‘’After three bottles I'll be ready to fuck’’ [1]
How are female artists such as Lil Kim represented in Hip Hop music videos and why?
This critical investigation is about how female artists such as Lil Kim are represented in music videos and why? This particular topic of critical investigation is interesting because now that we live in a modern world and music has become one of the most important priorities in people’s lives and has influenced them in a powerful way of what society should think which creates stereotypes. ‘’It gets past the stereotypes and people hating each other because of those stereotypes’’[2]. This shows music videos create stereotypes of particular groups of society that creates conflict and overall has a negative impact on people.Therefore, by doing the critical investigation on how females are represented in music videos it controls the human mind of what to expect of females and how they should be as the cultivation theory suggests. Like Brian McNair calls this: ‘’The sexualisation of culture ‘strip tease culture’’[3]. This means that nowadays the sexualisation of women in music videos have become like a norm in the culture of hip hop of females shown in a sexual way in order to tease the audience of getting their attention. This critical investigation will reinforce stereotype facts of female music videos due to their representation in music videos such as Lil Kim ‘’How Many Licks’’ and ‘’No Matter What They Say’ ’and one historical music video is of Queen Latifah called ‘’U.N.I.T.Y’’ to see a comparison and change between the 1990s and the 21st century also how the new generation has changed based on the developments of music and music videos.
The first music video of Lil Kim that represents women in a stereotypical way is‘’How Many Licks’’. First of all you can tell from the song’s name ‘’How Many Licks?’’ that it is a sexually orientated song therefore the music video will also be expected to be sexual to express the title. The opening of the music video is a machine producing Lil Kim, objectifying her as she is seen as a ‘thing’, and copies of her which looks like Barbie and at the bottom of the page it is says made in USA:''The black female body has stood as a marker for excessive exotic and sexuality in western society for centuries’’[4].This opening connotes females being represented as objects and it is easy to produce and is not much thought of, as the machine keeps on producing more and more Barbies. As they are all made from the same mould, they are identical, which implies that society today requires women to all fit into one stereotypical role. It also describes how the body should look like as it says ‘’How many licks does it take to get to the centre of the‘’[5], “Fully edible’’[6] which is specifically pointed out so that it attracts the males therefore females are seen as sex objects and the to please the males, also connoting sexy and edible to feed the men to fill up the males like its food this type of convention is also mentioned in another music video called ‘’Right Thurr’’ by Chingy.
The clothing of Lil Kim is a corset, tights and high heels shoes and very feminine colours such as pink, the clothes are tight and bright to show the body but also to stand out in the crowd which connotes how females should be like in order to get males attention and be confident as Lil Kim. The camera shots of the video are mainly long angle, high angle and profile shots. There are also close up shots of her breasts and bottom, fetishising the sexual parts of her body, which maintains the negative ideology of women being sexual objects for the male gaze. ‘’In terms of music video, negative images and misrepresentations are often those that are identified as sexually exploitative- images’’[7]. This is because it attracts a wider range of audience because they are being teased by sexual females in the video.’’ Women are depicted simply as bodies or body parts to be observed and desired rather than social agents who have complex and drives of their own.’’[8] This is usually the male gaze camera which means it is shot by males in order to please the males that view the video. The reason they are using long angle shots is to show the whole image of Lil Kim and her figure. The high angle shot is used to look down on her this shows even though she is a rapper and has power but she is still a female and therefore by looking down on her she is still not stronger than males, the other reason they are using high angle shot is because she is wearing a corset and her cleavage is low so that the viewers are able to see her breasts which creates scopophilic pleasure. This is a similar video to ‘’The Thong Song’’ by Sisqo. They also use side shots of Lil Kim is to show off her figure and how big and proportion the body of females should be such as big ass, skinny waist and big breasts. It has shots of zooming into Lil Kim and other girls sexual dancing in her bra and underwear this identifies that females are just for sex.
It has other shots of a male sleeping while thinking about Lil Kim describing sex positions and the male is sweating and moving around. ‘’'It is possession of a 'sexy body' that is presented as women's key (if not sole) source of identity.’’[9]To show that females are good for sex and turning on males easily. Having sex sound in the music and the high angle shot looking down on Lil Kim shows she is still weak but able to give pleasure to the male. A group of guys fighting over Lil Kim in a cell means that Lil Kim attracts male that are hungry for females and just want females just to please themselves even though they are weak and emotional and are only used for their own pleasure and satisfaction by the way she is dressed and carries herself in the video. However,towards the end there is a shot where Lil Kim is wearing black and driving a car this shows that she is powerful but also connoting that females are able to ‘’drive’’ or control males and are as strong but also mysterious because of the dark colour which is the alternative representation of females this part of the music video is similar to Ciara ‘’Like A Boy’’ music video meaning that female could be as powerful and strong as the males.
