Asian character or cooking technique. The music videos do not focus on exploring and paying homage to Asian culture; instead, both videos reduce Asian cultures to mere stereotypes that strip away Asian values for exoticism.

Hip-hop songs also dig at common Asian stereotypes just for humor, ignoring the disparaging effects of those stereotypes on Asian Americans. Specifically, in Meek Mill's rap “1Am,” Mill references the unique epicanthic eye folds of many eastern Asians: "Got her smokin' on that cookie, now looky, she Chinese." This line further stereotypes Asian Americans by drawing parallels between "Chinese eyes" and squinted, droopy eyes of people who are high. Having grown up among these stereotypes and been mocked over my East Asian ancestry, it is both infuriating and disparaging to see that such a mainstream culture continues to put forward a racist and highly stereotypical portrayal of East Asians.

Given that hip-hop culture is mainstream and highly influential, the toxic masculinity and insensitive, offhand racist remarks have more effect on the modern generation than intended. As hip-hop gains traction internationally, the fundamental purpose of hip-hop as a social platform is often ignored. Rather, cultural exchange in the music industry focuses on the hypermasculinity of hip-hop and appropriates Blackness as the face of perceived masculinity. This is damaging to the Black identity and perpetuates further appropriation of African American culture. Homosexuality will continue to be stigmatized and females will continue to be objectified as international artists attempt to copy what they perceive to be hip-hop.

Combating hypermasculinity in hip-hop culture is easier said than done. Because hypermasculinity is a very physical defense from the ongoing oppression against African Americans and Hispanic communities, oppression is the root issue responsible for the existence of hypermasculinity in hip-hop. There is also a history of hypermasculinity in our culture. Boys have always been told that they must be tough in public and remove themselves from feelings like empathy, which are perceived to be a sign of vulnerability. It’s important to continue fighting the oppression against Black and Hispanic minorities and reversing gender stereotypes to end hypermasculinity and homophobia in hip-hop culture.

It is also important to encourage gender diversity in hip-hop industry despite the self-objectification of female artists. The fact that females are able to work their way up to succeed in a male-dominated industry is a living contradiction to hypermasculinity and misogyny. Having more females in the industry means that they are less bound by the problematic standards applied to women by male hip-hop artists. Females can construct their own confidence in their sexuality and portray a more realistic image of the female body without sexualization based on fantasy. And while cultural appropriation is certainly not only an issue present in hip-hop or the music industry in general, the need for cultural appropriation can be addressed if the significance of culture is emphasized in education and media. Most importantly, modern-day hip-hop must not forget the root of hip-hop as a platform against oppression before reducing the genre to videos and lyrics of that sexualize females, fetishize culture, and conform to machismo.