GWSS blog post #2

Moeilealoalo Tafisi

    For this weeks reading we read Young Kevin's article "Final Chorus: Planet Rocket" and Aisha Durham's essay "The Stage Hip-Hop Feminism Built: A New Directions Essay".  During these readings I noticed that there are many similarities between the two readings.  Both talk about how hip-hop and rap has had a huge impact on the world.  Both became very popular back then because of unique instrumentals and beats along with unique rappers and vocalists.  The style of rap has very much grown very popular in the music industry.  They both also talk about the kind of lyrics that are being used in these hip-hop songs and all usually have a common goal.  "Hip-hop's focus on both its poor and its inevitable rich future knows this: one raps of being rich in order to become rich." Kevin (315)

    However, Durham's essay primarily focuses on hip-hop feminism.  In her essay she talks about how women are being portrayed as objects or just thrown on the side of the stage. However, the music industry are now eliminating and fighting the gender norms. Many women artists are becoming known and famous.  We can now see that hip-hop culture is growing for everyone, no matter the gender or race.  We can now see that "hip-hop feminism's deliberate and differential engagements with its past, present, and future represent some of its most exciting directions." Durham (730)  

    These readings were very interesting to see how hip-hop has changed the music industry.  It is becoming even more popular when eliminating the boundaries of gender and race norms.  For example, Eminem is white rapper who became famous because of his voice and lyrics.  When people first heard of Eminem, many thought he was black because of the way he talks and raps.  Another one is Doja Cat who is an African American singer/rapper who is known for her meme songs.  Many who first heard her songs thought it was a joke, because it was a joke.  Cat first started to make meme songs and just had fun.  She eliminated the stereotypical African American rapper that talked about women, money, and drugs and just had fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJO5HU_7_1w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXnJqYwebF8

GWSS Blog Post #2

mintgreenelephant

Blog Post 2

5/4/20

In her journal article, “Histories and "her stories" from the Bronx: excavating hidden hip hop narratives,” Oneka LaBennett argues that “hip hop's "creation story" is one that marginalizes the role of women like Cindy [Campbell], instead presenting men as miraculously giving birth to the hip hop infant with little help from women” (LaBennett). She claims that women’s influences in hip hop, and arguably all genres, have been made to be invisible in the historical narrative of music. In the case of Cindy Campbell, the party that was known as the origin of hip hop was credited to her brother, DJ Kool Herc, without any mention of her significant role in the party’s creation. This story of erasure is also present through hip hop’s culture and its inability to accept female artists as hip hop artists.

LaBennett’s claims are supported by Kyle Fleck’s article “The Rise of Seattle Hiphop: An Incomplete Timeline of How Rap Replaced Rock as Seattle's Dominant Musical Force.” He writes that “The godfather of the local rap scene, along with Sir Mix-A-Lot, ... was unquestionably radio DJ Nasty Nes” (Fleck). With this, there is a glaring lack of recognition for women artists that influenced the beginning of the Seattle hip hop scene. This shows how creation stories of local hip hop scenes are also exclusive to women. Towards the end of the article, however, Fleck does briefly mention the female artists/groups: Gifted Gab, THEESatisfaction and DoNormaal who have influenced the genre more recently.


DJ Selections:

Salt-N-Pepa - Shoop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vaN01VLYSQ

Salt-N-Pepa are unapologetic and demanding of respect as hip hop artists, incorporating feminist themes into their music, while being extremely influential in shaping hip hop’s sound (within a male dominated genre). Their song Shoop is an example of how Salt-N-Pepa flipped the narrative of men singing about their desires towards women to women singing about their desires towards men.

Beyoncé - Formation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDZJPJV__bQ

Beyoncé’s album Lemonade demonstrates the impact that women artists can have on contemporary hip hop, and how the narrative of influential artists to the genre is changing. Her song formation incorporates messages about black female empowerment alongside symbols of black wealth and police brutality.

