'LL Cool J comes out with one leg of his pants rolled up, the next day everyone is doing the same thing'
How do hip hop music videos featuring contemporary rap stars such as Eminem and Lil Wayne construct ideologies of masculinity and why does this negatively influence teenagers?
Are artists such as Eminem and Lil Wayne represented in a certain way that it manipulates teenagers to act in a certain way? This essay aims to find out how masculinity is represented in hip hop and whether it has had a big impact on teenagers today. The hip hop genre has often been criticised for its unconstructive stereotyping of young particularly black males: 'There are a lot of people who are doing something positive...But too often, the ones that get the most recognition are those emphasizing the negative.' And ‘popularity of hip-hop comes the responsibility to its listeners to provide a positive image which is lacking in many of today’s artists portrayals.’ There are many more socially responsible hip hop artists such as Kanye West; and come of those demonised such as Eminem (in his track "Not Afraid" for example) or Tupac (in ‘Ghetto Gospel’ and others) promote uplifting values; however, the mainstream media often seems only influenced in perpetuating old-fashioned myths.
The main texts that will be considered in this essay are, Eminem's 'Love The Way You Lie' and 'No Love' and also will be looking at Lil Wayne’s 'Drop The World'. The reasons that these texts have been chosen are because they show the typical codes and conventions of hip hop and also because Eminem and Lil Wayne have made it very big in the hip hop world and are contemporary and known worldwide. This essay aims to look at masculinity and how it has changed: ‘Masculinity is not something given to you, but something you gain. And you gain it by winning small battles with honour.’ Males have to do things in order to show they are masculine by maybe showing how dominant they are which is done through Eminem’s text and Lil Wayne’s text through the use of low angles which makes them seem in more power and the lady is being beaten up by the man in the text Love The Way You Lie which shows the masculinity and dominance of a man and also gives the idea to the audience that this is how a man can gain his masculinity.
Eminem is an American actor, record producer and rapper. Eminem gained popularity with his album 'The Slim Shady LP' which he won a Grammy award for the best rap album. He released an album 'Recovery' (2010) which was very different to Eminem's style and even then the album sold 741,000 in its first week. Lil Wayne is also an American rapper. Lil Wayne signed with ‘Cash Money Records' as the youngest member on the label. In 1999 he released a platinum album which sold over one million in the U.S alone. His most successful album was 'The Carter III' released in 2008 which sold over one million in its first week.
Men are always seen to be more dominant than women: 'Men nurture their society by shedding their blood, their sweat, and their semen, by bringing home food for both child and mother, by producing children, and by dying...' In the text ‘Love The Way You Lie’ from Eminem you can see that the man is beating up the lady, and this shows that men are dominant and can treat women anyway they like. This also makes it seem acceptable for the audience as they are following what they see in the videos, and this has led to teenage violence. Although now there is more gender equality given by the society and this is shown through female success in male genre and the rap artists are Missy Elliot, Lady Sovereign and the more contemporary which is Nicki Minaj which reflects the zeitgeist as women being powerful. Music videos now have a lot of male objectification in which you see fetichize male bodies such as close ups of their arms and bodies. This would have not happened 10 years ago with male bodies, instead it would have been the other way round and women would have been objectified as Laura Mulvey explains in her theory. This again reflects great equality between men and women which also reflects the zeitgeist.
Teenagers that listen to rap are behaving in a destructive way research shows: ‘Lyrically, some of hip-hop's most popular songs and musicians have negatively influenced violence, drugs, alcohol, sex, disrespect for authority, and disrespect for woman. For many young children and teenagers, this type of music can create an environment that can become detrimental to their lives and education.’ Research suggests that all the unconstructive behaviour of teens had started some time ago: ‘With crushing poverty and little to do, teens turned to gangs, but also to house parties, break dancing, and graffiti.’ Rap music can persuade teenagers to act in a degrading manner and so it controls the way youths think. This raises the issue that if teenagers can act in a downbeat way by listening to rap then they can also act in an optimistic way if they choose to, although most choose to follow the artist and because it is satisfactory for the artist to act in that way it is also tolerable for teenagers told to so too.
Different stereotypes are represented through various media platforms: 'Stereotype has entered public life as a term that is used to describe how fixed qualities or traits may be attributed to groups in the way they are represented in various media.’ We now believe that there are fixed stereotypes for example if we see young youths in a gang the audience automatically believes that they are out to cause trouble. This is because we have been brought up with these values and ideologies. The stereotypes that are conveyed through Eminem and Lil Wayne’s text are such that they are off-putting and harmful for the kids. However this is just our judgement towards hip hop because research shows as hip hop got broader, there was more violence and so these stereotypes had been proved right and so audience has fixed and linked such stereotypes with hip hop.
