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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
I break into a lyrical freestyle
Grab the mic, look into the crowd and see smiles
Cause they see a woman standing up on her own two
Sloppy slouching is something I won't do
Some think that we can't flow
Stereotypes, they got to go
I'm a mess around and flip the scene into reverse
Who said the ladies couldn't make it, you must be blind
If you don't believe, well here, listen to this rhyme
Ladies first, there's not time to rehearse
I'm divine and my mind expands throughout the universe
A female rapper with the message to send
Queen Latifah is a perfect specimen
Through this verse of the song, Queen Latifah is able to express the importance of African American women by defining her own attributes: she has the strength and courage men would not expect her to have, and has overcome the traps society has set for her as well as other African American women. Her overall message is that African American females like herself are far more than what the hip-hop community and the rest of society portrays them to be. Her message relates to Hebdige when he states
The struggle between different discourses, different definitions and meanings within ideology is therefore always, at the same time, a struggle within signification: a struggle for possession of the sign which extends to even the most mundane areas of everyday life. (17)
Hebdige's argument conveys that what Queen Latifah says in her songs is important because what the rest of society says about African American women is important as well. Both of these "different discourses" play a major role in how African American women will be regarded on a day-to-day basis. The discussion of how African American women are to be viewed in the hip-hop community, and then in the rest of society, rests on the principles society has already set and the ones that Queen Latifah sets within the rap industry. Therefore, it is within the hip-hop community, a place where African American women have been disrespected, where the battle against how the rest of society views these women is waged.
In order for African American females to overcome the negative images attached to their womanhood, they must look to other African American females such as Lil' Kim and Queen Latifah to find examples of how the stereotypes can be overcome. Many would argue that these two artists are not the best examples of African American female liberation since they take on the slave-rooted roles of "Jezebel" and "Mammy," with Lil' Kim becoming one of the raunchiest female rappers in the industry, and Queen Latifah nurturing two white men in her recent films. One might even take the argument as far as saying that Lil' Kim could have very well been one of the girls in the Nelly video as she raps about doing many of the sexual things described in the song lyrics and video of "Tip Drill." In respect to that argument I believe that working to change the way that African American women are depicted by male rap artists and the way they are looked at by a white supremacist society is a sensitive subject. Having nowhere else to look for other examples of how an African American woman should be depicted, they are forced to embrace those that are already out there. If this is the situation that African American women are in, then Queen Latifah's approach to reconstructing the already-misconstrued set of norms that are so negative toward African American women is the best way to change them. She is a walking example of the success African American women can obtain through hard work, and without controversy. Although she took on the role of "Mammy" in her most recent movies, her tenacity to change that image has led her to play a role in which she is her own woman in the movie Beauty Shop, by the same producers as Bringin' Down the House . This shows that she has changed the views of the people around her. Lil' Kim's lifestyle, however, has landed her in trouble. Recently put on trial and convicted, she has taken the masculine style to an extreme without stopping to think about the consequences. Nevertheless, like Queen Latifah, she has exerted a tremendous effort to change the hip-hop stereotypes of African American women