The second video that represents the alternative representation of females is a historical text to compare it with music videos from nowadays which is Queen Latifah a female rapper from the 90s back then and even now their ideologies werenegative as ‘’it is a multibillion-dollar industry based on debauchery, disrespect and self-destruction.’’[10] Dissing and cussing each other or their haters, even though she was a female rapper her behavior and the way she spoke, walk or dress was manly, which suggests that for a woman to be authoritative and taken seriously, she has to take on masculine characteristics because, as Judith Butler suggested, gender is not fixed and is determined by the way we act. Because rappers were mainly identified with males and not females, women had to take on a male gender, shown as Queen Latifah’s rap was similar to the Eminem’s song called ‘’The Real Slim Shady’’ as it has the same conventions of cussing other people or haters which is usually done by the male rappers. ‘’It ain’t about security. It ain’t about bling bling. It ain’t about how much your gun can shoot.’’[11]This quote connotes hip hop is not about your physical appearance or strength but more about the music that makes all of us become one and get together. ‘’It ain’t about $200 sneakers. It ain’t about me being better than you or you being better than me. It’s about you and me connecting one to one. That’s why it has a universal appeal.’’[12]Back then the female rappers were not showing off their body all they cared about was the rap and uniting as one through music also females were more masculine to fit in with the rest. ‘‘A woman attired as a man may be seen as ‘power dressing’ or as adapting the mannerism of lesbianism.’’[13] These are reflected in media such as newspapers, TV, magazine etc., because nowadays the female rappers have to be explicit and attractive too to be successful and attract a wider audience because in the new generation is describes as ‘’cool’’ and ‘’sexy’’, whereas back then in the 90s it was just about the voice the rap which made you cool and got more successful.
The zeitgeists of the 90s often considered the true dawn of the Information Age also known as ‘’computer age’’ or ‘’digital age’’ which means individuals of the public could search or gather information freely whereas before it was difficult and almost impossible to find. Info-age technologies became widely used by the general public in the late 1990s. This includes the mass organisation of capital markets through neoliberalism which is a political movement in each country supporting liberalisation, free trade and open markets. The beginning of new media such as the Internet, and the ending of the Soviet Union led to a rearrangements and reconsolidation of economic and political power across the world, and within countries.The 1990s is often considered the end of modernity and the start of the current postmodern age. Therefore, as technology was developing and countries started developing into a ‘’modern’’ females had more freedom and the opportunity to express themselves whereas they couldn’t before, but there was still a limit for the females of keeping it respectful by dressing appropriately but still be powerful by their rap music as there is a saying called ‘’act like a lady think like a man’’ because males are powerful.However, as we are now in a post-feminist era, self-objectification is common as women are more willing to use their sexuality. Music videos noware more explicit and more sexual and prove the dominant ideology of females which is as sex objects, weak and emotional Such as the music video ‘’Dirrty’’ by Christina Aguilera. However, it can be argued that rather than women being sexualised by male producers, females today are now happy to use their sexuality as they think it gives them more power and attention. Nowadays the music has become more personal and the problems they have personally and has become meaningless and are specifically targeted at another artist rather than rapping about what is occurring around the world at the moment therefore the music industry has become more irrelevant and only now one type of audience likes the music rather than a wider audience which would appeal to all of them. ‘’They dress as if they’re going to the playa’s pimp ball.’’[14] Music videos now look half naked females with sex appeal to please the males gaze, which is different from the 90s where all female rappers were covered and weren’t explicit at all. This type of music videos changes males society ideology of females it will think less of females and just females would get less respect and more seen as sex objects and not taken seriously.
The third video that is linked to the representation of female rappers is ‘’No Matter What They Say’’ by Lil Kim which is an alternative ideology of females:‘’Men were much more likely to adventurous, active, and victorious.’’[15] This shows the dominant stereotype in society of males which is strong and the family provider as females are so dependent on males.‘’Women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimised, supportive, or laughable or merely ‘token females.[16]’’ You can tell from the name of her song that it will be about her and that is being herself and she’s in power and described as strong which is usually seen as masculine.‘’Women should be more vocal in denouncing sexism in rap music and in our society because our livelihood and our lives depend on it.’’[17] The opening of the music video is different looks of Lil Kim in like a picture frame small size connoting she has different sides to her rather than what only the media think of her as a overall. The main opening is that is a low angle shot looking up to her with dancers around her, this connotes that she is in power and we have to look up to her. The clothing of Lil Kim is underwear and a short corset which is to show off her body and attract the male audience such as Nicki Minaj’s video ‘’Super Bass’’.