It has been argued that some rap music videos such as Eminem’s and Lil Wayne’s reflect and support the hypodermic needle theory which means that the viewers are being injected with certain ideologies and values, and also desensitise the audience: 'Some lyrics can be quite provocative and insensitive and they hear these lyrics and want to do exactly what it's saying...For example: If they hear music about having sex...They want to go out and do it.’ The behaviour of the artists in the music video influences its audience to go out and do wrong and so reflects and supports the copycat theory. The audience will do what they see on TV or anywhere else. Rap music gives youth’s knowledge on social life issues although it’s not very clear which is why teenagers are acting in a shocking behaviour which is the issue of moral panics which assumes that the media are involved in misrepresentation and distortion of opinions: ‘Hip-hop is now one of the biggest and fastest growing businesses in the world. It's creativity in sound, and its lyrics have impressed and empowered many of today's youth.’ The lyrics of rap have taken control of the youths today and brainwashed them hence the reason the youths act in a degrading manner.
However it has also been argued that rap has an alternative effect on the audience: ‘Oddly enough, students listening to a nonviolent rap song experienced more depressive symptoms than those who listened to a violent rap song.’ Rap music can have a positive effect on the audience by catharsis and so this goes in opposition to my research title. It can therefore be argued that rap music doesn’t always influence the audience instead the fact that it’s actually the viewer’s choice to act in a certain way and so the artists are not to be blamed.
Many rap artists have been portrayed as the negative role models and have been given the dumb stereotype: ‘This guy's smart, and he's got ability.’ An article about Lil Wayne shows that the rap artists are actually really smart and very talented although because of the myths and stereotypes of them, we see them in an opposite way which proves the fact of binary oppositions in structuralism theory. Artists are very passionate about their work and believe they can change the society: ‘I'll be still rapping in there, have a gang of raps ready when I come back home.’ This quote from Lil Wayne himself shows that he wants to carry on with his work even back in prison, which shows the enthusiasm within him; although you could also argue that he wants to do this so that when he is out of prison he is ready to sell him albums and make money.
Are the artists to blame for the way that teenagers are behaving? This could be argued that it is the artist as they choose to portray themselves in a certain way: ‘It is as if men always have a reason to be photographed or otherwise represented which extends beyond their appearance' This quote sums up that artists care about the way that they are appeared through the media. This links to the copycat theory where teenagers are following what they see on TV or online of the artists. For example in my text of Eminem’s “Love The Way You Lie” and “No Love” it shows social issues such as bullying and domestic violence: when the audience watch such videos they think it is acceptable to bully or be violent. It shows that TV is the sense of realism: ‘So, it would seem that TV addicts make a direct connection between what they see on the small screen and what they think is happening in reality.’ Audience accept what they see on TV and behave in the same manner.
Who does the responsibility lie with? There are three main categories that could be argued which are the institutions, artists or the parents of the youths. The parents would blame the institutions and artists for constructing such videos and lyrics. It could be the institutions or the parents of the young audience to blame. It could be the institutions to blame as they would argue that they are just doing their job and getting music out to the audience, although the artist would say that they have do present themselves in a certain way for them to sell their music. You could also say that it is the parent’s faults for letting the kids watch such videos when they have the choice of turning of the TV.
Teenagers tend to follow what they see on TV: ‘Repetition of messages tends to enhance their effects. People tend to believe something if it’s said that often enough (provided it isn't too outrageous).’ It is believed to have said that once you see or hear something again and again you start memorising and so will start acting upon it. This could be the reason why most teenagers are acting the way they are, because they hear lyrics which are to do with violence and bullying. Music is the language for teenagers especially rap and so when teenagers hear lyrics that have swearing in it they will also go out and swear and use such words without having the knowledge of what they mean.
In rap videos today, it has been argued that artists care about their appearance: 'The more he resorts to his body as proof of his virility, the more he 'unmans' himself, in effect admitting that his only asset in his body - the traditional position of female stars'. There are many rap artists that produce music which reflects their personality, although many artists dress in a undignified way given the young youths the wrong impression. In my texts both Eminem and Lil Wayne are half dressed, with their trousers low and also in the text “Love The Way You Lie” in the beginning of the video you see the lady and man together in bed which might not be acceptable for some parents to be watched by their children. Also the reason for the artists choosing to dress that way they are showing their masculinity.
Overall from all the research put together rap stars such as Eminem, Lil Wayne and others do portray themselves in a negative way: 'We are tired of praying and marching and thinking and learning Brothers want to start cutting and shooting and stealing’. This quote sums up the fact that audience who listen to hip hop have started behaving from constructive to unconstructive way. It has affected young youths of today in a negative way although it can also be argued that it is not entirely the artist’s behaviour which effects the youth today. However research also suggests that it’s not actually rap that affects the youths: ‘Oddly enough, students listening to a nonviolent rap song experienced more depressive symptoms than those who listened to a violent rap song’. Hip hop does control some youths but not all and so cannot be said to be the cause of teenager behaviours. It is the media that shows a text to be portrayed either positive or negative.
Word count – 2,200
Bibliography
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Moving text
Eminem. (2010). Love The Way You Lie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U
Eminem. (2010). No Love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV2ssT8lzj8
Lil Wayne. (2009). Drop The World.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErCAOMi5EGM
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