Lyrical Destruction

It was 1979 when these words hit the air waves: “I said a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie/To
the hip hip-hop, and you don't stop/ The rock it to the bang-bang, boogie say "up jump"/ The
boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat/ Now, what you hear is not a test/ I'm rappin' to
the beat/ And me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet.” These lyrics
sparked the hip-hop era, “a street art form that was largely free of violence or sexual
exploitation” (Katel 2007). According to Katel “hip-hop is a cultural movement originally
comprised of four elements: MCing (rapping), DJing, graffiti art and breaking (break
dancing).” Hip-hop was initially used as empowerment for poverty-stricken black
communities. Since this time, hip-hop has evolved from, “hard-driving dance numbers into sex
and violence filled “gangsta rap” (Katel 2007). Lyrically, hip- hop affects the way Black
women are viewed and view themselves.
There was a time when women were adored and looked at as queens. Rapper Lil Boosie
has a song, “Honor Roll,” which talks about his high grade list of women. Sounds positive?

Well, it’s anything but that. The hook of this song states, “Check out my honor roll. /Grade A
b*****s Grade A Grade A b*****s./Check out my honor roll./ Grade A b*****s./ Put your
hands up, if you a Grade A b***h./” Are your hands up? No, they’re not. As a woman you
want to believe that you are “Grade A” material, but certainly not a female dog. Dr. Johnetta B.
Cole, president of Bennett College for Women, believes hip-hop is more disrespectful of
women than any other music genre. This is due to the misogynistic nature of the lyrics. These
lyrics are prime examples of the type of images women have in this genre.
As hip-hop has strayed away from its origins, it has become a multi-billion dollar
industry. Its success is primarily due to the popularity of strip clubs, “many recent hits have
revolved entirely around the premise of women as sex workers” (Hunter 2011). Rapper Akon
has a song “I Wanna F*** You”, that states, “I see you winding and grinding up on that pole./I
know you see me lookin' at you when you already know. /I wanna f*** you, you already
know/I wanna f*** you, you already know, girl.” These types of lyrics give most listeners the
illusion that all women are strippers and are only good for having sex. The same can be said
about rapper Nelly’s “Tip Drill” song. This song basically says, no matter how unattractive a
woman is, as long as she has a vagina, a man is willing to have sex. These types of lyrics also
impact how some women view themselves. Dr. Cole had this to say about how black women
view themselves:
What value can there be in descriptions of Black girls and women as “bitches,”
“ho’s,” “skeezers,” “freaks,” “gold diggers,” “chickenheads” and “pigeons”? What
could possibly be the value to our communities to have rap music videos functioning
as backdrops, props and objects of lust for rap artists who sometimes behave as
predators? In the culture at large, including popular culture, White subhuman,

promiscuous, predatory and hypersexual, this has been the burden of Black women
since slavery, and hip-hop… is complicit with these stereotypical and damaging
depictions of Black girls and women. (94)
She is absolutely correct. This nature of hip-hop has also impacted how female rappers view
themselves. For example, rapper Trina’s song, “Da Baddest B****,” explains in great detail all
the sexual favors she’s willing to do for money. She constantly refers to herself as a “bitch”
and refers to other women as “ho’s.” These types of lyrics have led Black women to degrade
themselves. All too often, Black women go out dressed the part of strippers. They are baring
their breasts and butts, which plays right into the stereotype that hip-hop lyrics portray. There
are some female rappers with positive messages. Early female rapper, Queen Latifah, focused
on uplifting Black women and all women. Her song, “Ladies First,” emphasizes all the positive
things in women and reminds men that we should be treated as ladies. It also stresses that
women were put on earth to be more than sex toys for men.
Hip-hop has truly evolved over its 30 year history. It started with messages of black
empowerment. This is evident in early hip-hop songs, such as, Run D.M.C.’s “Proud to Be
Black” and Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power.” Today’s hip-hop is based solely on what will
sell and get Black women to shake their behinds. It seems as though, no matter what the words
say, as long as the beat can make you dance, women are fine with a song. As a result, the
generation of upcoming Black women don’t have much hope. With all of today’s technology
and social media, it is very easy to find a video of a Black woman “twerking” in booty shorts
for the whole world to see. Hip-hop lyrics have made that “acceptable” in the eyes of many
Black women. They have also led many Black women to believe dressing half naked is the
only way to gain the attention of the opposite sex. In an industry full of misogyny, it’s hard for

a young Black woman to listen to good hip-hop lyrics, lyrics that don’t entice them to view
themselves as strippers, and dress the part when in public.