GWSS Individual Blog Post 2

Matthew Trajano

Individual Blog Post #2

05/06/2020

Theresa Riley's interview with Jeff Chang in "Still Fighting the Power" highlights some interesting ideas about how hip-hop influences black people, and what the culture can perpetuate in of itself through rap music. Riley noted that Chuck D famously said that rap music is the “CNN for black people”, and Chang elaborated, saying that rap was reaching the youth that felt they were being unrepresented. “I think since then he would say that it’s become CNN for marginalized young people all around the world,” Chang said in the interview. I think with hip hop and rap with its far-reaching influence, it does play a part to push this idea of being “hard” and these constructs of hypermasculinity in hip hop and rap, especially from the artists noted in “Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes”. In the documentary, some big names such as Nelly, 50 Cent, Ja Rule, and Busta Rhymes had often perpetuated these ideas. Chuck D said that through the structures of selling music to black manhood, that if corporations can put “soul in a bottle, then you can put manhood in a bottle, and show the bottle and advertise it.” The ways in which masculinity is being sold on the radio during this time continues to perpetuate idealistic depictions of what a black man should be and should care about.

In learning about these ideas of manhood in hip hop and rap, I think about how Lil Nas X has created discourse for what constitutes hip hop, as well as discussions for country music. His hit “Old Town Road” launched Lil Nas X to unfathomable heights, and he famously came out as gay with the launch of his song "Closure". This was a big moment for the hip hop industry that had a space for a gay artist since its inception. I also thought about hip hop artists that have tried to have realistic depictions of the harsh realities in the ghetto and gang culture, and that brought me to Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright”, which is in stark contrast to the ways rappers discuss these ideas in the early 2000s.

Lil Nas X, "Closure"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLgxYjZEflI
Kendrick Lamar, "Alright"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-48u_uWMHY

GWSS Individual Blog Post 2

Sara Gustafson

Individual Blog Post #2

5-06-2020

Cooper et al.’s essay “The Stage Hip-Hop Feminism Built” introduces hip hop feminism
as an idea that embodies aspects of gender, race, and sexuality. The authors address
intersectionality in mentioning that Nicki Minaj was ridiculed for her bisexuality. In
response to the backlash she “[used] one of her personas to recite the homophobic
hip-hop slur ‘no homo’,” (725). With this musical expression, Minaj addresses social
issues around sexuality. In Kyle Fleck’s Stranger article “The Rise of Seattle Hip Hop,”
there is little evidence of women in the scene’s creation. Though–a short 30 years later–
THEESatisfaction enters the scene with “ass-shaking self-affirmation,” (Fleck). With the
emergence of hip hop feminism in Seattle came intersectional notions of black women
empowerment. I believe hip hop feminism’s emphasis on intersectional issues is inspiring
and the driving force that connects both readings. 

In learning about hip hop feminism, I think about how Lizzo and Doja Cat musically
demonstrate intersectional feminist issues. Lizzo’s “Tempo” discusses how society views
the size of women. The song features Missy Elliot who says, in reference to her size, “look
at me I know I look good.” This song gives women a chance to love their bodies no matter
their size. Doja Cat’s “Boss Bitch” challenges gender inequality. Stating that she “[wears]
the hat and [wears] the pants,” indicates that she is taking the traditional powerful role away
from men and distributing it evenly among women. She uses bitch and boss as a singular
identity to take back the once, derogatory name used against women.

“Boss Bitch” by Doja Cat – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsW66teC0BQ

“Tempo” by Lizzo (feat. Missy Elliot) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srq1FqFPwj0

AFRAM Blog #2

Madison Pike

In this week’s readings, we looked at issues of sex, gender, and race within popular music. Starting with the “Powers Spy in the House of Love” article, the idea that “American popular music has been the culture’s major vehicle for the free and open expression of erotic desire” was brought to our attention. As I have learned in this class as well as other studies in popular music, musicians are always trying to push the boundaries on the topic of sex in their music. For example, the song Louie Louie by The Kingsman rose an enormous amount of buzz due to their promiscuous lyrics. Although it doesn’t seem to racy in today’s standards, the sexual metaphors used created extensive buzz around the popular hit. 

The article also talks about feminism and pop music saying, “because American sex is fundamentally sexist, so is American music.” This stood out to me because it seems to be a major issue in the genre that I am most familiar with; hip hop. However, the culture around this popular genre of music is so sexist that it is expected that the music won’t change until the culture around it changes. I think some musicians are wanting to do the opposite and make music change the sexist patriarchy around it. We can see this with musicians such as Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and other proclaimed feminists in today’s industry. 

Our other article, “The Right to Rock” by Daphne Brooks discusses the idea of “racialized musical encounters.” For me, this made me think about the way we categorized different races into different genres, most of the times unknowingly. We are surprised when people break the preconceived ideas.

