Nicki
Minaj on the set of “Lookin Ass Nigga”
The Hip-Hop world has been dominated by men for as long
as we can remember. The main reason for
this is that men can talk about just about anything without having to explain
themselves for it. What I mean by this
is that sensitive topics like drugs and sex can be openly spoken about by men
without people judging them for it. On
the other hand, if women were to even remotely speak of such things, they would
immediately be labeled as impure or immoral.
This double standard is the main reason why female rappers have to
create an outer shell to seem “hard” just like men to be able to make it in the
Hip-Hop world.
Female rappers that have proven this theory to be true
are Nicki Minaj and Lil’ Kim. Most of
their lyrics are censored for society because they speak their minds like men
would. A prime example of this, “Yo! I
never fucked Wayne, I never fucked Drake. On my life man, fuck’s sake”. Here Nicki Minaj is addressing the old age
question of whether she made it to the top of the Hip-Hop charts due to her
talent or because she slept with two of the most famous rappers of this time. Nicki Minaj does a lot of sports references
in her verses which mainly connects to a male audience. She claims she’s the “Eli Manning” of the
game. She talks about sex very openly,
“Let ‘em eat my ass like a cupcake. My man full, he just ate”. Nicki Minaj is not afraid to say that she has
sexual needs and plans on fulfilling them.
Lil’ Kim, just like Nicki, has a lot of profanity and
male related topics in her raps. In Lil’
Kim’s song “Spend a Little Doe” she says, “Or the .44 under the pillow with the
dildo…I like to play while I'm workin'…And that's for certain…Keep jerkin', I
ain't done with you”. Here she is
emasculating a man by telling him to please her sexually while she’s hiding a
gun and figuring out what she will do with him once it’s over. In the same song she says, “Lights, cameras,
curtains…In a second…The show begins…Invite your family and friends…They got ta
see this…Oh, they wouldn't believe this…You got stuck and left naked with a
hard penis”. Here she is playing the
male role and is breaking up with the guy in front of his family. Society has created an idea that men can have
fun and not catch feelings while women can’t and always get involved
emotionally. In that verse Lil’ Kim is
the one not emotionally invested.
One of Lil’ Kim’s most famous photos is one of her album
covers where she is crouched down with her legs wide open exposing her cheetah
print bikini bottom. Women learn from a
very early age that they must sit with their legs crossed to not expose their
undergarments. Nicki Minaj has a very
similar photo and with this we see how these female MCs have changed the
outlook for female rappers. They show us
how women can accomplish anything men can even if it takes some vulgar language
and provocative clothing.
References
Minaj, Nicki. "Only
Lyrics." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
<http://genius.com/4258276>.
"Lil Kim – Spend a
Little Doe." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.
<http://genius.com/Lil-kim-spend-a-little-doe-lyrics>.
"Ladies First: 31
Female Rappers Who Changed Hip-Hop." Billboard. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar.
2016.
<http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/5923011/ladies-first-31-female-rappers-who-changed-hip-hop>.
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