by Shemaiah Oatman

A Professional Writing major with a minor in Business, Shemaiah Oatman wrote this essay for Tim Bradford’s “From Spirituals to Hip-Hop” class.

“Bitches Ain’t Shit” by Dr. Dre

“Ain’t No Fun” by Snoop Dogg ft. Nate Dogg and Kurupt

“Fuckin’ or What” by Jadakiss

“Poppin’” by Lakeya ft. Gucci Mane

“Get On Your Knees” by Nicki Minaj ft. Ariana Grande

“WAP” by Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion

“Girls in the Hood” by Megan Thee Stallion

As I created the above playlist I was contemplating on what to name it. What would encompass the meaning of these songs as a whole? What do all the songs have in common that would help me create a title? They are all rap songs, but what else? Women. They’re not all written by women, but a woman is the main subject. Or maybe it is about pleasure? All these songs seem to have an underlying theme of pleasure. It could even be summed up to sex. However, after about two seconds of not being able to think of anything I temporarily named it “To be continued….” but I continued to contemplate. All of a sudden, I realized that there was a huge separation between how women are portrayed in female rap versus male rap, and that allowed me to break things down into two different categories: those who practice dominance and those who seek to “put people in their place.” I realized it was all a power play. They all wanted to have a say and be in charge of the actions of another individual or to assert they had the power to control the feelings of an individual based on what they said or did. It made me think: is this real power and, if so, who truly has it? Can there really be a dominant gender in the facets of sexual freedom in rap, or is this power all the same thing that is being blanketed with the name of “sexual enlightenment” or feminism? There are a lot of perspectives on what sexual freedom is. Is it real freedom, or is it all created in the guides to please the male gaze? I believe in any form, where the intention is to push back against the misogynistic and degrading themes of rap, changing the narrative with sexuality is a true argument and fight against the oppression of women and therefore should be a welcomed part of what feminism is. With this realization I named the playlist “Women’s Rebirth of Rap.”

When I came to college and I moved in with my current roommate Madison, she would talk about the blatant misogyny in older male rap songs. Why would she constantly and randomly mention this you might ask? That, I can’t answer. All I’m going to say is that she used to be a Philosophy major. I couldn’t understand what she meant when she would say that because I was coming from a Black Christian household. The only type of music I listened to was Gospel, Christian rap, and whatever mainstream music was playing on the bus or at school dances. I didn’t understand rap culture nor did I experience or witness the era of unapologetic sexism. I entered the rap game with Lakeya, Doja Cat, and Yung Bleu. None of these artists seemed problematic (although with further listening I saw one small questionable lyric by Yung Bleu, but overall he’s not problematic), so I was not prepared for what I was getting myself into as I dived into older male rap songs. It is incorrect to say that all male rap is misogynistic (which I will get into later on), but a large majority of popular rap songs were.

For example, “Bitches Ain’t Shit” released by Dr. Dre in 1992. He often refers to women as bitches, which is an offensive and derogatory term that is most used against women characterized as being unpleasant or spiteful, although in current day 2022 many women themselves call each other this to express friendship and closeness. He also takes away their identities and degrades them to only being “hoes and tricks” meant to bring him pleasure then leave once they were finished (Dr. Dre). The entirety of the song is an anthem of misogyny, but it is a song praised by many people even today. An overwhelming majority of comments I found on YouTube applauded the song’s themes, for example. There are many songs like this that do nothing but cause men to look at women as undeserving objects.

Another great example that screams “the degradation of women” would be “Ain’t No Fun,” a song that came out in 1993, by Snoop Dogg ft. Nate Dogg and Kurupt. The entirety of the song is about “the homies” wanting to sleep with a girl then pass her to the next one. Towards the beginning of the song Nate Dogg sings, “When I met you last night baby/ Before you opened up your gap/ I had respect for ya lady/ But now I take it all back/ Cause you gave me all your pussy/ And ya even licked my balls” (Dogg). This line makes an obvious distinction on how women were viewed through the lens of rap music. A woman deserves respect until she has had sex. Once she had sex she was no longer seen as a human being whose right was to be respected. This theme iss reiterated when Kurupt raps, “I know the pussy’s mines, I’ma fuck a couple more times/ And then I’m through with it, there’s nothing else to do with it/ Pass it to the homie, now you hit it/ Cause she ain’t nuthin but a bitch to me/ And y’all know, that bitches ain’t shit to me” (Dogg).

