Gender, sexuality, and objectification in Lil Wayne's 2009 performance of "Lollipop"

This post examines the live performance of "Lollipop" from the 2009 "America's Most Wanted" tour. I think it's safe to say that the above video and this post are NSFW. The lyrics are explicit.

Please note that yes, I identify as a feminist, and as such will not tolerate "you can't be feminist and like rap music," for two reasons: 1). my feminism is not negated by my support or patronage of a genre of music in which I have no control, and 2). sexism and misogyny are not exclusive to the rap genre (I notice when I say I like rock music, no one says "omg but you're a feminist!" to which I can't help but think there's a touch of racism in there, which is also not to be tolerated). That said, enjoy the post.

I wrote a post yesterday discussing the Lil Wayne concert I went to Wednesday night, and in it I briefly touch on Lil Wayne's use of women in the show, and I wanted to delve further into presentations of gender in the performance, specifically in the performance of the hit "Lollipop."

Before I get to it though, you should all know that I love love love this song. I love how the words sound, I love the beat--and in this performance especially with the electric guitars. It's a wonderful work. I start this out with praise only because oftentimes people mistake my discussion of gender presentations as negative criticism, rather than what it is: pointing out what is right in front of you.

What's interesting about this song, is that it tends to objectify both men and women. In the beginning of the song, we hear "I say he so sweet make her wanna lick the rapper. So I let her lick the rapper." This makes him the passive object, one which is sexually desired by women. Yet he's still the one in control. The men (the band members, DJ 45, and Lil Wayne) embody the aggressive masculine objects--dressed in tight-fitting tanks, the men display their bodies as masculine objects for the women (both onstage and offstage), and also for the homosocial gaze as a display for other males (onstage and offstage). The men exude typical rock-hard hypermasculinity, which tends to go hand in hand in regards to rap and hip-hop.

But the women serve as typical feminine objects throughout, both in the performance and in the lyrics. A couple lines focus on parts of the women's bodies, such as "ass" and "pussy." In several instances we have "bring that ass back," and of course there's mention of her "lovely lady lumps," which pretty much covers all bases. The lyrics of lollipop reduce women to their parts, and this is even evident in the performance of the song. True enough, the women are, not surprisingly, dressed in tight-fitting, revealing clothing, accentuating the typical lady assets: legs, breasts, and ass. In one song of the concert, Nicki Minaj was fully clothed, but in a skin-tight leather outfit that appeared painted on.

And then we have the lyrics and the performance simultaneously objectifying the women, where Lil Wayne sings "I'ma hit it hit it like I can't miss," while thrusting against Shanell from behind. In the background, we see the pole-dancers (all women, as this is understood to be a feminine sexual dance), which add to the whole rapper sex party image. A number of times during the concert, women dancers would come on stage to grope Lil Wayne, sometimes kneeling on either side of him to pull on his belt in a suggestive manner. The lesson? Lil Wayne has droves of sexy women at his disposal, illustrating his masculinity through the command of female bodies.

While the women's expression of sexuality is their own business, it is still evident that it is not a personal expression, but rather an expression that is for the heterosexual male gaze, uplifting Lil Wayne's own expression of masculinity in such a way that it completely overshadows the women's obvious talent as singers and dancers beyond the scope of their sexual parts.

crossposted

oh man it was so fucking awesome!

So, my fiance and I went to a Lil Wayne concert last night. I saw him in Detroit last xmas, and I must say, this one was even more awesome. Lil Wayne is a great live performer, and once again, he didn't disappoint. I did feel bad, though, having to cheer for Milwaukee. I sort of felt like a traitor--ha.

I decided at the previous Wayne concert that I much preferred the environment of rap concerts to rock concerts. I've come out of rock concerts bruised and pissed. I used to go to rock shows simply to enjoy the music and support the bands I loved, but I would spend the entire time dodging drunk assholes punching each other, moshing in a frenzy of intentional violence.

There's little diversity at rock shows. Generally speaking, the crowds are comprised primarily of white people. Who don't dance. At all. And I enjoy dancing to live music. But when you're in the minority of white girl dancing to rock music, men and other women look at you like you're the rock show slut, even if you're dressed in jeans and the band's t-shirt (not that slut-shaming is okay in any sense).

That said, I love rap shows because everyone is dancing. Even my fiance in his no-rhythm dance which only can be described as a "wiggle" (don't worry; we're going to fix that before the wedding, I swear). The crowd is diverse, everyone has gathered to have an awesome time, and everyone is dancing and having fun and cheering and loving the music.

As much as I adore Lil Wayne's shows (after all, they are entertaining--the music, the lighting, the pyrotechnics), I still find the objectification of women cringe-worthy. The women were certainly beautiful and talented singers and dancers, and I do not judge them for their participation in the show, but I find their use in the show was only to further Wayne's image as a highly sexualized man. The women were sexual in every aspect of the performance, the performance being a strip-tease of sorts, complete with pole-dancing.

