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Time For Women To Man Up In Hip-Hop.
by: Malik Sinsear, for Entertainment
You want to know what would happen? Rappers would shit themselves. Then after they cleaned up they would be forced to use their minds more than their penises when they wrote their rhymes. That result would not only make the current collection of Hip-Hop criticizing women happier, but also many of Hip-Hop’s purists. Two birds with one stand, if you will. Discussing the latest Oprah “Hip-Hop Town-Hall Meeting” with a colleague of mine, an educated black woman; a doctor in fact, we were both a bit skeptical of the group of women from Spelman that represented the “sista” in this whole mess. Does anyone really believe that each one of those women strongly opposes all instances of misogyny in Hip-Hop, like they came across in doing? And if so, that they represent the majority of young black women in this country? Really? My uncle once told me that what a woman says, believes and does are three different things and while that can very well be applied to anyone, instantaneously, that very phrase popped into my head watching the young women give accounts of how “Hip-Hop” has disrespected them. Now, I don’t doubt for a minute that any one of them has been called out of their name by a man that most likely has listened to a rap song before, and I’m sure they were offended, and rightly so---but, I have a hard time believing that if you asked each of them if they owned any Jay-Z or Ludacris albums or have gone to any social functions that they knew their music (and music far worse than that) was going to be played, they would say no. “But that’s not the problem.” Oh, but it is. Often time, when people are seeking support for their causes, the story they depict becomes beefed up in order to further drive home their point and this latest attack on Hip-Hop is no different. It’s deception, by way of half of the story. Absent are the ones that buy and request the music. Strip to and use it’s videos to act as the babysitter when they’re busy. Knew every word of it when they got knocked up with those kids by the guy that penned the very song. See, it’s not quite as pleasant when you tell the most horrific shameful side of the story is it? And when you’re not telling that whole story, how can you hope to obtain an untainted result? Oprah and all of the dignified older people that watched those young ladies, from that studio audience and at home, were led to believe their one sided tale of musical genocide. But, they don’t know what really goes on. For one, Oprah is more than two times the age and at least five times the tax bracket than the rappers that produce the music and the kids that listen to it. Last year, when challenged on her alleged opposition of rap, she was quoted as saying she loved 50 Cent’s In Da Club. “When you sell like Eminem, and the hoes they wanna fuck…” Four year old misogyny, at its best, wouldn’t you say? But, I don’t blame her or anyone else from that demographic for possibly jumping to a conclusion. Just like my mother, they are out of touch and if presented with the show those young ladies put on, how could you not think the Hip-Hop nation wasn’t full of monsters? As an educated black woman that represents a different faction than the Oprah-group, my colleague views rap the exact same way I do, as a diverse art form, with a less than favorable representation of its diversity in the mainstream, currently. (Sounds a lot like black people in this country, doesn’t it?) At the same time, with the sales for that type of music selling the most in the genre, who is really to blame? The artist? The record company? The consumer? The answer is yes, yes, yes and then some. Everyone is to blame, but if this is truly a problem we must take care of, since women are at the forefront of this movement, here are a couple things they can do:
I can’t stress how important radio is in this whole thing. And it’s funny that the very same women that hold such a hard stance on this issue haven’t taken this up with one of their “own” at the outset. Cathy Hughes is the founder and chairperson of Radio One, which owns and operates more than 70 stations in 22 urban markets. You’d think she would’ve been taken to task on this, right? Well, last I heard, Akon was still slapping that while the Ying Yang Twins skeeted on it, on her stations. Of course there is an alternative to all of these solutions, if you don’t feel like leaving comfy confines of your home. You can do something along the lines of what my single mother did: teach your children the difference between common sense and being an irresponsible fool, looking to place blame on everyone else but yourself. That might work...or at least a combination of both.
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So, I’m watching the Akon and Snoop video and I’m drooling, just waiting for each scene that one chick is in. You know the dark skin sister with the fishnets and most flawless back seen on television since that eye popping Kima lesbo scene on The Wire, two years ago. Yeah, that chick. If I could, I’d put a diamond brace around her back and marry it. Anyway, while watching the video, I drifted for a second and wondered how uninteresting it would be without the women on screen. What if they rejected the offer to work that shoot and others soon followed, taking a stand against the misogynistic Hip-Hop mainstream that currently runs the business?