Themes like this are what caused the need for a “clap-back.” Women would not have a place of respect in rap if they could not change the way they are viewed by their audience. These songs were being sung on big stages filled with thousands of people watching and singing along. They weren’t just played and danced to— no, people took the lyrics to heart. Without even realizing it, women (specifically black women) were once again bashed and objectified just for the simple fact that they were born a woman. Imagine the sexism and blatant misogyny that was allowed to thrive during this time? Denise Herd, an Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences, explains that the images of black women have been shaped in many ways, but one way is that their sexuality is seen as “abhorrent (either hypersexual, asexual; or anti male and sexually punitive)” (Herd). She further goes on to say that “The resulting ‘controlling images’ of black women…are used to justify black women’s oppression and to normalize racism, sexism, poverty and other forms of social inequality” (Herd). Whether these artists realized it or not they did nothing but further damage the black women’s image in society with its apathetic speech about them. With the extreme nature of their lyrics it makes sense that there has to be an even more extreme comeback for women; however, before I get into that there’s one last song that needs to be addressed.

“Fuckin’ or What” by Jadakiss, an American rapper, was released in 2001 in his album Kiss tha Game Goodbye. The song begins with no beat and no music; all we hear is Jadakiss say, “What’s up ma? Is we fuckin’ or what?” and right after, a series of two beats jump in and demeaning laughter fills the ears (Jadakiss). Just like Snoop Dog and Dr. Dre’s songs this song is drowned in blatant sexism, but I want to emphasize the disparity between the lyrics and the musical production of this song. In matters of the music the beat and melody stay consistent. The playful tune of the piano and the quick drum movements don’t change; however, the record scratch was used to emphasize certain lyrics, for instance when he says, “It’s damn near four in the morning, ain’t shit to discuss/ Til you ask which dick do you suck” (Jadakiss). With the high pitch of the piano notes alongside the record scratch, the body can’t help but dance to the music; however, the high-spirited nature of the musical production is in complete juxtaposition to the repulsive lyrics. Jadakiss was able to cause an entire country to dance to a song that completely disregarded women’s ability to be anything other than sex slaves. This proves the apathetic behavior that was bred and how welcoming these themes were not only in male rap, but America as a whole. This song was made to be relatable to many men and this is displayed through its statement that “everybody ask their chick this question” (Jadakiss). I was rendered speechless with the amount of entitled diction all throughout the song. I was left disgusted and quite uncomfortable with the casualty of his words as he asked different groups of women if they were “fuckin’ or what” (Jadakiss). He speaks like it was his right to sleep with whoever he wanted to and with how casual and playful the music was it shows that these thoughts and themes were okay to have. It didn’t matter what the woman wanted to say or how she felt as long as he received what he wanted. “Bitches Ain’t Shit”, “Ain’t No Fun”, and “Fuckin’ or What” are all songs that degrade and lower the status of a woman. They’re all about the sexual pleasure of a man while the woman does what he wants but receives nothing in return.

This was a common theme in older male rap used to degrade and dehumanize women and, because of this, “Countering and challenging these controlling images has long been a central focus of black feminist thought” (Herd). Women had to change the controlling image and release themselves from the box that they were forced to occupy. With prevalent misogyny, not just in older male rap but misogyny in our society in general, black women specifically needed an outlet to escape the undermining and servant roles that were placed on them. This in itself is a very difficult task because, as stated by Murray Forman, a Northeastern professor who has dedicated 25 years of his career to examining hip-hop history and culture, women “are inordinately absent from most major public forums and denied equal access to the mass media systems that increasingly influence political, social, and cultural agendas which, in turn, influence our views of the world” (Forman). Women rappers needed to bust down the boundaries and come even louder to be heard, and many do that by taking on a dominant role.

