BILLY X. SUNDAY DALLAS PENN asks “Where are the ladies at?!?”
I haven’t done too much writing this past weekend not because it was a holiday or because my check from Harris Publishing came in and I have been in an alcoholic x THC influenced stupor, but because I have been trying to process the Charles Hamilton vs. Briana Latrise debacle for its overall effect on Hip-Hop as we know it.
Firstly, it was a shot heard ’round the internets, that finally after so many hardbody female artists like MC Lyte, Lin Que, Latifah, Rah Digga, Lady of Rage and all those lesbian chicks on the Miss Rap Supreme show we now see a female emcee who is willing to strike pre-emptively. This was no Real Roxanne episode where a chick was passed around the entire crew from Full Force to U.T.F.O. (and possibly Force MD’s – uggh) before she had the nerve to speak her mind.
Briana Latrise is the resultant of years of rap music being specifically anti-woman. Nevermind the fact that there have been women who still managed to work in this environment. Plenty of women go to work in offices and other places where the instances of sexual and racial harassment are abundant. Rap music was in the forefront of artistic misogyny. You can’t deny this either. N.W.A. and Too $hort happen to just pop up in my brain, but if you do the math I’m sure you will discover that the word bitch was used most frequently from 1990 onward.
Here’s the freaky coincidence…
The explosion of misogynistic music and conversely music videos which promoted the music’s lifestyle directly parallels the ascendancy and prominence of African American female executives in the entertainment industry. You might almost surmise that Black women in executive positions love to see images of prostrated Black women as much, if not more than anyone else. Why else would all the degrading images and content be underwritten, created and promoted by these executives. It’s almost as if they were trying to develop a permanent underclass mentality for females of color.
The tsunami doesn’t trap all the women of color underwater, but the ones that escape certainly don’t ring the alarm for the ones coming up either. Briana Latrise’s reactionary punch to Charles Hamilton’s jaw was about their personal relationship as much as it was about her frustrations at being marginalized as an artist. Briana won’t be on the cover of Vibe anytime soon even if she poses butter ass nekkid like Ciara and Keisha Cole have done. Briana’s options haven’t been obfuscated by the ‘Man’. Briana has been pigeonholed by the woMan.
The more women are inducted into positions of influence and power the less we are seeing them find their voices as artists. That wouldn’t be such a bad thing though if the art in general reflected more respect for women overall, but the opposite is the case. More women execs has equaled less women artists plus more misogynists. What part of the game is this? Combine that with the knowledge that prison culture is also promoted as the ideal for manhood and I would have to start raising an eyebrow at women of color holding executive positions in the entertainment industry.
I should prA’li watch my step around here since I don’t want my XXL checks getting to my mailbox several months late again but I’m just wondering why no one else is concerned about the silence that has come from the Rihanna supporters? Here’s why you haven’t heard a peep. The real life pecking order inside of the urban entertainment industry looks something like this. White man > white women > Black women > Asians (primarily Filipino) > the Mexican diaspora (P.R., Cuban, D.R., Colombia) > ghey Black men > office furniture (Herman Miller chairs) > Black men.
So as long as Black men are talking shit about Black women and catching a bad one to the jaw bone everyone in Hip-Hop is satisfied.
That Mexican diaspora crack was just wrong….but I digress.
Early on, some raps about women were simply out to empower brothers (e.g. don’t tolerate golddiggers playing your pockets) while others were about being/liking triple X freaks (see 2 Live Crew).
Soon, however, that unfortunately turned into foul graphic expressions of either brutal violence against women (some stupid Eightball & MJG pimp record mentioning pushing a woman’s face in until her skull cracks) or treating everything female like a worthless toy in a persecuting manner (too many Dre-related records to mention and more).
And the fact that so many broads are now willing to be the robotic props known as video vixens doesn’t help. Plus don’t forget too many rappers value attaching this BS to their real-life image over simply telling stories thru a character.
I’ll be a Hip-Hop head forever, but I cringe at what our daughters will be up against. Especially with this prison funboy fraternity as the tastemakers.
There were 3 major BW executives in entertainment. Christina Norman was the former president of MTV, she left to work for the Oprah Winfrey Network. Debra Lee still heads BET. The 3rd one escapes my memory. Judy McGrath, WW, runs all of MTV.
The correlation between the misogynistic music and the executives has not been discussed often. American corporations rarely produce passionate executives so I don’t expect changes from the status quo just because there are women in charge. Corporations cosign the ridiculous male-driven fantasy world that is popular (c)Rap music.
