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Chris Brewster

Prof. Denisch

LSOC-220-R001

21 March 2021

The Culture of Rap Music and It’s Pushback Against the Feminist Movement

Since the early 70s, rap has been a staple in American music. Rap became popularized in

New York block parties where DJs would isolate the beats and rhythms from funk and disco

music and extend them. During its continued popularization, a lot of subgenres emerged,

including trap, rock rap, jazz rap, and gangsta rap. What most people look for in a rap song is

how catchy the overall rhythm and sound is. Lyrics are widely disregarded when it comes to

which rap songs people choose to play at gatherings. In this process, most of the messages of rap

songs are overlooked, which can become problematic when the messages put women in a

subservient position. Therefore it is crucial to discuss the elements of misogyny in the overall

culture of rap music.

If someone were asked to give a list of male rappers who has no songs about treating

women as venues for sexual pleasure, they could probably name a few. However, if they were

asked to make a list of male rappers who do have songs about sexual objectification, they could

probably name a lot more. That poses an issue. Authors Ronald Weitzer and Charis E. Kubrin

did a survey of platinum rap hits from 1992-2000 in their journal Misogyny in Rap Music: A

Content Analysis of Prevalence and Meaning. In this, they listened to these songs and analyzed

the lyrics. Sexual objectification was prevalent in 67% of the songs (Weitzer 13). A few

examples of lyrics were also mentioned. The following are lyrics from Dr. Dre’s song Bitches
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Ain’t Shit: “Bitches ain’t shit but hoes and tricks/Lick on these nuts and suck the dick/Get’s the

fuck out after you’re done/And I hops in my ride to make a quick run.” In these lyrics, the

speaker demonstrates the process of having sex with a woman, and then immediately vacating

the premises. One might think that, because this experiment was conducted using music from the

90s and early 2000s, this issue is no longer relevant. However, take a gander at lyrics from

popular modern rap. In 2018, Drake released a song that was ranked #1 song in America. In this

song, Drake says “These hoes! They hate! Your boy! Today! …Bend it over, lift it up, bend it

over, lift it up, make that jump…” These lyrics speak for themselves and require no further

explanation.

In the same experiment conducted by Weitzer and Kubrin, it was found that 18% of the

songs promoted or legitimated the culture or raping women. While this statistic is not as

alarming, it is still an issue and a very important part of this conversation. Take these lyrics by

Eminem, for example: “Slut, you think I won’t choke no whore/’til the vocal cords don’t work in

her throat no more?!/Shut up slut, you’re causin’ too much chaos/Just bend over and take it like a

slut, okay Ma? (Eminem, Kill You).” These lyrics tell the story of non-consensual sex, and the

singer’s demands that a woman “shut up and take it.” This kind of aggression towards women

was praised by other men during this time, just as most acts of misogyny are. Of course, since

these results are from an experiment conducted long ago, it is not enough to support the

argument that the culture of rap music is still actively pushing against the feminist movement. A

more recent experiment using the Billboard Top 100 songs was conducted in 2019 by Kayla

Gray, a sociology student at University of Central Arkansas, in her essay entitled Evidence of

Rape Culture in Modern Music. A total of 79 songs were divided by genre, 49% of them being

rap/hip hop. When comparing that genre to other genres, it was found that rap had the highest
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frequency in each category of misogyny. One of those categories was, of course, violence against

women coming in at 85% (Gray 43). If this statistic is not alarming enough, let us take a look at

some lyrics from a somewhat recent song titled U.O.E.N.O by Rick Ross: “Put Molly all in her

champagne/She ain’t even know it/I took her home and I enjoyed that/She ain’t even know it.”

Rick Ross is speaking on the toping of “date raping,” which, in its simplest terms, is the act of

drugging a woman’s drink at a party or large venue while she isn’t paying attention, and

proceeding to take her home and have sex with her while she’s unconscious. In this song, he is

bragging about partaking in this act.

