Music Everywhere
Thursday 21 June @ 12:56:22 |
 
Doing Something About Misogynist Hip-Hop
by DWIGHT HOBBES
June 22 at The Turf Club | 9 p.m | $7 |
We could sit around until Satan shits ice-balls, waiting for men to do something about the misogyny in Hip-Hop. The only result would be seat-cushion-sized calluses on our collective ass. There simply aren’t enough civilized males like Truthmaze, Toki Wright, A-Quil and others to go around.
Which is why those of us who’ve had enough of the dumb stuff need to bedamned good and glad that women have stepped into the equation to, as the expression goes, “represent.” Here, in the Twin Cities alone, we have artists and minds-behind-the-scenes who make a difference—some artists in their lyrics, some just by their presence, and people who organize platforms and venues where artists can do their thing.
Desdamona, for instance (and the next person to tell me she’s an interloping white woman is going catch an earful), has the cut from “Don’t Listen 2 The Lyrics” on her first album The Ledge (her new one, The Source, drops in two days). It goes along these lines: “She turned on the radio to catch a vibe/alive with the earth inside/her eyes like lost seashells/drifting from the bottom to spill over thebrim/The music bled through speakers/began to trim her capacity to speak/her ideas derived from his manhood determining who she is.” And Dessa, on her EP False Hopes, has “Mineshaft,” coming with “Snow falls fast and thin/Angels ash Virginia Slims/And if we’ve come a long way/Then I suspect it’s sideways/Further from our origin/No closer to our destination”. Poetry this strong, in and of itself makes the case that women are more than eye-candy and masturbatory receptacles for men. Then you’ve got Sol Testimony, who produces and hosts "Soul Sounds Open Mic & Jam Session" (every Thursday, y’all, at Palm Court Restaurant, 2424 Central Ave. NE, Mpls). She won’t even let knuckle-dragging knotheads up on stage. You also have Yvette Iris, who does the open mic “Get The Word Out” (Cosmics Café, 189 N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul) and constantly beats the brush to get women to come on out and express themselves. And there is Intermedia Arts’ annualB-Girl Be Summit, the very purpose of which is to change the perceptions and roles of women in Hip-Hop (this year’s event jumps off June 28 at various Minneapolis venues).
For my money, there ought to be a law against Neanderthals who get on the airwaves and onstage and can’t tell women from female dogs and gardening tools. Dessa, God bless her, takes a position that’s a bit more reasoned.
“Rappers can say bitch and ho”, she advised me. “They can say faggot. That right is legally protected. The question isn't whether or not to censor artists who espouse misogynistic views—it’s whether or not we support them with a purchase.” She goes on to add (you got to watch out when that woman gets on a roll), “ It can be well argued that misogyny in rap music accounts for more harm than entertainment. The big artists and the major labels might retort, "Oh, don't take it so seriously. The slurs and the violence, they're not real. It's fiction. It's entertainment. Don't get so sensitive." This kind of approach makes any woman who does feel degraded seem thin-skinned. In the end, we're left with an unspoken deterrent to any woman who would protest misogynistic content in songs or videos. At best, you're crashing the party. At worst, you're soft—with no business being here at all. If we [swap the word] racism for misogyny the entire tone would change. Serious slurs, issued against members of a different race, do not generally fly with Hip-Hop listeners. Aren't misogyny and racism pretty similar modes of thinking? Both diminish and disrespect a person based on an arbitrary trait that is distinct from their ideas, their carriage and their conduct.” Tell it!
The originators of rap—The Last Poets, Grandmaster Flash, Sugar Hill Gang and such—meant for the art form to empower people. And,last time I looked, women were people.
Dessa guests at Toki Wright’s release event for his EP, Low Budget High
Quality 3.0 Meal Plan, at The Turf Club, 1601 University Ave. W.,
St Paul. Phone: 651-647-0486.
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