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Dialogues@RU is published
annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume 4
Fall 2005
By Melissa Connerly
The hip-hop music industry has been recently plagued with success and its influence is everywhere. In "Spoiled by Success," Kristi Turnquist explores the success of the hip-hop music industry. She states, "Hip-hop - its slang, style, rhythms and influence - is everywhere. Stars like Fat Joe are selling soda. Rappers like Mos Def and Ice Cube have become Hollywood actors" (1). Since the hip-hop industry has become so dominant and influential, it can be argued that African American women should look to the hip-hop community for a positive outlet, just as their African American male counterparts have used the rap industry to slander them. Examples of this positive use can be found in the work of artists such as Lil' Kim and Queen Latifah. These women are substantial rap artists who were and still are a part of the audience of African American women who are subject to degradation. Each artist is unique, taking on a different role to change the depiction of the African American woman. Marla Shelton writes, "These pioneering cultural producers ongoingly confront ideologies and visual paradigms in the industry that hinder production of enlightened images of African American women" (107). Shelton refers to female rap artists as people who fight to change the negative images of African American women in a revolutionary way.
Rap artist Lil' Kim attempts to change the way in which African American women are depicted in rap music and videos such as Nelly's "Tip Drill" by constructing an alternative femininity and in doing so shifting the power from the industry's male artists to its female counterparts. Hebdige states:
The term hegemony refers to a situation in which a provisional alliance of certain social groups can exert "total social authority" over other subordinate groups, not simply by coercion or by direct imposition of ruling ideas, but by winning and shaping consent so that the power of the dominant classes appears both legitimate and natural. (15-6)
Hebdige argues that it does not take much for one group, such as male rap artists, to exert their power over another group, such as female rap artists. It does not take a carefully thought-out plan or a bunch of threats for people to think that one group of people has power over another. In the case of rap music, male artists only had to make the form of music specific to their struggles in order for them to dominate it. Male artists made it seem "both legitimate and natural" for rap music to be a medium that they dominate by what they choose to rap about and the style in which they rap. Similarly, one might also argue that it would take the same kind of effort for the female rap artist to gain a prominent position in the rap industry.
An example of this kind of female artist can be found in Lil' Kim and her music. In the song "No Matter What They Say" from Notorious K.I.M., she says:
Everywhere I go red carpet
Gave the keys to the valet tell 'em park it
Then I jumps out the Azure, a Lil' Kim aura
Girls making faces like Ace Ventura
And my B-A-D G-I-R-L-S is in the stretch LX
Aint shit you can tell us
Even got some of these niggas jealous
But tonight it's not about the fellas
Here, Lil' Kim asserts that she has achieved the status of any other rapper in the industry, including the male artists who dominate it. In the first lines she lets her audience know that she has the wealth and fame the male rap artists have maintained and reserved only for themselves. In the last lines she asserts that not only is she successful in the male-oriented business that she is a part of but, in fact, that many of the male artists are jealous of her success. Lil' Kim has shifted the power in the rap industry through her own lyrical content.