Hip Hop, Masculinity in

As a cultural art form, hip hop music burst on the scene in the late 1970s. This unique style of culture and music, which incorporates all forms of rap, became a venue for artists living in urban areas to brag and, more important, to highlight the serious social and economic conditions affecting those living in the low-income areas of America. Since its inception, many researchers have argued that hip hop is predominantly the voice of African American males. Although many white hip hop artists, such as Eminem, have had a profound impact on the genre, and although hip hop fans span the ethnic divide, the most prominent images of hip hop artists are of African American males.

Recent research involving African American and white males argues that males tend to see hip hop as a masculine genre. Fiona Mills's in-depth study on masculinity and rap suggests that rap's hard-core image is what is most attractive to young adolescents. The young men interviewed for Mills's study contend that white adolescents listen to rap because they want other males to perceive them as tough. Young males gravitate to hip hop music in their adolescent years because males dominate it, and the research suggests that some adolescents use the images of hip hop artists to learn about manhood. More specifically, hip hop seems to support traditional notions that, to be masculine, males must reject all things feminine. In fact, a few of the males said that they do not listen to rap music in the presence of females because they consider it a male experience. Furthermore, the males hinted that females could not understand the meaning of hip hop because it excludes female voices and viewpoints.

Many scholars and various child advocacy groups argue that the sex and violence often depicted in hip hop music and videos reify stereotypes suggesting that “real” men must be violent, unemotional, and sexually promiscuous. Early effects studies focused on adolescents' reactions to various elements of hip hop, including nonviolent rap, political rap, or gangsta rap (a form of rap that glorifies thug street life). The manner in which aggression manifests itself in the lives of adolescent males is often the focus of research on hip hop and males. In some cases, the research notes that, when exposed to violent rap music, males tended to accept the use of violence and tended to have a greater probability of committing similar acts.

In addition to aggression, sexual prowess also seems to be a mark of masculinity as portrayed in hip hop. Many studies note that male hip hop artists glamorize their sex lives as a sign of manliness. Masculinity in this arena is defined by the amount of implied sexual activity in the lyrics and music videos. The fact that the focus is on the conquest and not on emotional investment reifies traditional notions both of masculinity in general and of masculinity for black men in particular.

In research involving the responses of Latina/o and African American teens to popular music, Polly McLean studied African American males who were exposed to songs such as 2 Live Crew's “Pop That Coochie,” which is replete with sexual innuendoes and images that the teens related to power. A sexual relationship, in their eyes, must depict male domination. They feel that sexual conquests give them status among their male peers and that it is their job as males to initiate sexual acts. A few of the males in the study said that the song made them want to find a girl to have sex with immediately after hearing the song.

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