This is an issue that has been bothering me for a while and I can't really see many discussions on the topic, anywhere, least of all the music press. I'm struggling to understand why rap music and musicians seem to get a much bigger pass than other type of musicians. I'm not into rap music, but what exposure I've had to this genre, it appears that its history is full of homophobia, misogyny and just downright nastiness. It seems like there is some kind of double standard at play, if you are hateful in other genres of music your career is dead (
https://thump.vice.com/en_us/article...him-his-career ), but on the other hand if a respected rap artist utters some homophobic thing, they make a half assed apology and nobody thinks more of it (
https://highlandernews.org/31887/emi...ry-homophobia/ ).
One of the most egregious examples of this kind of double standard for me is A tribe called quest's Georgie Porgie. Here we have one of the most respected hip-hop groups of all time, writting one of the most virulently homophobic songs (
https://genius.com/A-tribe-called-qu...-porgie-lyrics ) that didn't end up on their second album simply because the label decided it was too much and which has never officially distanced itself from it. Now, try to imagine if Bob Dylan or Bruce Sprinsteen have in their back catalog a virulently racist song (and the occasional racist outbursts in other songs), which they have never publicly disowned, how would they fair today?
Thinking about more recent examples, Pusha-T's Story of Adidon was downright nasty, not just in its slut shaming (which is of course rooted in misogyny) but also for making fun of a seriously ill person, but Pusha was not called to task for his nastiness, he is on the contrary lauded for his effort.
There is any number of other examples where rap lyrics treat women like nothing more than objects: "On Feb. 24, 18 out of 25 of Billboard’s top rap songs—most of which are also classified as hip hop—had lyrics referring to women as “bitches,” “hoes,” or “whores.” While the core message of most songs do not line up with such belittling rhetoric, these words saturate the songs with misogynistic undertones, and their presence in so many top songs indicates how pervasive said undertones are."
https://www.thecrimson.com/column/wh...-installment2/
To my mind this is just another example how homophobia and misogyny are still not treated with the same level of condemnation that we have come to treat racism, and in turn, that homosexuals and women, even in developed western societies, are thought of as less worthy of respect than straight people/men.
Nobody addresses the content of the lyrics in rap, most people simply judge rappers on their "flow". Most of the songs I hear are about bragging how much better you are than other people, is this what makes rap so attractive to its listeners?
How do rap/hip hop fans feel about this when they listen to these kinds of lyrics. Are there any female or gay rap fans here? Would love to hear some insight on this topic.
