Research investigation.

Does Hip Hop present stereotypical views on ideas of masculinity? 



I will be exploring if Hip-hop presents stereotypical views on ideas of masculinity and if so how are they shown. Throughout i shall be looking at particular songs and music videos which represent clearly what the society is like and how they're trying to express this. In doing so i shall be looking into artists to compare associated with this album. The artists and albums which i am looking to compare and contrast are Public enemy - 'It takes a nation of millions to hold us back', a more older version of hip hop, and Dr.Dre's album -'The Chronic', still an older version of hip of hop but the views and musicality between these artists is comparable. I will also be relating to Steve Hall and his theory of encoding and decoding. 

It could be argued that Hip-hop is misogynistic, that it has been constructed to exploit or victimise women [4]. Containing lyrics, videos or other aspects of hip hop culture that support, glorify, justify, or normalise the objectification, exploitation, or victimization of women [6]. Making women the object and the subject of male dominance, shaping the way how males should be represented and how they should act. Jackson Katz carried out some research and gave examples of the way society has built up a universal stereotype for the way males should be. He asked a number of males how they would define male characteristic and the responses he got back were all along the lines of strong, intimidating, tough, independent, powerful, and respected [3]. Where as Dr. Dre raps mostly about possessions such as women and money, Public Enemy rap about real world issues such as racism and rising up to 'fight the power'. Throughout the album, Chuck D delivers narratives that are characterized by black nationalist rhetoric and regard topics such as self-empowerment for African Americans, critiques of White supremacy [2]. Even so the idea of strong masculinity is ever present when looking at both artists as the males are represented as independent and powerful, relating back to Jason Katz study. However the scopophilia used with women is only really obvious in Dr.Dre's music.


Hip-hop originated in the Bronx in New York, with DJ Cool Herc as one of its founders [5]. In its early days Hip-Hop was about the musicianship, who could be the DJ and get the biggest crowd. But as it spread throughout America especially in California it got more violent, creating gang violence and racial stereotypes and discrimination. Two of the biggest rival gangs are the 'Bloods' and the 'Crips' who would shoot each other on sight. Linking back to the question these gangs were extremely male dominated and the meaning of these gangs was to show power, dominance and intimidate others. This leads to the idea of how Hip-Hop has created this stereotypical way for a male to be in this society. Further more, even the record labels have rivalry. Death row records, a west coast record label holding artists such as Dr.Dre, Tupac and Snoop Dogg. Bad boy records, an east coast record label holding artists such as The Notorious B.I.G and Puff Daddy. These labels would constantly compete to be better than one another. Ultimately due to Hip-Hop rising to such a volatile state Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G were assassinated for an unknown reason. To overlook the whole development of Hip-Hop its obvious to see how much it has changed, from artists such as DJ Cool Herc and The Sugar Hill Gang playing a more calmer funky side of hip hop, to Dr.Dre, Public enemy and Tupac who took a more hostile approach, rapping about real world issues.

 The Chronic album cover has a much more plain layout, but still has its conventions which represent Hip-Hop and its culture. To start, the use of a gold font in the title. The color gold is one which represents wealth and success. This relates to the need for possessions and money found in Hip-Hop culture. To build on this there is the use of black clothing. The color black denotes strength and authority. It is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious color. It is usually associated with fear and is considered to be a negative connotation. With these traits associated with the color black it is clear to see that they are very similar to how men associated with the Hip-Hop culture are represented. To support this we see Dr.Dre wearing these black clothes. This suggests that all these attributes associated with the color black apply to him, thus gives us an example of how how men in the Hip-Hop culture have been shaped to become this strong intimidating male due to the extensive use of this color. His facial expression supports this also. The determined and intimidating expression looking directly towards us highlights the seriousness of the album and to go with this they have included a notice saying 'parental advisory, explicit lyrics'. Furthermore the use of black and gold in the same picture suggests that  wealth can be achieved through fighting, that everyone has a desire for possessions and wealth but through this lots of violence and negativity can be created. Stuart Hall and his encoding and decoding theory examines the relationship between a text and its audience. This can be put into context with this particular album cover. This cover has been encoded in such a way that its audience will be able to decode it and understand its message. Hall states that " Culture is about shared meanings" pointing out the connection between representation and the formation of ideas that become fixated of certain groups, thus creating stereotypes [9]. We can see this ideology in the album cover, the image of a young black male dressed in gangster like clothes clearly shows that this image has been reinforced upon years of stereotyping. 

