The Tip Drill Controversy and its Relation to Misogyny in Hip-Hop

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For a long time, the popular genre of hip-hop has been criticized for its frequent vulgarity; whether it be its lyrical content, its possible contribution to a violent subculture, its degradation of women, or its praise for hypermasculinity. Out of all of these criticisms, the one characteristic of hip-hip music that has arguably been the most prominent and commonly discussed is its negative and sexual portrayal of women, particularly African American women. In both lyrics and music videos, African American women in much of hip-hop music are sexually objectified in that they are viewed exclusively as a thing to be used sexually by men. Other qualities such as intellect, independence, and most importantly, respect of women are made subordinate. As hip-hop music continues to degrade women in such a way, much opposition and backlash has intensified. An example of such objection was present in the well-known case that occurred at Spelman College, a historically black institution for women, in 2004 when students protested rapper Nelly’s presence on their campus for a bone marrow drive soon after his controversial music video “Tip Drill” was released.
Though this controversy took place not that long ago in 2004 when I was in fourth grade, I was not aware of it until last year, my freshman year of college, when I was taking a course in African American Studies titled AASP 202 Black Culture in the United States. Near the end of the course, we explored the history of hip-hop and its transition up until today. One of our assignments involved watching the 2006 documentary Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes directed by American activist Byron Hurt, that took a closer look at the implications of hip-hop that include misogyny, violence, hom...

... middle of paper ...

...ege,
2002. Print.
Hill, Marc Lamont. Nelly Wanted To 'Kick Somebody's Ass' Over Spelman's Protest Of 'Tip
Drill'. Huffingtonpost. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/12/ nelly-kick-somebody-ass-spelman-protest-tip-drill_n_4262503.html.
Hurt, Byron, dir. Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhythms. 2006. Film.
Rose, Tricia. The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip-Hop—and Why
It Matters. New York: Basic Books, 2008. Print.
Watkins, Samuel Craig. Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement. Boston: Beacon, 2006. Print.
Willens, Kathy. "Black College Women Take Aim at Rappers." USA Today 23 Apr.
2004: n. pag. USATODAY.com. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2004-04-23-spelman-protest- rappers_x.htm.

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