Week 4: Battle of the Sexes

The readings from Toure this week pointed out a very interesting distinction to me: the difference between male and female hip-hop artists. With a few exceptions (the Lauryn Hill piece comes to mind), the essays about female artists were positive, uplifting, and family friendly.

The Beyonce piece, for instance, in contrast with the piece about Jay-Z (to whom she is now married) really made me think. In the hip-hop community, women are often the better role models—confident, strong females for young girls to admire and emulate. Beyonce does not have a past full of sex tape scandals, DUIs, rehab stints, or bad relationships. She comes from a close-knit family of people who, although they have the inevitable ups and downs, still stand by each other. She is grounded, hard-working, and committed to her values. I’m sure parents would be thrilled for their daughters or sons to listen to Beyonce’s music. The same goes for Alicia Keys and many others. Although exceptions exist, and these women are not technically rappers, they are still identified as part of the hip-hop community.

The Jay-Z article, on the other hand, does delve into aspects of his talent and motivation, but it extensively discusses his court case for allegedly stabbing a record executive, his “beef” with other rappers, and his skills in a high-stakes card game. Jay-Z is actually one of the more positive male artists in the hip-hop community today, but even he has to keep up an appearance of toughness and “street cred,” and unlike Beyonce’s music, his is full of explicit lyrics. He simply is not someone many parents would feel comfortable with their children admiring.

I think this difference occurs because of the shifting male and female roles in the African-American community—a trend that Toure and other writers discuss. Because many black fathers abandon their wives and children early on, the mothers are forced to become the anchors of the family unit. Black women learn to be strong, reliable, and positive from a young age; they have no other choice if they want their families to survive. As a result, female hip-hop artists have grown up with values and confidence, and they refuse to compromise themselves for money or fame. Male rappers, however, often give in to violent, misogynistic, and criminal stereotypes in order to do well in the rap game. Many of them grew up without father figures, so they struggle to find positive role models—or to be positive role models.

Overall, the articles in Never Drank the Kool-Aid illustrate that many popular female hip-hop artists have a better, stronger sense of themselves, and this translates into their music. Best-selling male rap artists might be seen more positively in American society if they learned to be more like the women in hip-hop.