I Am a Hip-Hop Head, a Black Woman, and a Product of Rape Culture

Content Warning: this article mentions sexual violence, rape culture, gender-based violence, and violence against women.

 Rape Culture is a culture where we are inundated, in different ways, by the idea that male aggression and violence towards women is acceptable and often inevitable. 

‒ Roxane Gay

“Yeah, I’ll f***ing tie you to a f***ing bedpost with ya ass cheeks spread out n’ shit, put a hanger on a f***ing stove and let that shit sit there for like a half an hour, take it off and stick it in ya ass slow!”

Unfazed, I looked out the window at the unignorable passing scenery of a summer day in Montreal, as I turned the page of Roxane Gay’s anthology on rape culture and sexual violence, Not That Bad. I admit, it is a strange way to start a song. The entire Enter The Wu-Tang album - especially the interludes- could be classified as quite disturbing. I’m not here to dispute that. But I’ve heard this intro hundreds of times. “Method Man” is my favourite Wu-Tang song. That is one of the most important things you should know about me, and if you remember nothing else about this article, remember that. 

You might have thought this was a think piece on how hip-hop oversexualizes women and is ruining the youth. This isn't that. You maybe thought I’d talk about DMX’s homophobic lyrics. I won’t. You, possibly, even thought this was going to make a case that hip-hop music is inherently violent, more so than other genres. Nope, not doing that, either. This is a bold, side-eyed look at the insidiousness of sexual violence and anti-Blackness, and a culture that relies on their normalization. 

I wondered if the Uber driver could hear the slightest peek into my too-loud-music through my headphones, and feared he’d ask the question I’ve been asked enough times before. The question I’ve even asked myself: how can I- a Sexual Health Educator- be so committed to the sexual health and wellness of Black people. Black women. Black queer women, and listen to this kind of music? Is hip-hop not inherently anti-feminist? Does rape culture not permeate the lyrics I so easily repeat? I can’t say I’ve come to answer these fully. I also can’t say I’m really interested in doing so. 

To critique hip hop’s lyrical contributions to rape culture without acknowledging colonialism’s cultivation of a society that requires rape, is an inherently racist and performative approach to dismantling the normalization of sexual violence and violence towards women. In other words, hyper focusing on hip-hop when gender-based violence in this country is borne of colonial patriarchy is racist, and this approach does nothing other than criminalize Black people - who are already hyper victimized by gender- based violence. In other words, if you’re not ready to have a conversation about colonialism’s reliance on rape culture and sexual violence, and instead choose to police Black artists’ lyrics to validate your own anti-Blackness, then step the fuck back, baby, okay?

Rape culture has impacted - no, molded- my sense of self, my sex life, my attraction to partners, the way I move through the world and navigate any space at any time, has heightened my anxiety in unimaginable ways, and I can't know what I would be like if I wasn't impacted by it. What I do know is that rape culture is not the elephant in the room, rape culture is the room. What I do know is that I could recite every lyric to “Method Man” before I could even articulate my own experiences with sexual violence and harrassment. What I do know is that there is no age that is too early to start having conversations about consent, about bodily autonomy, about critical thinking and questioning every piece of media we consume even if we shake our ass to it in the club (these things are not mutually exclusive). 

What I also know is that the violence being overlooked is more powerful than lyrics. 

Disproportionately assuming Black men are perpetrators is the violence.

Poverty is the violence.

Criminalizing sex work is the violence.

A culture that refuses to believe that women's bodies are their own is the violence.

Transphobia is the violence.

Anti-Blackness is the violence.

Living on stolen land is the violence.

Capitalism is the violence.

There is no reforming rape culture. There are no parts of it we should desire to hold onto. So our approach to dismantling rape culture must be transformative. We must start asking better questions. We must start focusing on the culprits who live at the core of these issues. How has sexual violence been used historically, and still, as a weapon of mass destruction? How does white supremacy rely on sexual violence? Let’s talk about how desperately we need decolonized approaches to consent education, because just saying no doesn’t hold the same weight for a Black woman whose perpetrator is racist. How do university institutions rely on campus culture and rape culture to continue to profit? How do colonial stereotypes of oversexualizing Black people contribute to our experiences of sexual violence to this day? Why do so many Black men share with me the same story of how they were taken advantage of by older non-Black women? Why are Black kids always seen as “mature” for their age? What are the experiences of the Black artists who create sexually explicit music? 

Rape culture is so normalized in the everydayness of our lives that it inevitably presents itself in action through the media we consume. But why are Black hip-hop artists disproportionately demonized, yet the many questionable lyrics of musicians such as the Beatles (listen to "Run for Your Life," or “I Saw Her Standing There”) are seen as talented and edgy? Nothing to be worried about here, it’s just great storytelling! And don’t even get me started on white country music. Have you listened to Marty Robbins “They’re Hanging Me Tonight”? Spare yourself, I’ll explain: the song follows a fictional character killing a girl he liked because she went out with another man. If there were ever an anthem for misogyny, patriarchy, and gender-based violence, I think this would be it. 

Have there been think pieces on the sexism and misogyny in country music? Yes. Are they- in my experience- more of a slap on the wrist to stop comparing women to trucks? Yes. That - the ways in which these artists, and their lyrics are critiqued- matters. We don’t suddenly fear that our youth are in danger when they listen to white musicians sing shockingly graphic lyrics. We don’t call these artists dangerous. We don’t fear for women’s safety as a result of this music. And last time I checked, it’s only rap lyrics that are now admissible as court evidence in some American states. A genre of music, need I remind you, created by and predominantly used by Black people. A genre of music, need I remind you, that was built on the premise of love, community, activism, and storytelling. A genre that can get as Bring Da Ruckus as Wu-Tang and as Keep Ya Head Up as Pac. A genre utilized by people who look like me, that are disproportionately impacted by rape culture. I’m not here to deny misogynistic lyrics as such, but I am starting to think that it has really never been about the lyrics at all. 

Y’all see where I’m going with this?

As we turned the corner, the bass of Wu-Tang’s music continued through my headphones. I double checked that the Uber driver was heading in the right direction, prayed he wouldn't aggressively ask for my number (it’s happened before) , held my keys tightly in case I needed a makeshift weapon, and shared my location with my best friend as I turned the volume up. M.E.T.H.O.D maaaaaaaan!

Illustration by: Chance Mutuku