Sexual content plays a big part in that except instead of the agenda being to please men, they use their body to show that they themselves have the power over their bodies. They decide who they want to be with, not the other way around. Female rappers are more inclined to disregard and run away from themes of submissiveness and fragility in their lyrics and one way that they do that is overpowering men sexually. We have lyrics like “I ride his face, he love the taste, I make him eat it sloppy. Bitch, I make him eat it sloppy, I might make him clean it up,” from Lakeya’s song “Poppin’” featuring Gucci Mane released in 2021 or “I’ll be back at 11, you just act like a peasant… you look good when you beggin’…. If you wanna get the job, you better know who’s the boss” from Nicki Minaj’s song “Get On Your Knees” featuring Ariana Grande released in 2014. Both of these songs share the same ideology of women controlling the narrative and what goes on behind closed doors. This is used as a means to push back any agenda used to silence women and what they wanted. Through the rawness and aggressive nature of the lyrics these women are fighting to balance a scale that historically wasn’t made to acknowledge their independence. For women these are very important.

Many people, especially in rap, have tried to silence women, so it is very important that a woman has an outlet and a platform to speak on certain wants. bell hooks was an American author and social activist who wrote a plethora of books explaining feminist theory and voice. She explains that “Moving from silence into speech is for the oppressed, the colonized, the exploited, and those who stand and struggle side by side a gesture of defiance that heals, that makes new life and new growth possible. It is that act of speech, of ‘talking back’, that is no mere gesture of empty words, that is the expression of our movement from object to subject–the liberated voice” (hooks). These women rappers who speak their mind are unapologetically themselves; whether they produce sexual content or not, they are speaking loud and proud for the betterment of women. Trying to shut down their voices and what they want to talk about is just another way that women have had their voices and identities stripped away from by older male rap. Freedom is open to all and the freedom to exclaim “I tell him where to put it, never tell him where I’m bout to be. I run down on him ‘fore I have a n**** running me.” This is a message worth listening to and denotes the difference between how women were talked about versus how they’re choosing to make their own narrative (Cardi B.). Belittling women is wrong and listening to music that does this creates a false belief that women aren’t powerful and that what they have to say isn’t as important as if a man said it.

This fight against the false images of women is a common and much needed fight for feminism. Women still fight to be heard today and still try to change the game because it is in need of changing. Theresa Renee White in her article “Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott and Nicki Minaj: Fashionistin’ Black Female Sexuality in Hip-Hop Culture—Girl Power or Overpowered?” states that both Nicki Minaj and Missy Elliot “have charted their own course and essentially rejected that which is deemed appropriate for Black female behavior and the inscription of the Black body” (White, pg. 610). The rejection of what was socially “appropriate” has led more doors for women to be opened and has strengthened the confidence to stand for what you believe.

With all this being said, it is important to ask if there can be too much. Is complete opposition to older male rap truly the solution? In Tricia Rose’s book Black Noise, she remarks that “some female rappers affirm aspects of sexual power relationships as they raise incisive questions that seriously challenge the current distribution of power between men and women.” In particular, “[w]orks by black woman rappers that place black women’s bodies in the spotlight have a similarly contradictory effect; they affirm black female beauty and yet often preserve the logic of female sexual objectification” (147). This means that by fighting back against the objectification of their bodies these female rappers could simultaneously be contributing to the very act by exposing themselves, leading to the objectification of their body. In trying to change our image to black and beautiful it could add to the very thing we are fighting against.

I tend to agree that women’s sexual exposure used in a way against misogyny can be risky, and it’s definitely something to consider, but despite this I don’t believe the message is diminished or belittled in any way. Not everyone is going to see the message for what it is no matter how many different ways it’s said; as long as it reaches who it needs to reach and changes who it was meant to change, that’s what matters. Rose further goes to make the distinction that not all male rappers objectified women in their rap songs and not all women rappers spoke about feminism. In fact, some “women rappers defend male rappers’ sexist speech in a larger society that seems to attack black men disproportionately… their lyrics sometimes affirm patriarchal notions about family life and the traditional roles of husbands, fathers, and lovers” (147). I agree with this. Not all female rappers have the same message and the same stance, but another part about feminism is a freedom of choosing what they want, hence the female rappers above choosing a fight for dominance. Rose made this distinction and I also think it is very important to not only note the negative aspects of older male rap, but also acknowledge the fact that some rappers talked about “support[ing] the centrality of black woman in black cultural life” (147).

