“That’s My Bitch”: Representations of Masculinity In The Works of Jay-Z and Kanye West
June 2012
Within the subculture of Hip-Hop, artists use different portrayals of masculinity for specific purposes to create meaningful impact on their audience. Two of its more influential artists, Jay-Z (Sean Carter) and Kanye West show differing representations of this in their modern work. West often utilises a more typical excessive portrayal whilst Jay-Z has had to change his representations to suit the way his life has unfolded. How and why they show these representations, explain the potential political struggles that is often faced within the subculture and the impact they might have on them. This has been seen through analysis of lyrics and academic sources relating to their solo and collaborative works. West’s representation of masculinity aligns with most other artists within the subculture with just a few differences.
West is seen to be the accepted hegemonic male ideal. He portrays himself above other males by showing himself with women around him wearing limited clothing and seen to the mass public to be ‘sexy’. He also places himself with imagery of money or gold to show how much money he makes and to show his superiority. This is also complimented with the excessive expression of these ideas, as not only is he placed with some money or one beautiful woman but large quantities of the two. An example of this is the Power music video where he is featured with large amounts of gold and women (KanyeVEVO 2010). ‘‘Expression (of masculinity) requires performance and recognition: masculinity is not only a state that men have to achieve, they have to be seen to achieve it’’ (Fiske in Weitzer, R and Kubrin, Charis 2009, 15). This excess is even seen in his appearance.
Even though he is not as physically as built as other hegemonic rappers in the Hip-Hop subculture such as 50 Cent, he still promotes the ideal that he is ‘bulletproof’. Whilst doing this, he concentrates on the stereotype of his own mortality often associated with people of the African-American ethnicity and the low life expectancy of living in ‘the hood’. This is seen Ralph, who says Kanye does not care about anything because he came from little, so now he can spend it with a huge amount of women and money and that by living his life to the fullest he is feeling ‘alive’ (2006, 63). Masculinity is often linked to with making the most of your life whilst you are living it. An example of this in Hip-Hop is connected with the concept often promoted by West of ‘Balling’, which is derived from a stereotype that the only way an African-American male can be successful is if he ‘rises’ from the streets to being a Hip Hop star or a basket baller. It also has connotations with male genitalia. An example of this is in the collaboration track with Jay-Z Who Gon Stop Me:
Til I die I’m a fuckin’ ball
Now who gon’ stop me?
Who gon’ stop me huh? (Jay-Z and West 2011).
The effects of larger than life figures to the greater audience of the Hip Hop subculture is explained by Mcall when he explains that because they are subverted being a minority, African American males dream about reaching social levels that would give them superiority over other males and recognition in the world, thus is the reason for hyper masculinity (in Nichols 2006, 11). However West’s representation of masculinity sometimes falls outside of the normative fields.
West often includes themes in his work, which falls under the sub-genre of ‘Playa-Rap’. This mainly includes not just the idea of sexual dominance over women but also the sensual pleasure associated with sex and the pain associated with loving a woman. An example of this is in Blame Game:
All of the lights, she-was-caught-in-the-hype girl
And I was satisfied being in love with the lie
Now who to blame, you to blame, me to blame
For the pain and it poured every time when it rained Lets play the blame game (West, 2010).
It is seen that he is mainly doing this as to become a ‘crossover’ musician, which is breaking through to the mainstream media, which he has seen to successfully achieve through his remixing of popular tracks and his popularity with audiences outside of the subculture. Though the importance of this exceeds his social standing within the subculture. The ideals of ‘Playa-Rap’ could change the subsets of the hegemonic male. This was once not the case but seeing how influential rappers such as West are involving themselves with this sub-genre of the Hip-Hop, this would probably become more mainstream (Randolph 2006, 209). This could change the definition of what a hegemonic male is in the subculture. It could also help to stop some of the negative connotations associated with the subculture, the artists and if a strong enough following was created then the ethnicity. This is because the hegemonic male relational type within Hip-Hop is what most people associate entirely with the subculture as they exemplify the stereotypes of the minority group, as especially in African-American genre groups, male is often associated with ‘good’ as compared to females’ vulnerable or ‘bad’ quality (Jarman-Ivens 2007, 175). Jay-Z’s representation of masculinity has changed in recent times.
