When Will the Misogyny Towards Girls in Hip-Hop Finish?

On Nov. 4, 2022, Drake and 21 Savage dropped their extremely anticipated joint mission, “Her Loss.” Upon first hear, I discovered it to be a commendable addition to their respective portfolios. However then I delved deeper into the mission, and I got here throughout one thing strikingly unsavory as Drake threw passive-aggressive shade at everybody on the report — particularly the livelihood of three Black girls: Megan Thee Stallion, Serena Williams, and Ice Spice. One of many Licensed Lover Boy’s most vicious bits embrace his lyrics not directly — however clearly — directed at Megan: “This b*tch lie bout gettin bout’ pictures however she nonetheless a stallion / She do not even get the joke however she nonetheless smilin’.”

In December 2022, Tory Lanez was discovered responsible of three felony counts (assault with a semiautomatic handgun; carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a car; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence) for capturing Megan in July 2020. The incident was — and continues to be — the topic of tabloid fodder and assume items because the he-said-she-said initially performed out. Amongst these extra considerate reactions was writer Treva B. Lindsey’s tactful breakdown of the general public notion of the incident in her 2022 breakthrough e book, titled “America, Goddam.” “Meg’s statements about being shot in her foot have been scrutinized, derided and dismissed by a substantial variety of folks,” she wrote. “Her choice to share her reality was prompted by a barrage of jokes, silence from many throughout the common music trade, and a palpable lack of sympathy. Folks laughed, looked for causes to not imagine her and even dabbled in trans misogynoir to justify the violence that had befallen the younger star. Her ache did not matter.”

Unironically, these folks Lindsey mentions now embrace Drake, who — as somebody with important notoriety and international affect — ought to know higher than to weaponize his platform to tear down Black girls. this newest offense, it is clear that hip-hop has made no progress in addressing its decades-long, unrelenting situation with misogynoir. As a result of Drake, in fact, is not the one hip-hop artist taking pictures at Black girls by means of music.

There’s DaBaby. Lanez. There’s Blueface. Add to that a complete subsection of smaller artists who take part on this gross behavior. Whereas it isn’t my job to play decide or jury, because the little one of a Black girl, I am an avid believer that somebody should maintain the boys in hip-hop accountable. All of it begs the query: how can we reckon with this controversial development, particularly alongside at the moment’s feminist-driven panorama?

First, we have to discover the roots of the issue, as a result of, make no mistake, misogyny in hip-hop is not simply now making a comeback — it by no means left. Let’s revisit, for instance, revered hip-hop trailblazer Dr. Dre. Behind his excellent accolades lies a stain of alleged discrimination in opposition to a myriad of girls.

Dee Barnes, a journalist and MC who’s most recognized for being a number on “Pump It Up!,” an early-’90s hip-hop-oriented present on Fox, says she was attacked by Dre on Jan. 27, 1991. In an op-ed printed by Gawker in 2015, Barnes recounted the incident by which she alleged Dre beat her with reckless aggression. Whereas Dre publicly apologized for his actions following the op-ed, for a lot of, it was too a few years too late. However in the end, it was only a blip on Dre’s Hollywood timeline. In actual fact, he was simply honored with an award that now bears his title on the 2023 Grammys: the Dr. Dre World Affect Award.

“Everyone needs to separate the artwork from the artist, and generally that is simply not potential,” Barnes mentioned in a latest interview with Rolling Stone, following Dre’s honor. “. . . However they named this award after an abuser.”

Others have inflated the disrespect of girls as an intrinsic aspect of hip-hop. There was Ice Dice’s dangerous rhetoric on his 1991 monitor “Regular Mobbin'” — “Trigger life ain’t cash and f*ck a b*tch” — or, extra just lately, A$AP Ferg’s verse on A$AP Mob’s 2017 posse reduce “What Occurs.” “What occurs once you f*cked a n*gga b*tch? / When she in your d*ck, she reminisce / About how she f*cked the entire n*gga clique / I swear that b*tch keep within the combine.”

There was, although, an excessive amount of social upheaval and backlash that proceed to accompany this women-hating motion. Whereas misogyny has seemingly all the time been tolerated in some capability, we will not implicate all within the hip-hop house. In 2007, Rev. Al Sharpton assembled the March for Decency, an NYC-based protest with the cardinal intention of admonishing report labels to censor derogatory phrases resembling “b*tch and “ho” in rap music. Along side his initiative, activist Tamika Mallory states: “We should reshape the optimistic tradition, and redefine photos in media. We are going to not tolerate misogyny and racism as a mainstream type of leisure for our kids.”

A variety of this protest has derived not solely from notable students but in addition from girls rappers themselves. On Queen Latifah’s ’90s anthem “U.N.I.T.Y,” arguably her greatest rap hit thus far, the icon vehemently pushes again on the continuing narrative of condescension towards girls. “U.N.I.T.Y / U.N.I.T.Y, that is a unity / U.N.I.T.Y / love a Black man from (Yeah, you gotta let him know) / Infinity to infinity (You ain’t a b*tch or a ho, right here we go),” Latifah raps. Latifah is an early instance of girls in hip-hop taking a public pledge in opposition to misogyny, however she definitely wasn’t the final. On Lauryn Hill’s Grammy Award-winning monitor “Doo-Wop (That Factor),” off of her dynamic debut album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” the artist encourages girls to know their value and abstain from entertaining the “naked minimal” degree of effort from males by stating, “Child woman, respect is a only a minimal.”

Within the spirit of yesteryear’s protest in opposition to misogyny, the new-aged hip-hop scene of girls has spawned a plethora of considerable pushback in opposition to this transgression — they usually aren’t timid about it. In 2022, Memphis newcomer GloRilla dropped her megahit “F.N.F. (Let’s Go),” which was nominated for greatest rap efficiency on the 2023 Grammy Awards. On it, she preaches feminine empowerment and obliterates the thought of coping with any subpar vitality from males: “I am F-R-E-E, f*ck n*gga free (f*ck em’) / That imply I ain’t gotta fear bout no f*ck n*gga dishonest.” Pushback on women-hating in hip-hop has made it to music’s greatest stage.

However actually, girls should not even should battle this type of resentment within the first place. It will behoove male rappers and males usually to deal with girls with respect — in individual, and thru their lyrics.