Gatekeeper Jessie Reyez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0G2TmuDjL8

In this song Jessie gives a big middle finger to the sexist, male dominant patriarchy in the music industry. She talks about the “gatekeepers” that they see women as objects for sex and control them with their money and power. She fights against these ideals and her strong values have not only given her much success, but also empowered other women to stand up for themselves. 

AFRAM #2: The Lies They Tell

Danisha Jefferson-Abye

There is seemingly a difference in the how the story developed…. The white acquisition of Rock music, that is. Race is used as a social construct all around the world and has, since White people began colonialism. However, when it came to White people mimicking Black Rock music in the 1960’s, there appears to be a difference in how it was executed in the United Kingdom, versus America. 

In the article, How Rock and Roll Became White by Jack Hamilton, he points out how in America, the “story” about how the genre essentially “fell into the hands” of white people, was because “black music effectively self-segregated” (Hamilton) and excluded White people from the party. This, as he points out “places the onus of separation on the black performers” (Hamilton). There is no recollection of Jim Crow and how music venues were segregated, or of how Black performers were unsafe even touring through certain parts of the country. There was no mention of the racism of White parents that disallowed their teenagers from listening to or purchasing records by Black musicians. There was no mention of all the Black artists that sang in the shadows behind white proxy’s pretending to be the source of the talent. In America, Rock was supposed to have had White roots. There was a desire to either erase the history or “blame the victims” of the thievery. This way, White Rock was seen as legitimate. 

In Europe, the origin story goes a bit differently. Holland points out that “white performers’ proximity” (Hamilton) to black artists provided a sense of legitimacy to White Rockers in the U.K., attempting to emulate the Black Sounds coming out of America. Their approach included having Black musicians on stage with them as a means to legitimize themselves, as well as give credit to Black ‘influencers’ in interviews and such. Artists such as Mick Jagger, Led Zepplan, Elton John, Joe Cocker, Humble Pie, David Bowe all had Black (typically female) back up singers as a means to gain legitimacy and possession through proximity to those who birthed the genre.  

While the strategy was different, the ultimate goal was the same- make White Rock legit. Once that happened, the sky became the limit. Black Rock music had been exploited to a point of no-return. 

GWSS Blog Post 2

Monique Sternik

When reading Kevin Young’s article “Final Chorus: Planet Rock” and Aisha Durham’s “The Stage Hip-Hop Feminism Built: A New Directions Essay”, I found various similarities between the two publications. Both expressed high remarks to the genre of rap and the origination of many lyrical masterpieces, such as NWA’s “F*ck tha Police”. However, Aisha Durham’s focused primarily on hip-hop feminism and how they are asking new questions on representation in the hip-hop genre. Durham constantly addressed that many women are staying on the sidelines on a stage they or “we” built. However, that is no longer the case. Many are fighting against the gender norms of the music industry. Fortunately, “Hip-hop feminism’s professed goal of giving us a more elastic way of talking about gender relations can provide a useful lens with which to view this continuing reliance on normative notions of respectability as the primary way to understand gender and sexual politics in the public sphere.” (726) This is why many artists are now “coming out” to the world and expressing their beliefs whether they get hate or not. Additionally, I found it interesting that both readings discussed the importance of body language in hip-hop. Young expressed there is “a realization that the voice can be physical, and that speech isn’t just spoken but uttered by a body language or by black wax” (322) This is why records are so important in the genre. Additionally, “Newer studies in hip-hop feminism focus not only on text-based cultural criticism but also increasingly on performative, ethnographic account that describes hip-hop as embodied lived culture.” (727) How an artist performs has meaning and brings more light to what they are speaking. These prophets of rage are not only sticking up for themselves but sticking up for freedom.

There are two songs I want to add to our playlist, J Cole’s “Lights Please” and “None of Your Business” by Salt-N-Pepa. I really feel “Lights Please” speaks for many African American Men in the genre and how reality if often against them. J Cole speaks on the negatives of stardom and how many problems are still occurring in the world today. In “None of Your Business”, Salt-N-Pepa expresses the daily challenges of being a woman and the lack of respect we get daily. This song speaks high truth and shows women the importance of self-praise and independence.

Lights Please: J Cole https://youtu.be/-dyPeGDeS3o

None of Your Business: Salt-N-Pepa https://youtu.be/r2j-djuqUeY