Charles Hamilton’s latest humiliation got me thinking about Jazzmine Sullivan’s violent ode about a failed relationship “Bust Your Windows,” which I had many issues with. Then I realized that Briana Latrise falls in line with the many television programs that showcase angry, violent women from Bad Girls, the Flavor of Love spinoff family, Bridezillas and of course Snapped. It is definitely bigger than Hip Hop.
Great post, DP…the war between powerful women and gahbij rap came to a head with that punch. I’m not sure if media sees this as a one of the most powerful statements in hip-hop history, but hell yeah it is, and she should take the next cover of XXL–alone. Briana just zero-summed wack rapper dudes with one right hook. No back and forth on the mixtapes. No correction officer or sex scandal. No recordings of rappers crying over the phone. The great thing is that it was taped, we witnessed it, and theres nothing Charles Hamilton can do about it. Ha! I’ll cop Briana’s CD, merely on the strength that she eliminated one wack rapper, without cost or taking someones life.
I’ve been thinking about this…I down with you on your point for this drop…but re: Brianas right hook – the more I consider it, I think she lost that one. Consider a dude that runs through women. He may take an L like CH, he might get his window busted or his ride keyed. But it never stops him or stops women from dealing with him. Frankly, she basically put out that she was tired of him and the only reason it lasted that long was because he was putting it down…then she pops him because he elaborates and says it was rather ho-hum. Beyond the Hip-Hop implications, we’ve seen this scenario. He took the punch true, but she basically set him up to get more ass. The only effective move in her spot is
1) Don’t bring it up.
2) If you bring it up, do so in the context of: lameness and/or are you in yet?
In the end she is those executives…she hit him after saying she was done…but not before basically giving him props. Who’s going to pay attention to which parts of that exchange?
I applaud a wack rapper getting punched in the grill but is it worth it after you have already given said wack rapper the drawers?
He did get played on tape but who really got played within?
If you wanna grow up to be the Boss like Sylvia Rhone, you have to think with your head and keep your heart out of the boardroom. You also have to know how to tell a real man from a pink ascot wearing clown who will try and diss you on tape after he gets the goods.
Seriousness aside LOL @ 1969 for reminding me of G.T.D.
As much as I laughed at CH getting embarrassed, I have to agree with the folk that think Briana lost. From the moment she pulled out that BB and said I’m not a rapper my nigga, I’m a poet (or something like that) she lost. That punch proved that CH had more control of Briana’s feelings than she had of her own. CH controls the board and could manipulate that poor child as much as he wants. He done already convinced her to go back on hood news an “apologize.” Seriously, she acted more like a child than a grown woman about her business. People use violence when they can’t express themselves verbally and that’s actually what she did.
As far as your point about the black female exces, I think it’s clear that the people at the top of your pecking order choose black women who do not challenge the status quo which is probably why they got the job in the first place. If I start talking about how BET IS the devil, BET aint hiring me! Other than the BET head I didn’t even know black women had so much “power”. Just cause I’m curious, do you have a list?
When you think about it, what better way to silence the BET/MTV dissenters, especially the black women, than to put a black woman in charge? How can the so-called “mules of the world” complain when one of them becomes the “master”? It’s just like when a company hires one minority to shut up the folk that complain there aren’t enough. The people at the top can always say: no look (points to black person) there goes one, we diversified.
On another note, I think the women and men, who consume and/or watch the distribution of the product (cRap), in silence, are just as much to blame as the pushers. The rap game aint crack, we could say no if we really wanted to.
Briana wins. We gotta change the thinking that once a man is allowed to enter the vagina that you allasudden lose control of it, and because you’ve laid down with a woman that you suddenly have rights to speak reckless. If that was a man throwing the right hook, believe both parties would’ve lost control. To me, it’s nothing bigger than that-she gave him some, he got a lil’ cocky and fly with the mouf, she checked him-on camera. If anybody should be apologizing, it should be CH, for disrespecting a woman that clearly he’s laying down with on the reg. Know that women ARE the sole controller, and just because you give a man props due, doesn’t excuse him from the penalty box. I agree with Amadeo, that she should just shut up…and let that clown hold that for a minute.
I had the same feelings about the Jazmine Sullivan joint, and thats what had me take a look at things. If Briana would’ve busted CH’s windows, men would’ve put a scarlet letter on her ass. Ha! Really tho’ it aint that deep, she’s not representing any of the sisters I know that are getting PHD’s MBA and high 6 figure salaries…and there are many.
BET execs don’t even count in corporate America, Viacom shows that daily, by giving you MTV2. Thats a bone they throw dumb folk so they stay from out fronta MTV offices claiming they’re not diverse. Between them wack videos and HoodFab, I can’t say for sure who’s giving us more nigatry.