Post Reading Week 12

Lupe Fiasco’s “Bitch Bad” is an attempt to be more conscious, but it’s only a start and there are ways that it could have been better executed. He brings attention to the issues regarding women in hip-hop.

Rap’s Long History or ‘Conscious’ Condescension to Women was the article that I felt gave the most complete analysis of Lupe Fiasco’s song. The article brought attention to the lack of responsibility that men take in their part of the portrayal of women in hip-hop. Where it references other rappers is where it held the analysis; looking at male rappers attempts to be conscious fail because they rarely if ever hold males responsible for their contributions.

Jamila’s quote connects to the way Lupe Fiasco’s video in the way that women watching the videos are influenced by what they see and in the way that women are portrayed in the videos. Women watching the video don’t see the paid actress they only see the girl in the video being put into sexual images. Jamila would say that these women in the videos should understand the impact the have on viewers and to take some responsibility for that. She would also point out the fact that it’s not completely their responsibility because it’s the lyrics and stories in the songs that they are being paid to be a part of. Rappers and hip-hop artists need to take responsibility for the lyrics they are putting out in the world. I think Jamila would have a problem with the bitch/woman/lady hierarchy that Lupe presents in his song because it doesn’t account for all the things a female can be. It limits them to these three undefined terms that don’t have any basis of support.

I don’t know if I would say that hip-hop holds the most responsibility because I don’t know if world wide it’s the most popular out of all genres. In the case that it was the most listened to genre of music than yes, I would say it holds the responsibility o being socially responsible, but I do have to argue that people in society have to take on the responsibility of making morally conscious decisions. It can’t be put on the music industry to completely responsible for social constructs or what’s happening in society. That being said, all forms of media, music, television, radio, and movies all have to take part in being responsible for what is being put out into the world.

Youth believes that hip-hop is a tool; “besides employing hip-hop to organize others in their community, youth use hip-hop culture to sustain and motivate their own activism” (189). People feel comfortable with hip-hop, which most people can relate to hip-hop or some of the stories that they sing about.  When people feel a connection it’s easier for them to use it in their everyday or relate their own stories through hip-hop. I think that for my generation it’s a little different than it was five even ten years ago, but it’s slowly, very slowly, looping back around to being more conscious.

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