What do we all know?..Sex Sells! Which is why we love Cardi B honesty. As a society we are obsessed with getting answers on an artist sexuality. Do I solely blame hip hop for this? NO. The same way I would not blame jazz or rock and roll. On p.158 of the Hip Hop Wars, “Surely hip hop didn’t create sexism, but far too much of it glorifies and encourages its growth and maintenance.” Yes, they play a part on pushing sex but like the reading states Hip Hop is not responsible for sexism. Early in the reading there’s a quote from Russell Simmons, “The truth is, misogyny is not a hip hop created problem. Misogyny is a deep-seated problem that is embedded in the historical evolution of the United States as a nation.” As the saying goes nowadays “Where is the lie?”. As the reading states We chase artist for years like Queen Latifah, Will Smith, Micheal Jackson, Ne-yo, Oprah Winfrey.. to do what? Either make them more relate able or be judgemental to their every move based off of their sexual preference. This is nothing new from slavery to the AIDS epidemic sex is used to control us one way or another. We see Mylene struggle with what she has been taught and what she is being told. Everything that is being thrown at her is if she does not promote sex she will not be a star. As the Hip Hop War notes “Sexism has been described as the practice of domination of women.” We see Dizzee trying to figure himself out, imagine his character being played today? He would be considered “suspect” for hanging out with blondie, probably end up on one of the blogs mentioned in Rumor Has It. Suspect of what? Minding his own damn business lol. I think the best phrase to sum up these episodes and readings is what Mylene said trying to “BREAK FREE”. We see Ezekiel deal with racial context like “puerto ricans wear pointy shoes to kill the roached in the corner”, Shaolin making ends meet the best way he knows how, Dizzee with his sexuality, RaRa as the level headed mastermind behind it all and BooBoo fighting poverty. One way or the other I feel like we are all trying to break free from those check boxes society has placed on us.