"Lollipop" was the worst in terms of female objectification. At the risk of sounding prudish, one part of the song featured Wayne thrusting against Shanell from behind, flames roaring up in time with each thrust. It sort of diminished Shanell's obvious talent, being used as nothing more than a sexual object for Lil Wayne to act upon.

So I have a love / hate sort of relationship with Lil Wayne and his music. "Lollipop" is one of my favorite songs in terms of the beat, and the sounds of words, but the performance of it is a soft-core porn of sorts (which wasn't surprising, given that the lyrics are pretty explicit). My biggest problem was how the women's talent was overshadowed by their sexual performances, and how their bodies were objectified.

All in all though, it was a good night out.

Update: I have a follow-up post here. The video that was included here has been moved to the follow-up post, since it directly relates to the discussion.

Shut up Gwyneth

I came across this article today. Basically Gwyneth Paltrow is giving advice to Joaquin Phoenix regarding his recent decision to give up acting and begin a career in rap. Yes, it's quite funny, but we're all sort of used to celebrities making seemingly-insane decisions, and hey, they are entertainers, after all. Gwyneth is quoted as saying, "What advice would I give to Joaquin? Hmmm...maybe to go live in the projects for a few years to get some authenticity, maybe."

Are you fucking kidding me? Omg, where to I begin with what's wrong with this statement? This looks like a job for a list!

1. She assumes that rappers are only from the projects--untrue. What about Eminem? He grew up in Detroit, not "the projects." Or Lil Wayne, who grew up in New Orleans (projects being associated with large--northern--cities like Chicago).
   
2. She assumes that authenticity in rap lyrics can only stem from growing up in the projects, and can simply be gained by "walking in their shoes," so to speak. This is bullshit. First off, Joaquin is rich. He is white. He is privileged. Living in the projects unnecessarily will not give him whatever it is that Gwyneth refers to as "authenticity." If we were to assume for a moment that rap lyrics gain authenticity from living in the projects, Joaquin would still not gain it since he did not grow up in that environment, and even living there for a few years will not afford to him the same emotions about it that people who actually do live there experience. For him, it would just be a little vacation--there would not be this overwhelming sense of "this is where I live; anything else is above my means."
3. She assumes that rap reflects what occurs in the projects. Rap's origins stem from a dissatisfaction with the situations for many young black men, and it was an outlet. It encompasses an array of styles that generally reflect the personal lives of the rapper, and one of its more distinctive features is the use of poetic language, that is the sounds and manipulations of words as a form of spoken poetry. Rather than advising him to listen to examples of the genre, she tells him to go to the projects.
4. She assumes that "street-cred" will validate anything he will rap about, despite not all rappers having "street-cred," and not all rap songs are about gangstas, hos, and the projects. Shooting a gun and living in the projects will not teach you about rap music any more than playing Dungeons and Dragons will teach you to write epics like Lord of the Rings.
5. Her use of the word "projects" bears its own racial imagery in society, and is thus condescending coming from her. Since people of color represent most of society's poor, people of color are most likely to be inhabitants of housing projects. Gwyneth (who was born in Los Angeles) also has white privilege, and she ignorantly illustrates what she thinks of rap music. Her telling Joaquin to go to the projects is essentially telling him that if he wants to make "black music" he should "live like the black man" to gain some credibility.
   

While I do not necessarily think Joaquin would be the best rapper, or even a mediocre one, I find Gwyneth's "advice" to be insulting to a number of people in her assumptions. For that, I recommend that she STFU.

Environments of Rock and Rap Concerts: expectations of violence versus actuality

My fiance talked me into going out with him and a few of his buddies the other night, and normally I grudgingly go since his buddies are all med students like him, and all they talk about is med school stuff (anyone that knows me knows my brain shuts down when it's bored; science never was my thing which is why I read so much). Luckily, there was beer, and that always helps when I have nothing to input into the conversation--I mean, at least seeing double is entertaining, right?

Anyway, one of the few moments I was able to interject was when I was talking to one of my fiance's friends about the music he listens to. I'm from Detroit, and I moved to Wisconsin about a year ago. I still don't know a whole lot of people, aside from work friends, and I don't seem to click with any of them, and my fiance's taste in music is...dated (I have agreed to marry a man who gets ecstatic any time a fucking power ballad is played--ugh!); so I was thrilled that his friend said he enjoyed rap music as well as rock.

He told me about how he has never been to a rap concert, however, and was interested in the difference between rock concerts and rap concerts. I actually got to see Lil Wayne perform the day after Christmas in Detroit while visiting my family, and so I told him about my experience. This conversation thus led me to write this post, as I think the two environments are vastly different, and as someone who has attended at least one of each, I would like to compare the two.

