“Lil Wayne is the closest thing to an iconic figure in my generation,” explained Drake in his interview with Katie Couric in October 2010. He went on to compare the well-known rapper with legends, such as Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, and even Che Guevara. Lil Wayne can be seen as such an icon because of how he lives his life as well as his musical achievements. He is a very intelligent man with an incredible talent, but one thing Katie Couric pointed out is that at the time of this interview, the icon was spending time in prison. So how can it be that an icon of American music, a role model for teenagers and young adults, is spending time in prison and rapping crude sexual remarks, but is still someone kids can strive to be like? Well, his sentence was actually not for very long, and perhaps, his lyrics are not as disparaging as society may sometimes think.
Lil Wayne is a “gangsta” and his entire life is based around it. However, other rappers do not necessarily feel that way about their own lives. Drake said that he does not have a life like that and he can only rap about his Jewish mother and the girls he takes on dates. In order to enhance his music and lyrics, he likes to study women’s minds and conversations and he tries to convey the things he learns in his lyrics. When he was asked about the derogatory nature of hip-hop and rap music towards woman, Drake said that there is a fine line between demeaning a woman and being funny and witty. At the time of the interview, Drake and Lil Wayne hit the charts with the song “Every Girl” and a repeated line in this song is “I wish I could f*** every girl in the world.” Drake said that when writing and performing this song, they were trying to be funny and witty. He elaborates that there are elements of comedy in hip-hop and rap, and those are the lines that make for the best quotations. There are many women who go to Lil Wayne’s concerts and scream and sing those exact lines back at him. So it is really demeaning if women are enjoying it and shouting along to the lyrics, knowing full well what they mean? Drake went on to say that to demean a woman was completely different than what him and Lil Wayne do in their music.
I have to agree with Drake a little bit because I think there is a certain element of hip-hop and rap that is comedic. Many of my favorite lines of rap songs are a little bit inappropriate, but I like them because they are humorous and clever. However, during some rap songs, while listening to the lyrics, my jaw drops because of how explicit they are. There is definitely a fine line between debasing women and simply poking fun, but it is also hard to distinguish where that line is drawn. If a rapper’s excuse for every offensive thing said is that he is just joking, when will he notice if he has gone too far? And is it possible for him to go too far? Since Lil Wayne is such an iconic, musical figure of our time, does he have the power to rap about whatever he wants and make fun of whomever he pleases?
Here is the link to the interview in case anyone is interested: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6929711n
I completely agree that many comedic aspects of rap are inevitably offensive. I don’t feel that saying statements such as “I wish I could f*** every girl in the world” is offensive, for it expresses a desire, an opinion. However, there could be serious consequences in defending comments with the fact that they come from studying women’s minds and conversations. This explanation implies that Drake is claiming a truth when he makes a statement about women. I think the effects of generalization and misrepresentation can become extremely harmful, and to simply laugh them off is unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteThere is also the concern that this is indirect representation. If a musician wants to project his image as being violent, sexist, and dangerous, then that is completely within their rights. But when rappers make crude comments about women as a whole, they are not only depicting themselves as misogynists. They are also perpetuating sexual discrimination and subordination of women, a perspective which they cannot approach personally. I admit that many females in the entertainment industry promote themselves as sexual subjects, but this is a self-sacrifice, as is certain rapper’s chosen self-representation. We don’t see over-sexualized females stereotyping men (for the main part) so what makes it excusable for a general genre to discriminate the other?
After watching the documentary Miss Representation I feel like this is a very interesting subject. Sex and debasing women sells in the media. Songs about how great women are or how good people are in general are usually seen as "boring." Most rap music does debase women on a whole new scale. However, I do not find it demeaning. Without us, rap artist would have nothing to sing about except being shot at and doing drugs or drinking. When Drake mentions that there is a line between being witty and demeaning, I do not believe that he actually entirely believes himself. He is extremely demeaning to women, yet women love him for it, rather large paradox. I do not mean to say that rap artist are witty because they definitely are. Many of their lines if you truly listen to them are extremely witty but when referring to women, I do not see this side.
ReplyDeleteLil Wayne absolutely has the power and ability to write whatever lyrics he wants. With people continuing to buy his music despite the hypersexuality embedded in the songs, he undoubtedly will keep writing similar lyrics. Why pass up tons of money? I think you bring up a great point about if Lil Wayne will notice if he goes too far? First off, I don’t think he will create lyrics that are much more explicit, I mean how much more explicit can you get anyway. People obviously like his stuff now so why would he change his lyrics in any way shape or form? The only way he would ever change something dramatically would be if there is a drop in album sales. And with his current popularity, I really don’t see that coming any time soon. But let’s just hypothesize that he were to come up with some atrocious lyrics demeaning women and such. Even in this case, I really don’t think his popularity would change much at all. We have come to expect this sort of behavior from him, and everyone still loves it. The majority of people don’t like him because he is nice and or intelligent. They like him for the way he writes his lyrics, the way he performs, and the way he lives his life. So, I think the lyrics of most hip-hop music are here to stay and there is little people can do to change it.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, when Lil Wayne published his new song “How to Love”, my mouth dropped in amazement simply because all the songs I have heard from him are all about money, hoes, and more hoes. I don’t agree with the statement that selling women as something great is plain boring because in today’s society it is good to have subtle reminders that it is good to do something positive. I believe they can change if they want to. It is going to be hard, but what isn't?
ReplyDeleteBecause the music industry is, like many others, an industry where sex sells, artists like Lil Wayne and Drake are racking up profits by spewing lyrics that can be seen as offensive and degrading toward women. Society respects them for their ability to be "hard" (like in Mr Hurt's documentary) and because society respects them, they can pretty much write whatever lyrics they want. I agree that there is a fine line between being witty and being offensive, but I don't think that it's as easy to write off when Drake says that "to demean a woman was completely different than what him and Lil Wayne do in their music." How is it different? It's easy to say that you don't mean the lyrics that you're writing or that they're just intended to be funny or witty, but that doesn't change the fact that you're using them in a way that can reach and affect a large number of people.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog because Lil' Wayne and Drake are two of my favorite rappers, and I would be lying if I said that I haven't partied while listening to "Every Girl" or sang the lyrics while I was recently at a Drake concert. But, I do not think that that demeans my "woman-ism." Like Drake said, at heart, it's not intended to degrade women, but it's just clever and funny lyrics. So, there is a fine line between comedy and degradation. Though some may totally disagree, I only think it's bad when you yourself takes offense to it. If you know your worth as a woman, then it should not effect you in a negative way. The only problem I can see is that because their fan base is mainly young kids and teenagers, they may exude a slight negative influence on them. But then, that becomes the parents' problem.
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