GeeChee One... SEX LOVE & HIPHOP

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me."
THIS nursery rhyme remains a way for youngsters to defend
themselves against verbal taunting, but unfortunate, words can
hurt, and words cannot be ignored. In recent years, as
African-Americans, we have been-in the midst of a disturbing
cultural controversy around the words that are projected in hip-hop
and rap music. According to Ice-T, the exaggerated machismo style
of rap "doesn't mean anything." On the other hand, contradicting
himself in 1994, he said that his rap was reality-based and that
what he said was "real" because it was a reflection of how he lived
and talked, This attempt to have it both ways is reflexive of the
problematic gender message of "gangsta rap" and "booty rap" music.
There has been a growing war between Black men and women since the
'60s, and hip-hop is a significant and influential site of
contemporary gender battles. Added to this cultural "war between
the sexes" is the overriding influence of the huge profit-making
machine which is hip-hop. It is critical to note that gangsta rap
does not appear out of nowhere. It is profoundly connected to
patriarchical values that are pervasive in American society. These
values underscore the belief that the way to be a man is to have
power, and in gangsta and booty rap and culture, this often means
the use of obscene language, glorification of violence and profound
objectification and disrespect of women. If such words and images
are where many young Black folks get their gender messages,
including their ideas about sex, love, friendship, dating and
marriage, then rap music tells us some disturbing things about how
the hip-hop generation sees and reacts to gender issues.