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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
On the other hand, Bridgette McCullough, author of "Black Erotica," would argue that Lil' Kim has done nothing to better the position of the African American woman. She states, "The lack of self-ownership which Lil' Kim exemplifies is a growing trend among contemporary black female performers, and threatens to diminish the fortifying role that our music has traditionally played in our lives" (3). McCullough implies that even the lyrics above cannot be part of a movement towards the reform of the image of the African American female. She asserts that Lil' Kim professes to be something that she is not, thus invalidating her claims. However, McCullough overlooks that whether or not Lil' Kim is what she claims to be, her lyrics are an example of how African American females can attempt to overcome the images society has set for them. As Lil' Kim was, and still is, a part of the audience looking at the transformation of hip-hop and rap music, she sees how African American women are being depicted in derogatory way and she takes the same medium that disrespects them and turns it into a safe haven.
Lil' Kim, as an artist, has embraced the negative images of the African American female, and changed them in such a way that they could be considered acceptable. Hebdige states:
Style in subculture is, then, pregnant with significance. Its transformations go "against nature" interrupting the process of "normalization." As such they are gestures, movements towards a speech which offends the "silent majority," which challenges the principle of unity and cohesion, which contradicts the myth of consensus. (18)
Hebdige argues that the method in subculture is especially important in that its differences from other cultures are those that go against what is normal or what is considered normal, such as the products of high culture. In the end, what makes it out of the ordinary is what makes it so important. This same concept can be applied to some of what Lil' Kim says in the second verse of her song "No Matter What People Say": "If I was you I'd hate me too / Louie Vatan shoes an a whole lot of booze / Every other week a different dude and other crews." Here, Lil' Kim takes on a powerful, masculine role of heavy drinking and promiscuous sex. This is Lil' Kim's "style" - her words are weapons as she uses the actions of men to describe what the success of her career has brought her. In essence, this is what has made Lil' Kim what she is. However, those who oppose this such as Bridgette McCullough would argue that Lil' Kim takes on the role of "Jezebel" which African American women have tried to live down since the institution of slavery.
Lil' Kim is a female rapper who is more than comfortable with her sexuality and she expresses it through her music. Her lyrical content suggests that she takes on the role of the "Jezebel" described by Marilyn Yarborough and Crystal Bennett as and "the promiscuous female with an insatiable sexual appetite" (3), and "alluring and seductive as she either indiscriminately mesmerizes men and lures them into her bed, or very deliberately lures into her snares those who have something of value to offer her" (1). For example, in Lil' Kim's song "How Many Licks," also from her album Notorious K.I.M., she explores every aspect of what it means to be a "Jezebel." She boasts of infidelity, outrageous behavior, and a wide variety of partners including Tony the Italian who "[c]alled his girl up and told her we was bonin," a "Puerto Rican papi [who] used to be a Deacon," and "this black dude I called King Kong." This is the behavior one would characterize as breathing new life into the term "Jezebel." However, we must look at what she is doing as a female rapper. Her image, popularity, and position in the rap industry put her in a place where these lyrics are going against the principles society has set for women in general. Fiske states:
Thus in a patriarchal society such as ours, the social relations between the genders grant masculinity the position of power but actual relationships between individual men and women may conform closely to the gender relations or may oppose, modify or struggle against them: relationships are not totally determined by social relations but they can never be free of them either. (322)