Throughout the music video there have been only two types of camera shots being used which is a low angle shot and a long shot which usually starts from the bottom and slowly goes up. ’’The music, dances and images in the video are clearly reminiscent of the era when pop culture reduced blacks to caricatures: lazy 'coons,' grinning 'pick ninnies,' sexually super-charged ‘bucks.’’[18]The reason they mainly use low angle shots is to connote that Lil Kim is in power, it’s all about her which is an alternative point of ideology of females as they are usually described as weak and emotional and rather have a high angle shot looking down on any female.
This music video is mainly focused on females and is considered to be in charge. However there is a camera shot of few females starting to show them and the camera slowly moves down which connote that male are below females and females are in control which is an alternative ideology of females. ‘’Many black women singers, irrespective of the quality of their voices, have cultivated an image which suggests they are available and licentious.’’[19], on the other hand even though Lil Kim is trying to prove a point of females being in charge in some of the scenes she does act masculine which is rough and her body language this connotes that even though she is in charge and has power but because she sometimes acts like a male therefore it is referred back to the dominant ideology of male whereas the strong and the powerful person, which Lil Kim is representing.
"They don't know whether to be a gun moll for a gangster or a mother and they are confused as to what role they should take."[20] This quote connotes that females are confused about their roles in society whether try to be powerful and get their voice across or just be a mother which is an ideal role in society for females, which means hip hop female rappers sometimes need to give up of being a mother in order to be successful and to be heard and there is a sense of confusion. Throughout the music video she is half naked with a lot of males around her which connotes a typical ideology of females being surrounded by males and getting all the attention to be used and seen as sex objects the other view of that is she is a successful rapper because she is alike like males which all goes back to do the dominant ideology of males. There is a high angle shot of Lil Kim laying down with her underwear and corset and high heels on this is a typical camera shot of females this connotes they are weak and just seen as sex objects.
Female rappers such as Lil Kim are represented as typical stereotypes as ‘‘the fascination with black 'butts' continues. In the sexual iconography of the traditional black pornographic imagination the protruding butt is seen as an indication of heightened sexuality.’’[21]Lil Kim reinforces these stereotypes in her music videos which is females are weak, emotional, for pleasure, sex objects and not taking seriously, due to the fact that nowadays almost all music videos are tend to be similar and explicit as Lil Kim’s videos it has a negative influence on society ‘‘Stereotypes survive by undergoing change and by convincing us that they’re not entirely false,’’[22] which means males think less of women, sexually active and are treated as sex objects to be pleasing themselves with‘’Women are not straightforwardly objectified but are presented as active, desiring sexual subjects.’’[23] This shows that females are sexually active due to the way they represent themselves. ‘’Women choose to present themselves in a seemingly objectified manner because it suits their liberated interests to do so,’’[24]therefore the media does influence how society thinks as the media is a gate keeper and controls the flow of information being exposed, how to attract audience which gives dominant hegemonic values and affects how they think.
Word Count =2169
Work Cited
Books
Alim, H. S. (2006). Roc the Mic Right. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
Brooks, T. (2007). Dream factory deferred: black womanhood, history and music video. New York: iUniverse.
Chang, J. (2005). Can't stop, won't stop: a history of the hip-hop generation. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Gauntlett, D. (2002). Media, gender, and identity: an introduction. London: Routledge.
Kitwana, B. (2002). The hip hop generation: young Blacks and the crisis in African American culture. New York: Basic Civitas Books.