Female rappers and feminism are extremely important, especially for women. Women need an outlet and a voice and female rap is just one of the many ways that women can speak. Women need this encouragement and young girls need to be able to look up to someone and find a little bit of themselves in the artists. In “Nicki Minaj and the Changing Politics of Hip-Hop: Real Blackness, Real Bodies, Real Feminism?” Margaret Hunter and Alhelí Cuenca point out that “In 2010, Nicki Minaj pushed back against the dominant image of the black male rapper and offered a cornucopia of contrasting personalities and styles” (31). They also state that Nicki Minaj “encourages girls to always make their own money so they are not dependent on men” (Hunter and Cuenca, pg. 40). This is the type of person that leads other young girls to finally stand up and speak out against the casual speech of misogyny. These young black women are our teachers, our preachers, and our leaders; they need someone to look up to and they need to know that their birth as a black woman is nothing to be ashamed about. There’s a way to escape the cages made for them. Liberation doesn’t all look the same, but it’ll reach the people it needs to reach.

My roommate Madison, for example, is half Native American, a quarter white, and a quarter black, and she has told me that Nicki Minaj calling herself a Barbie was a game-changer for her. Madison grew up in a white town in a white household as a light-skin with long curly hair. No one looked like her and the amount of sexism and racism she faced was way more to count, but Nicki Minaj opened her eyes to more. If a black woman can be a Barbie, how much more was open to her? This is why this is so important. We can’t have young girls being treated as if their own desires, wants, and dreams don’t matter. Women matter. Black women matter. As Megan the Stallion says, “Fuck being good, Ima bad bitch/ I’m sick of motherfuckers tryna tell me how to live” (Megan the Stallion). If this is the type of energy our society needs to receive change, then so be it and keep on rapping.

Works Cited

B., Cardi and Megan Thee Stallion. “WAP.” Spotify. 2020.

Dogg, Snoop, Nate Dogg, and Kurupt. “Ain’t No Fun.” Spotify. 1993.

Dr. Dre. “Bitches Ain’t Shit.” YouTube. 1992.

Forman, Murray. “`Movin’ Closer to an Independent Funk’: Black Feminist Theory, Standpoint, and Women in Rap.” Women’s Studies, vol. 23, no. 1, Jan. 1994, p. 35. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/00497878.1994.9979008.

Herd, Denise. “Conflicting Paradigms on Gender and Sexuality in Rap Music: A Systematic Review”. Sexuality & Culture 19, 577–589 (2015), https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/10.1007/s12119-014-9259-9.

hooks, bell. “Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black”. Boston: Between the Lines, 1988.

Hunter, Margaret and Alhelí Cuenca. “Nicki Minaj and the Changing Politics of Hip-Hop: Real Blackness, Real Bodies, Real Feminism?” Feminist Formations, vol. 29 no. 2, 2017, p.26-46. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/ff.2017.0015.

Jadakiss. “Fuckin’ or What.” Spotify. 2001.

Lakeya. “Poppin.” Spotify. 2021.

Minaj, Nicki and Ariana Grande. “Get On Your Knees.” Spotify. 2014.

Rose, Tricia. “Chapter 5: Bad Sistas Black Women Rappers and Sexual Politics in Rap Music.” Black Noise, Wesleyan University Press, 1994, pp. 147–182.

Stallion, Megan Thee. “Girls in the Hood.” Spotify. 2020.

White, Theresa Renee. “Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott and Nicki Minaj.” Journal of Black Studies, vol. 44, no. 6, 2013, pp. 607–626., https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934713497365.