Love and Hip Hop
This week is Valentine’s Day week, so I thought this week’s blog should be about love.
Or specifically, love and hip hop.
You may think that this is an odd pairing, but don’t tell that to the the producers of any of the successful iterations of the reality tv shows.
I’m not going to be reviewing any of the shows in any of these blogs. I’m only pointing out that love and hip hop go together like a horse and carriage.
Say what??
One of the reasons that this pairing strikes people as odd (especially since one of the most frequent criticisms of hip hop is that it is so misogynistic) is because hip hop is often believed to denigrate women.
And certainly some of the music does, especially the earliest music.
However, there is nothing inherently within hip hop that would make it that way.
Hip Hop is a Product of the Culture
Hip hop grew out of a particular time and place, namely Urban America at the later half of the twentieth century, and is an authentic representation of that culture. American culture was then, and is still to a large extent, misogynistic. So, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that hip hop has misogynistic elements.
But it seems that often hip hop’s misogynistic reputation has been exaggerated. Many people believe that hip hop is more misogynistic than other types of music, or is misogynistic when other types of music are not.
This expanded claim cannot be supported. I’ve never heard of or seen a study that analyzed different types of music according to misogyny. It’s all anecdotal. People point to a song or an artist and say, see, it or they denigrate women.
But this could be said about any kind of music. “Light My Fire” is not a song about treating women with respect and consideration.
A Valentine Challenge
I challenge you this Valentine’s Day to create a play list of hip hop love songs and share it with those you love.
And try to think of as many rhymes as you can for Cupid.