Jay-Z used to associate himself with the notion of being the hegemonic male to utilise the same popular benefits as what West did after him. This includes all of the typical characteristics such as the lowering of women to sexual stereotypes and subverting the concerns of women in his work. This is seen in his classic track 99 Problems. In this song he says that the concerns people have with women are less that his own problems by defining a woman as someone who is merely hysterical and having low intellect:
If you’re having girl problems I feel bad for you son I got 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one
A n**** like myself had to strong arm a hoe
This is not a hoe in the sense of having a pussy
But a pussy having no God Damn sense, try and push me (Jay-Z, 2003).
He also boosted his own position in terms of his strength, musical prowess and ‘n****’ status as compared to other artists such as 50 Cent. It has been said by Oware that rappers have to construct a ‘strong black man’ demeanour among other males in their ethnicity to be seen as hyper masculine and in effect, superior (2010, 23). This has changed over time to suit his current circumstances.
He has seen to change his representations of the male to be slightly outside of the hegemonic. This is due to him now having a wife and a child. This brings on new ideas to the ‘hegemonic male’ as his wife is Beyonce Knowles who is seen by many to be the ultimate prize for a wife. Since he has ‘settled down’ he has since opposed his old ideologies when he once said "All I give a chick is hard dick and bubblegum" (Nichols 2006, 30). It seems the ultimate goal when it came to women was to have sex with them with monetarily supporting them, however now he will have to do that with Knowles and his daughter despite Knowles’ own wealth. This is all relating to his position in the Hip Hop world. He no longer needs to promote his status and fight with other rappers since it is seen that he is almost at the top of the subculture. This overall theme is seen in his collaborative album with West, Watch The Throne, as Jay-Z is the ‘master’ and that West his ‘second in command’ (Jay-Z and West 2011). However because he is hugely popular, does not mean that he must stop promoting some hegemonic ideals as his authenticity as an artist and as a male is at stake.
Oware describes the African-American want for authenticity as the search for “real n**** status,” as rappers who promote “... ghettoized pathology (drug selling, gang banging etc) affirm their realness” (2010, 23). This is crucial to the subculture as the concept of Double Conscious comes into play. African-American males must view their own lives through the eyes of the dominant demographic (Caucasian males). This is why within the subculture: hegemonic males must do illegal activities as well as gain money in order to be a top player. This makes the subordinated minority feel a stronger association and bond with one another as to feel a sense of ‘cultural insiderism’ (Gilroy 1993, 3). For Jay-Z if he does not keep utilising at least some of the ideals of the hegemonic male, he could be seen as weak to other rappers.
Race and gender both involve some level of performance, and because of the heavy burden of a dual performance...Rap artists, often have anxiety about proving they are authentic (Nichols 2006, 58-59).
He has changed his lyrics to include them although he still attempts to fit his lyrics into the hegemonic mould (especially in his collaborative work with West), which makes him a complicit male relational type as he accepts and participates in this stereotype in order to reap the benefits. An example of this difference between their show of masculinity is in the lyrics of Ni**as In Paris, where Jay-Z says “I got that hot bitch in my home,” which is followed by West saying “You know hoe many hot bitches I own?” (Jay-Z and West 2011). This can be described as contesting one another as to their status within the subculture. Though since this album was released, he has since said he will stop using the word bitch as to not be a bad influence on his daughter (Hondro 2012). Some of Jay-Z’s other tactics to get around his other portrayals of masculinity that degrade women since his wife and child is to boast about how he has helped the fame of places. In Empire State Of Mind he says the lines:
Yeah, I'm out that Brooklyn Now I'm down in Tribeca Right next to DeNiro
But I’ll be hood forever
I’m the new Sinatra (Jay-Z, 2009).
