10/31 Discussion leader

Media/Society pages 175-178

The text is about rap music as ideological critique. Media products do not always conform to the ideology but can be contradictory and a subject to change. The text questions if it is possible for mass media texts to be counterhegemonic, to go against the common hegemony that is constructed by popular mass media.

Rap is a way of comment on and challenge aspects of current power inequalities. Rap music also acts in an indirect way to refuse dominant ideological assumptions about black youth urban life etc., which is rooted in the inequalities in the social world. Rap music is an ideological critique, but at the same time the way rap musicians use the language sometimes shows that they accept and reinforce traditional ideological assumptions. For example some male rappers depict women in degrading ways. Rap is not only a form of political expression but also a profitable commercial industry. This means that rap may have lost a good deal of its critical impact. Rap music is sold to both black and white youths and might therefore be interpreted differently because most white youth do not have roots in the black urban culture.

Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott

The text by Sellen is about the female rapper Missy Elliott and discusses power and gender through a rap music perspective. Elliott is an artist, producer, writer and businesswoman and has changed both the visually and musically landscape of rap music. Elliott disrupts and appropriates signs of race and sexuality. The way she uses rap and portrays herself in music videos is done in a way where she is in charge and that men and the male gaze is not in control. She portrays herself in a way where she does not objectify or dehumanizes herself. She is sexual in her videos but it stays within the female space. Missy Elliott uses a rough language and are talking about black women and women in general, because she want to represent her ladies and not let only the male rappers do this. Her use of language is a way of taking the power from the male rappers by doing this disrupts and loosens the masculine grasp on language. Sellen also talks about how technology and Elliotts science fiction music videos are essential to the creation of her identity within masculine power. The technosexual woman is seen as powerful and creates both fear and fantasies. Lastly Sellen talks about how the female identity is unbounded and re-constructed and that is doesn’t only have one form, it changes and is unstable.

Outside source

https://www.city-journal.org/html/how-hip-hop-holds-blacks-back-12442.html

Written by John H. McWhorter

Discussion Questions 

1. The book states “So even as they are challenging the dominant ideology about race, some black male rappers generally accept and reinforce traditional ideological assumptions about gender roles and sexuality” Male rappers use degrading language when it comes to women, which means that they reinforce the ideology and are not being critical to the ideology. Do you think Missy Elliott uses rap as an ideological critique? In what ways does she do this and how might it be different from male rappers? Does Missy Elliott reinforce ideological assumptions on other themes than gender?
2. The rap industry is not just a form of political expression but is also a huge commercial industry. The book states that “Rap might have lost its critical impact”, so rap might not be about criticizing the ideology any longer. The article “Who Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back” states “it’s the nastiest rap that sells best, and the nastiest cuts that make a career.”, so this means that people want the offensive rap music. Do you think rap still has some sort of political engagement or is it just about money and profit? What kind of influence do you think rap music has on youths? Do the youths only hear the nasty things in songs or do you think they get the critical ideological part as well?
3. Elliott states, “basically a bitch to me is a power word. It’s basically a female knowing what she wants and going after what she wants.” Elliott takes the power of the language by re-defining it and then using it in a more positive way. Is this possible to re-define a word like that? As the book also states rap is being interpreted in different ways, does this mean that she cannot re-define the language herself? Which social structures might go against her re-definition of the language?
4. Lisa Lewis states in Sellen’s article “Female musicians are actively participating in making the music video form work in their interest, to assert their authority as producers of culture and to air their views on female gender hood” This means that female rappers gives their perspective on how to view female gender, they decide themselves how they are portrayed. The rap society is dominated by male rappers, so do you think the female rappers music and music videos can actually change the ideology of how people view females?
5. Sellen talks about re-constructed body-boundaries, which suggests that female identities are not a fixed entity but are fluid and can change. Why do you think this is important for Elliott to express? How is the female body usually portrayed in rap music videos?