Another sin that rap music commits when it comes to women’s rights is its tendency to

shame and degrade women. In the Kubrin and Weitzer experiment, it was found that 49% of the

songs examined featured the degradation of women. This is a much larger and therefore much

more important statistic. A good example of this is from a song by Snoop Dogg entitled DP

Gangsta: “We couldn’t get no play from the ladies/With seven niggas in a Nav is you

crazy?.../So we all said “fuck you bitch” and kept it rolling.” However, there is another example

of lyrics degrading women that may actually provide some explanation as to why rappers feel so

pressured do these things in their music: “Rappers like me always disrespectin’ ladies,/Wonder

why it’s like that, well so do I./But I just turn my back and then I go get high,/’Cause I get paid

real good to talk bad about a bitch. And you bought it, so don’t be mad I got rich (Too $hort,

Thangs Change). This is very revealing of what goes on behind the scenes of the music industry

in this genre. There is pressure by music labels to include these misogynistic themes in music

because that is what sells the most in the genre. The degradation is “encouraged and rewarded by

the music industry” (Weitzer; Kubrin 2009). The same could be applied to the patriarchy in

general. Men have not stopped partaking in these acts because they are rewarded by society in
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certain ways, whether that be more brownie points from their male friends, or the overall

validation of one’s masculinity.

As mentioned above, most misogyny in rap music is rewarded either in sales or in

validation. Logically, sales increase the more that people listen to the artists that release this

music. And as also stated previously, most people listen to rap music for the sake of how catchy

it sounds. Maybe the solution would be to bring more awareness to the lyrical aspect of rap

music. In simpler terms, we need to hold these artists accountable for the messages they convey

in their music. This idea has already proven helpful, as rap is already starting to become more

socially and politically aware. This is no surprise due to the volume of essays, articles, and

journals touching on the topic of gender inequality in rap music.

Another idea that has already proven fruitful in its attempts to change the route of rap

music is to simply not support the artists that spread these harmful messages in their music. Now,

this idea is a bit more controversial in that it comes off as one telling another what music they

should and shouldn’t listen to. You could try to explain to an individual how harmful the

messages in the music they are listening to are, but most will find it impossible to overlook the

fact that they are being “told what to do.” However, when put to practice, this has been a

contributing factor of moving rap music on a more progressive route. The rise in social and

political awareness has caused rappers to lose support from people after realizing how

misogynistic their lyrics are, especially around the 1990s. “Despite its relatively wide acceptance

in the 1990s, gangasta rap would soon fade in popularity. Soon, hip-hop critics were criticizing

gangsta rap for its violent themes” (Henry Adaso, What Is Gangasta Rap?) Since most rappers

value sales over everything, a decline in sales will eventually lead to a change in writing when it

comes to their music.

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There are already plenty of examples in today’s rap music that serve as an example of

how rap music can change, and that it does not have to be inherently misogynistic. Take rapper

Bbymutha for example in her song “Rules.”: You can't break bread with these niggas, give head

to these niggas. They ungrateful, lil' mama, that's bad for business.” In this song, the audience

gets to hear the voices of women who get treated as objects for sexual pleasure, and promptly

disregarded once that need has been fulfilled. This is just one of many examples of how the rap

industry has opened up the floor for women to pushback against the patriarchy.

All in all, rap music has its flaws. The human nature of disregarding lyrics and listening

more to the rhythm and the overall catchiness of a song makes these flaws very easy to overlook.

This is not to say that there is a universal requirement to spend all of your energy focused on the

lyrics of the music you’re listening to at all times. However, it does help to give some regard to

the messages being spread through music.

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Work Cited

Cairnduff, Neila. “Pop, Rap Lyrics Support a Culture Demeaning Women.” Maine Public,

Maine Public, 9 May 2018, www.mainepublic.org/post/pop-rap-lyrics-support-culture-

demeaning-women. 

Gray, Kayla. “Evidence of Rape Culture in Modern Music.” Evidence of Rape Culture in

Modern Music, 2019, doi: https://uca.edu/cahss/files/2020/07/Gray-CLA-2019.pdf. 

Hooks, Bell. “Http://Ljournal.ru/Wp-Content/Uploads/2017/03/a-2017-023.Pdf.” Sexism and

Misogyny: Who Takes the Rap? Feb. 1994, doi:10.18411/a-2017-023. 

Weitzer, Ronald, and Charis E. Kubrin. “Misogyny in Rap Music.” Men and Masculinities, vol.

12, no. 1, 2009, pp. 3–29., doi:10.1177/1097184x08327696.