This is used to say his popularity in the past has given strength to people and places around him. Ironically outside of the subculture his popularity has grown since his marriage to Knowles and the birth of his daughter. This is seen by the huge amount of media outside of the subculture that was written with the birth of his daughter.
The political impact of Jay-Z’s shift to being outside of the hegemonic male relational type is similar to West’s. As the idea of the hegemonic male simple shifts with accordance of the repetition of signifiers and the reiteration of set acts, then people like Jay-Z could easily change the value of what it means to be the hegemonic male (Jarman-Ivens 2007, 5). Although considering he is now a complicit male, it could mean a complete shift in the representations of the male gender entirely. The violent male African-American stereotype that is symbolised and idolised by male youths could help to be abolished if more artists within the Hip-Hop subculture became father figures like Jay-Z, as the audience would take on the ideologies of the author and take away the exemplified behaviours of the stereotype.
It is seen from and the writings about the works of rappers Jay-Z and West that their portrayals of masculinity have differing political effects, in and outside of the Hip-Hop subculture. Whilst West’s excessive portray of hyper masculinity only slightly changes to gain more mainstream media attention, Jay-Z is now seen to be outside of the hegemonic status that he once belonged to. These artists could change the definition of what it means to be masculine in Hip-Hop and other musical sub- genres.
REFERENCES
Gilroy, Paul. The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Conscious. New York: Verso. Hondro, Marcus. “Baby Blue Ivy gets Daddy Jay-Z to drop ‘bitch’ from his bag of lyrics.” Digital Journal. Accessed June 7, 2012. http://digitaljournal.com/article/317984
Jarman-Ivens, Freya. Oh Boy: Masculinities and Popular Music. Liverpool: Routledge.
Jay-Z. 2003. “99 Problems.” On The Black Album, produced by Rick Rubin track 9. Roc-A-Fella. Compact Disc.
Jay-Z. 2009. “Empire State Of Mind.” On The Blueprint 3, produced by Al Shux track 5. Roc-A-Fella. Compact Disc.
Jay-Z and West, K. 2011. “Ni**as In Paris.” On Watch The Throne, produced by Hit-Boy track 3. Roc-A-Fella. Compact Disc
Jay-Z and West, K. 2011. “Watch The Throne.” Roc-A-Fella. Compact Disc.
Jay-Z and West, K. 2011. “Who Gon Stop Me.” On Watch The Throne, produced by Sham Joseph track 9. Roc-A-Fella. Compact Disc.
KanyeVEVO. 2010. “Power.” YouTube video, posted August 5. Accessed June 4, 2012. http://youtu.be/L53gjP-TtGE Nichols, J. 2006. “The Realest Nigga: Constructions Of Masculinity Within Rap Music.” Master’s Dissertation. University of Maryland. http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/305306294
Oware, Matthew. 2010. “Brotherly Love: Homosociality and Black Masculinity in Gangsta Rap Music.” Journal of African American Studies 15: 22-39. Accessed June 2, 2012. Doi: 10.1007/s12111-010-9123-4
Ralph, Michael. 2006. “'Flirt[ing] with Death' but' Still Alive' : The Sexual Dimension of Surplus Time in Hip Hop Fantasy.” Cultural Dynamics. 18: 61-88. Accessed June 3, 2012. Doi: 10.1177/0921374006063415
Randolph, A. “Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful: Black Masculinity and Alternative Embodiment In Rap Music.” In Race Gender and Class 13 (3):200-217. Accessed June 7, 2012. http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login? url=http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/218850307?accountid=13380
Weitzer, R and Kubrin, C. 2009. “Misogyny in Rap Music: A Content Analysis of Prevalence and Meanings.” Men and Masculinities 12 (1): 3-29. Accessed June 1, 2012. Doi: 10.1177/1097184X08327696
West, K. 2010. “Blame Game.” On My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, produced by Kanye West. Roc-A-Fella. Compact Disc.
