Hip-Hop Media Assignment

Hip-hop is a music genre that is a mix between rap and pop; it is more than just a type of music though, it’s a culture. Hip-hop lyrics usually rhyme and have a story behind them.  There is a lot of sex and violence in hip-hop music these days and African Americans mainly dominate the culture. 

5 hip-hop artists I have not heard before:

1.     Da Muzicianz

2.     Pitbull

3.     Dem Franchize Boyz

4.     Flo Rida

5.     Tay Dizm

The song I listened to by Da Muzicianz is called “Gyrate.”  It is about a girl going to the club and dancing dirty on all the guys.  “Gyrate that big behind” and “shake that thang” are lyrics that are repeated throughout the song.  It is a sexist song that reflects poorly on black artists and women. 

The song I listened to by Pitbull, a Hispanic artist, is called “Boom, Shake, Drop.”  It is also about dancing in a club.  It is also a sexist song that is about women “shaking it” in the club making all the guys “want to grind.” 

The song I listened to by Dem Franchize Boyz is called “Turn Heads.”  Some of the lyrics I heard were “she want to kick it in my pimped out Chevrolet” and “who am I ridin wit, nigga two hoes.” The song was not only sexist, but the black artists used the “N” word throughout the song.  It perpetuated the stereotypes that black people are “ghetto” and black women are “hoes.” 

The song I listened to by Flo Rida is called “Low.”  Just like the other three songs, Low was also very sexist.  Lyrics such as “apple-bottom jeans,” “I turned around and gave that big booty a slap,” and “shorty she was worth the money” gave the impression that women are sluts that can be bought.  It perpetuated gender stereotypes and reflected poorly on the black artists singing the song. 

The last song I listened to was by Tay Dizm and it is called “Dreamgirl.”  Although this song was not as sexist like the others, he did refer to his dream girl as one who “gets it poppin’ every night.”  The artist also used the “N” word throughout the song. 

5 hip-hop videos I watched:

1.     Bow Wow “You Can Get it All”- the video is about Bow Wow’s girlfriend who he likes enough to not cheat on.  The video shows all the girls Bow Wow could have, but he chooses to be with his girlfriend instead.  Everyone in the video is black.

2.     Riskay “Smell Yo Dick”- the video is about a cheating boyfriend who gets caught by his girlfriend because she wanted to “smell his d***” to see if he cheated.  Everyone in the video is black. 

3.     Ciara “Never Ever”- Ciara is singing about how “if that boy don’t love you by now, he will never ever love you.”  Ciara is gyrating in the air the entire time.  Everyone in this video is black too. 

4.     Pussycat Dolls “Buttons”- the video features Snoop Dogg and they are dancing provocatively singing about how they want a guy to “loosen up their buttons.”  The girls in the group are a mix of white, black, and Hispanic. 

5.     Beyonce “Irreplaceable”- the video is about how Beyonce’s boyfriend cheated on her so she is kicking him out.  The video is empowering for women. 

The two radio stations I listened to that broadcast hip-hop are 98.9 Kiss FM and 104.9 The Beat. 

Corporations that have utilized hip-hop to advertise their products:

1.     The Gap- they had hip-hop dancers in their clothing commercials

2.     Covergirl- has hip-hop artists modeling in their print ads

3.     Armani- Beyonce danced in a commercial for “Diamonds,” a perfume by Armani

Hip-hop has become a part of mainstream culture in many ways.  For instance, it has become more appropriate to curse and talk about sex in public.  A specific term people joke about and use is “hoe” in everyday conversation. 

My parents said they listened to rock, country, and pop was just coming about when they were younger.  Three specific artists they remember listening to were The Beatles, Willie Nelson, and Led Zeppelin. 

After listening to/observing various hip-hop songs and videos, I was surprised at how much profanity is in the music we listen to every day.  There are a lot of curse words and sexist comments that I have never noticed before.  I think this has had a huge impact on culture today because it is making it more appropriate to participate in indecent behavior.   I think it is interesting that our parents listened to rock and country and they didn’t have the same problems with lyrics that we have today.  Hip-hop perpetuates so many race and gender stereotypes and it is becoming normal to see them in music videos and hear them in songs.  

Representation of Minorities in the Media

Sample Advertisements:

1.     A commercial for Vogue eyewear had three models in it and one was black.

2.     A commercial for Gossip Girl on the CW didn’t include any minority cast members. 

3.      The photographer on America’s Next Top Model was black along with Tyra Banks and some of the models.

4.     On CSPN2 every single political figure was white.

5.     A Coors Light commercial had all white actors in it.

6.     An HP wireless computer commercial had an Indian in it.

7.     When watching BET, every commercial had black people as the majority in them.

8.     BET also showed a commercial for Dora the Explorer and Dora is Mexican. 

9.     On the Real World cast there is only one black woman and she is stereotyped as the “mad black woman.”

10. An Olay commercial featured both black and white models. 

11. Every advertisement except for one in Shape magazine featured white women, only one had a black woman and you couldn’t even see her face.

12. One article in Shape magazine was about working out and the woman was white and the personal trainer was a black man.

13. The cover of In Style magazine had Beyonce on it.

14. One article about “couture couples” in In Style featured ten couples and only one couple was African American and one couple was Mexican.

After reviewing many commercials and print advertisements, I noticed there is not enough representation of minorities.  I was surprised to see that African Americans are much more frequently represented than any other minority.  I was not surprised though that they are much less shown as the leading actor or model in the ads.  Although African Americans were frequently in the commercials, they were not usually shown as the “leads” unless it was BET which is obviously centered on African Americans.  In the few hours I examined the TV ads, not once did I see a commercial that contained a Mexican, Asian, or Native American.  I saw only one commercial that had an Indian as the focus.  When examining the print ads and articles in magazines, a few of the articles contained Mexicans and African Americans but absolutely none of them had Asians, Native Americans or Indians. Any time there was a minority in a print or TV ad, it was always an African American over any other minority.  But whites definitely dominate both TV and print ads. 

Reflection:

In an ideal world, it would not matter what race was in an advertisement because people don’t “see color.”  But in today’s world, I think the reason minorities are not portrayed enough in the media is because advertisers are worried the product will not appeal to the majority audience, whites, if a minority is representing the product.  I think it is important for all races to be equally represented in the media but it just isn’t that way.  One thing that I think would help is having a more diverse Journalism world.  If there are more advertisers and editors that are minorities, then they will be represented more in the media.  It was very surprising to me to watch TV for a couple of hours and not ever see a Native American or Asian in a commercial.  They are so under-represented and although blacks aren’t represented enough, they are at least being represented.  As a person going into the Journalism world I think it should be a goal of all advertisers to represent every race.  The media is not an accurate portrayal of how the real world is.  I think the print advertising is especially bad because I did see some blacks in the TV commercials but the print ads were almost always white in all the women’s magazines.  It is unethical to be portraying only white women in beauty magazines because what kind of message is that sending to young girls?  That being beautiful means being white.