When we look at the cover for It takes a nation of millions to hold us back its is obvious that there is much more of a violent approach to this than The Chronic. Firstly connotations such as the prison cell they're in gives off a big representation of the amount of crime in that society and seeing as Public Enemy ( the two males shown in this picture) are inside the prison cell it consequently gives a stereotypical view on males, a personal identification, a stereotype that all men similar to them and in that society are thugs. The prison cell gives a deeper message. It represents the attitude of people in this society and  how they feel like they are trapped, like they're trapped in a prison cell. Also the fact that the expression on their faces look somewhat proud to be there gives off a vibe of not caring what happens and doing anything to make themselves appear to be that strong, tough and independent male. This is helped by the lighting. The use of light on their faces around their nose and mouths helps to highlight the facial expression and the mood they want to create. However their eyes are not visible. This makes them somewhat anonymous, making them at one with the rest of the public, hence the name public enemy. The symbol of a police officer getting aimed at through a rifle scope says how anti-police and order their way of living is, giving us an insight as to what it is like to be one of them. This could shape the way active audiences look at the police. The idea of a target cross-hair aimed at a policeman gives connotations of hostility and hatred, like there is a war between the police and the public. This further relates to the title 'Public Enemy' which is placed next to this cross-hair scope. Another feature of the mise en scene is what they are wearing. They are both wearing hoodies and caps. These items of clothing are stereotypical gangster clothes and could be seen as a product of this ideology, the idea in which you have to dress this way to become the dominant and intimidating male. The bold font on the title with the use of capital letters make it look big and meaningful standing out among the rest of the cover. The image to focus on, being the focus point, a big bold title and a symbol to represent something or to give an impression are all typical connotations of album covers in this genre. Byron Hurt carried out research by asking people what they thought of hip-hop and what representations it gives off. "Through rap music, I think there is an identification with some of the most stereotypical masculine standards"[7]. This is shown just from these two album covers. There is a strong representation of masculinity and its clear to see that it has been built over a time of dominant ideology and stereotypical views. However some people may take a oppositional reading to this. People living in this society may lead completely different lives to what is represented in the Hip-Hop genre and do not relate to the criminal lifestyle represented, consequently they make a conscious rejection to everything being stereotyped about them in the media. 

The representation of violent black males with dominance, the desire for possessions and mysyoginictic views is present in the music videos. To give an example in 'Still Dre' [1] aspects of the mise en scene such as cars, drugs and women are constantly shown off. There is a point in the video where women are all lined up in front of cars. The camera movement is a slow motion mid panning shot from right to left with the sole focus on the body parts of the women and the car behind them.  Body parts such as legs, backsides and breasts are shown and nothing else. Such connotations in the video are further building a stereotype which is to fit in with that society you have to be this way, creating this passive view of females and shaping the way they act through this ideology.  Another thing to add is the use of cars being in the scene too. This dominant ideology is clearly constructed by having possessions such as women and good cars and as result of this it makes women at one with the car, like they are just another object in the eyes of men. To build on this idea there is a deeper meaning to this. The fact that the cars and women are at one with each other shows that's it has been constructed to say that they are both used for pleasure, linking to Mulveys male gaze theory in more detail. As consumers this helps us visualize how some men could see women in Hip-Hop with the frequent use of scopophilla and boasting of possessions. Hall states that "We give things meaning by how we represent them and the words we use about them"[9]. This is stating that the creation of the stereotypes is in the hands of us as individuals in society. This can be applied to the music video as the stereotypes of women are obvious to see, thus helps us understand how this societies individuals have been taught.  Hall also states that "Meanings can be only shared through out common access to language. With this he is saying that language is key to the representation of meaning, culture and is the way for an audience to understand its values [9]. The lyrical content shows this. For example in  'Still Dre' he says "Driving fancy cars", "Treat rap like cali' weed I smoke till i sleep", "Still got love for the streets" and "Representing all the gangsters across the world" [1]. With language such as this it allows members of the audience to take a preferred reading of the text as they can relate to the attitudes and values shown to them through this. In addition this highlights what we see on screen even further, the constant reference to these possessions which they deem so precious constantly remind us as listeners and viewers how they have been brainwashed into believing that these things are some of the most important things in life. 

To compare in Public enemy's 'Fight the power' there is a more political and racial approach. To begin, throughout the whole music video there is not a single white person. As viewers this helps us decode and visualise how racist the hip-hop culture has become. It also suggests how stereotypical ethnicity can be. It is clear to see that Hip-hop has been stereotyped with black people and this music video helps this with the use of only one ethnic group. Furthermore another thing to point out is the fact that everyone is protesting in the music video. Protesting can be seen as an act of aggression, like a group of people are working together for their rights and fighting for something. When we look at the mise en scene we see people holding signs with the cross-hair scope aiming at a police officer again, just like on the album cover. This as viewers lets us visually see that it is also the public that share this hatred towards the police and not just the two men shown on the front album cover. This itself is another representation of how people have been taught to believe this ideology. The similarity between these two artists is shown by how they are dressed. Both on the two album covers and the music videos we see them wearing the hoodies, sunglasses and caps (as previously mentioned), further representing how this universal male dress code has been created.  

To conclude, when looking back at the main question 'Does Hip-Hop present stereotypical views on ideas of masculinity?' it is clear to see that yes, it does. No matter what approach Hip hop is taking, whether it be the political and racial approach like public enemy, or the boastful songs and videos made by Dr.Dre, masculinity seems to be presented to us in the same way. Aside from what the music is about, the male figures shown are all striving to be this tough independent male. We see them wearing very similar clothing in the music videos, we hear them rapping about issues and hostility towards others. This is a result of a long period of stereotyping and ideologies formed towards masculinity through Hip-hop.