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What do millennial rappers in the United States say in their music? This timely and compelling book answers this question by decoding the lyrics of over 700 songs from contemporary rap artists. Using innovative research techniques, Matthew Oware reveals how emcees perpetuate and challenge gendered and racialized constructions of masculinity, femininity, and sexuality. Male and female artists litter their rhymes with misogynistic and violent imagery. However, men also express a full range of emotions, from arrogance to vulnerability, conveying a more complex manhood than previously acknowledged. Women emphatically state their desires while embracing a more feminist approach. Even LGBTQ artists stake their claim and express their sexuality without fear. Finally, in the age of Black Lives Matter and the presidency of Donald J. Trump, emcees forcefully politicize their music. Although complicated and contradictory in many ways, rap remains a powerful medium for social commentary.
List of contents
1. Introduction: Started From the Bottom.- 2. Man Up: Bring the Ruckus.- 3. In the New World Order: The Baddest Bitch.- 4. Coming Straight from the Underground.- 5. Race, Masculinity, and Underground Rap.- 6. Underground Women Rappers.- 7. The Future of Rap Music.
About the author
Matthew Owareis the Lester Martin Jones Professor of Sociology and Director of the Africana Studies Program at DePauw University, USA. He is an award-winning teacher and scholar whose articles have appeared in
Journal of African American Studies,
Journal of Black Studies,
Poetics, and
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity. He teaches courses in Sociology and Africana Studies.
Summary
What do millennial rappers in the United States say in their music? This timely and compelling book answers this question by decoding the lyrics of over 700 songs from contemporary rap artists. Using innovative research techniques, Matthew Oware reveals how emcees perpetuate and challenge gendered and racialized constructions of masculinity, femininity, and sexuality. Male and female artists litter their rhymes with misogynistic and violent imagery. However, men also express a full range of emotions, from arrogance to vulnerability, conveying a more complex manhood than previously acknowledged. Women emphatically state their desires while embracing a more feminist approach. Even LGBTQ artists stake their claim and express their sexuality without fear. Finally, in the age of Black Lives Matter and the presidency of Donald J. Trump, emcees forcefully politicize their music. Although complicated and contradictory in many ways, rap remains a powerful medium for social commentary.