Railton, D., & Watson, P. (2011).Music video and the politics of representation. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Schloss, J. (2009). Foundation: b-boys, b-girls and hip-hop culture in New York. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Watkins, S. C. (1998). Representing: hip hop culture and the production of Black cinema. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Newspapers and magazines
Nicki Minaj and the rise of the titillating female rapper
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/apr/12/nicki-minaj-female-rapper?INTCMP=SRCH
Outspoken artist k-os calls himself a forefather of Canadian hip-hop
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/the_tab/bragging-rights-134812813.html
Sexualisation of our children is a crime that is endemic in our celebrity commercial culture
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2068537/The-ASA-tackling-child-sexualisation-advertising-Lets-hope-spot-subtle-obvious.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Moral panic? No. We are resisting the pornification of women
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/01/feminists-pornification-of-women
Academic Research News: Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation and Woodruff Library Partner to Prepare Tupac Shakur Writings and Papers for Scholarly Research
http://www.hiphopresearch.org/academic-research-news/
Internet
Daniel Craig in drag! To support International Women's Day... (video) http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/daniel-craig-in-drag-to-support-international-womens-day-video-2462821
Postfeminist Media Culture: Elements of Sensibility
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2449/1/Postfeminist_media_culture_(LSERO).pdf
Representations of black female sexuality in the cultural market place
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~abarian/class%20pdfs/Selling_Ho-Pussy.pdf
Hip-Hop's (Still) Invisible Women
http://www.alternet.org/media/51933
Hip to the Game – Dance World vs. Music Industry, The Battle for Hip Hop’s Legacy
Moving image texts
Lil Kim ‘’How Many Licks’’
Director: Francis Lawrence
Record company: Atlantic Records
Release date: July 1, 2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhCD9qxlczo
Lil Kim ‘’No Matter What They Say’’
Director: Marcus Raboy
Record company: Atlantic Records
Release date: June 27, 2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcZoqpJ1PYs
Queen Latifah ‘’U.N.I.T.Y.’’
Director: Lancelot H. Owens
Record company: Motown Records
Release date: January 01, 1994
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8cHxydDb7o&ob=av2e
Christina Aguilera ‘’Dirrty’’
Director: David LaChapelle
Record Company: Recording Company of America
Release date: December 24, 2002
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rg3sAb8Id8&ob=av2n
Chingy ‘’Right Thurr’’
Director: Jessy Terrero
Release date: September 14, 2003
Record company: Disturbin Tha Peace (DTP) record company
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gCfTe4fKe8
Nicki Minaj ‘’Super Bass’’
Director: Sanaa Hamri
Release date: May 13, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JipHEz53sU&ob=av2e
Sisqo ‘’The Thong Song’’
Director: Joseph Kahn
Record company: Def Soul imprint of Def Jam
Release date: February 15, 2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oai1V7kaFBk
Eminem ‘’The Real Slim Shady’’
Director: Dr. Dre, Phillip Atwell
Release date: May 16, 2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGk2qmDmvT8
Work Consulted
Why is Hip-Hop so Powerful?
http://www.creativeclass.com/rfcgdb/articles/Why_Hip-Hop_Is_So_Powerful.pdf
Hip-hop is deadish
http://timeoutchicago.com/music-nightlife/music/15036005/hip-hop-is-deadish
Hip Hop Hypocrisy: When Lies Sound like the Truth
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hip-Hop-Hypocrisy-Sound-Truth/dp/0595419097/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325773508&sr=1-11#_
Hip Hop Had a Dream: Artful Movement v. 1: Vol. 1 the Artful Movement
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hip-Hop-Had-Dream-Movement/dp/1438902042/ref=sr_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325773660&sr=1-13#_
The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hip-Hop-Generation-African-American/dp/0465029795/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325773834&sr=1-14#_
Women rappers stay under the radar
http://www.afterellen.com/blog/jensabella/women-rappers-stay-under-the-radar
[1] Lil Kim ‘’No matter what they say’’ music video
[2] Chang, J. (2005)p.123
[3]Mcnair, Brian http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2449/1/Postfeminist_media_culture_(LSERO).pdf
[4] Brooks, Takeshia (245) (2007)
[5] Lil Kim ‘’How many licks’’ music video
[6] Lil Kim ‘’How many licks’’ music video
[7] Railton, Diane and Watson, Paul (200) (2011)
[8]Railton, Diane and Watson, Paul (200) (2011)
[9]Representations of black female sexuality in the cultural market place [doc]
[10] Schloss, Glen, Joseph (122) (2009)
[11]Chang, Jeff (2005)
[12] Chang, Jeff (2005)
[13]Macdonald, M. (1995), p125
[14]Hip Hop Hypocrisy: When Lies Sound like the Truth iUniverse (6 Dec 2006)
[15]Gauntlett, D. (2007)
[16]Gauntlett, D. (2007)
[17]Hip-Hop's (Still) Invisible Womenhttp://www.alternet.org/media/51933
[18]Rap Criticism Grows Within Own Community
[19]Representations of black female sexuality in the cultural market place [doc]
[20]Women rappers stay under the radar http://www.afterellen.com/blog/jensabella/women-rappers-stay-under-the-radar
[21] Postfeminist Media Culture: Elements of a Sensibility [pdf]
[22]ASA Spokesperson in the Guardian, 26 June, 1978
[23] Postfeminist Media Culture: Elements of a Sensibility [pdf]
[24] Postfeminist Media Culture: Elements of a Sensibility [pdf]