I've been to quite a few rock shows, and before two years ago I would only listen to rock music. I've been to a Shinedown concert where in order to get close to the stage I had to brave the mosh pit. I'm not a very tall woman, or strong, and if it weren't for the quickness of my fiance (my then-boyfriend) I could have been seriously injured. We mostly stayed to the back of the pit, near the rails by the stairs to avoid crowd-surfers and face-punchers. Then, the crowd started getting crazy, and this big guy in front of me was suddenly shoved back. My fiance had his arms wrapped around me protectively, and he saw the man get shoved--he picked me up and dragged me out of the way. I still got hit--the man's elbow struck me right in the boob, and since I don't have much cushion there, it seriously hurt me. But it could have been worse. This was about two or three years ago at Harpos in Detroit.This last year I got to see Tantric twice in concert--once at New York New York in Chesterfield, MI, and again once I had moved to Wisconsin at the Dane County Fair. The first was a free concert, and thus the place was packed. My friends and I managed to wiggle and scream our way to the stage where I had opportunity to shake hands with band members (and even touch the chest of Hugo--something I'm still thrilled about). It was so crowded that it--thankfully--didn't allow for moshing. The outdoor fair concert, however, meant there was moshing near the stage; people shoving; throwing garbage, full water bottles, beach balls, shoes, other people--anything at hand. Tantric never struck me as a particularly angry band, and since the first concert was fine I naively assumed the second chance to see them live would also be fine. My fiance ended up shoving people out of my way, watching the crowd while I tried to enjoy my favorite band.

Until this last December, these (and other similar rock concerts) were my only concert experiences. So when I decided to take my brother and his friend to see Lil Wayne, I didn't really know what to expect. I had never heard of people moshing at rap shows. In my experience white people either stand still at concerts or beat each other senseless--there's generally no dancing. I like to dance at concerts, and so other white people generally glare at me while I'm having a good time as if I am behaving in some taboo way--I get especially nasty looks from other women who think I'm just dancing for the attention even though I'm clearly with a date and I'm only moving to the music to enjoy it since I do not like sitting still.

I went to pick up my brother the night of the concert and my grandma was in the living room, warning my brother to watch out for me, and make sure no one bothers me. I gave her a strange look and asked what she thought was going to happen. I'll point out right now that my grandmother is a racist woman who despises that I enjoy rap music, I have been known to date black men, and my brother is currently in a relationship with a black woman. I already knew what she was implying in her warning; I just wanted to hear her say it to confront her.

Basically, in her mind, I am more likely to be raped, robbed, or assaulted attending a rap concert. In this there are several prejudices at once: 1. She, like many white people, assume that only black people listen to rap music, despite there being a diverse following of the genre, and despite that not all black people listen to rap music. 2. The myth of black male hypersexuality: in her mind she harbors racist images of hypersexed black males violating the imagined purity of white women. 3. Only black men are guilty of rape. 4. Only black men commit robberies or assault. 5. Only black men carry weapons.

Sadly, all of the above is not exclusive to my grandmother--these racist misconceptions of black people are believed by people of other races, and by people of all ages. Knowing that my grandmother is full of shit, I didn't take her warning seriously. And was not at all surprised that her warning was unnecessary.

What I saw at the concert were hundreds and hundreds of people filling the Joe Louis Arena, all there to enjoy the music--and that is what they did. Everyone was on his or her feet dancing, everyone had a great time, and not one person threw garbage or hit anyone else. It was wonderful! Even in between acts when my brother, his friend, and I were walking around everyone was getting along. It was not an angry environment, which to some degree was expected because of the crowding, but even so no one was pushing. The crowd was also very diverse (which surprised my co-workers when I told them about it--mind you these were the same people who thought that me going home to Detroit would result in me being shot).

I write this because it also reminds me of an essay I wrote a while back about the lyrics in rap music, of which this will now be considered an introduction (expect a follow up in the next few days). There's this myth that while rock lyrics seem to incite white emo loners to commit suicide, rap lyrics incite masses of young black men to unite in violence. In my experience at the concerts of each of these genres, however, I would say that rock music incites masses to violence, since the form of dancing for that music involves moshing which inevitably causes injuries to people; while rap concerts are about the music and about fun--even in Lil Wayne's case, where the lyrics involve violent imagery. Yet you are more likely to find metal detectors at the doors of rap concerts as well as being more likely to be patted down or have your purse searched.

Maybe it's just me, but I would rather not be part of this sort of violent idiocy:


I'm not saying that there are never fights at rap concerts, and I acknowledge that I do not have very much experience. Fights can happen at any place for a variety of reasons and in vast crowds they're quite difficult to prevent. Certainly violence has interrupted a number of concerts, regardless of musical genre, and for reasons that don't necessarily reflect the music. What I am saying is that there's a certain expectation of how to behave at rock concerts, where people attend with the intention to engage in violence: for example, I've spoken to several people who go to rock shows and say the shows suck if they didn't get punched in the face or if they didn't get into any fights. They don't go for the music; they go to hurt themselves and others. Tell me that isn't stupid as shit.

My fiance's friend agreed that he didn't like the atmosphere of rock concerts, that he goes to enjoy the music. I told him how agitated I get at rock shows, scared that at any minute something's going to hit me, break my glasses I can't afford to replace, or hurt me severely. When I was at the rap concert, there was this overwhelming feeling of safeness--an unknown feeling at this new environment. I would easily go to another rap show, or r & b show without a second thought. I want to dance and enjoy music, not partake in a violent environment.