Draft 5 for the critical investigation

Salma Mahamed

Mr Bush

Media Y13 Coursework

Word Count:2,750

 “So grab a gyal, yo darlin Gyal mi like de way you be movin” – Yo Darlin by NSG featuring Geko

To what extent does the Afrobeats/Hip Hop hybrid genre reinforce an unrealistic and negative representation of women, with specific reference to the track 'Yo Darlin’’ by NSG ft Geko?

As the music scene grows, it seems the objectification of women within music videos has become intensively glorified and exacerbated. This is deemed as problematic as inclusive genres to this topic such as Hip-hop and afrobeats are regarded as  highly complicated and multifaceted genre which are rooted and heavily revolve around complex social and political commentary, dating as far back to the 1960s and 1990s. Therefore the lack of empowerment and the emancipation of women in the music industry are regarded as highly substandard. This is symbolised and particularly evident in NSG's music video 'Yo darling' featuring Geko. In other words, “Women are increasingly becoming slaves to their actions… as well as the centre of controversy when it comes to blame game of society in love and sex.”[1] The music industry should fundamentally provide a platform, not only for the young black youth to self-identify but to also raise awareness to wider discussions and issues of universal themes that have been established by revolutionary rock n roll and afrobeats artists such as the Little Richard and Fela kuti

This links to modern day criticism of music industry as women often face high levels of sexualisation and objectification within music video as “women with differing opinions are not taken seriously. Instead they get labelled as obstructive and difficult, whereas men are brave and get respected for just sharing their opinions.”[2] This is particularly evident in the music video of ‘Yo darlin’ as there is a lack of facial recognition for the females featuring the music video. Instead, their body becomes a showpiece and is put on display. It depicts her as not having an identity or a sense of individualism thus, reinforcing her role as a sex symbol. Furthermore, many critics say “Women’s bodies are often dismembered and treated as separate parts, perpetuating the concept that a woman’s body is not connected to her mind and emotions,”[3] This is used to allow intense male presence and dominance to occur but however this is be argued to be due to the fact to express importance of the artist which is NSG. At the start of the music video, the camera goes between multiple shots of lower angle shots to emphasise the female’s lower half and medium close up shots of the male singers for facial identification. This is extremely unfair as many critics state that they “want women and men to redefine what sexy is” [4] and also this allows the audience to understand what the objectives of the videos are. Through this we understand that the male singers are clearly the protagonist of the music video which emphasises that the males are in control, however, in the video the main focus are the females. The general audience for hip hop is male, so this correlates with idea of “the Male Gaze theory to videos ensures they keep viewers and attract new people into their audience.”[5] In addition, in these hip hop and rap music videos, women are always seen in supporting roles beside, behind and below male counterparts. This is done in a subtle way of course, but with close scrutiny you see how these women are never portrayed as strong, independent, and career-driven instead, their focus is completely on the man similar to how the rock n roll became whitewashed and left little to no room for black presence.

The lack of balance between black males and females’ representation within music and the formation of the semi-permanent and harmful stereotypes of women within the industry seems to be a repetition of the divide that existed between black and white music in early times. This made it harder for one race to perform a certain action that is generally categorised for other e.g. white male rappers today who are significantly less successful than their black counterparts within the hip-hop/rap industry. Furthermore, it is believed that: “The contemporary entertainment industry was one that succeeded off uplifting white presence and dominance” [6]therefore numerous individuals have been quickly been controlled, praised and recognition for what can be considered as minuscule talent. This allowed white individuals to take what originated from black culture and use it through misappropriation, acquiring it for them. This began in the 1950’s and 1960’s, particularly in jazz and rock-n-roll. Elvis Presley took the black form of blues and turned it into a white musical culture. Although this had a significantly negative rippling effect on black performers and their presence in music at the time. It did also have it benefit as Elvis also signifies the foul way so many black writers and performers, such as Little Richard, were treated by the music industry. Moreover, it important to know that “the image of Elvis is a constant reflection of society's then refusal to accept anything other than the non-threatening and subservient Negro, Sammy Davies Jnr and Nat King Cole”.[7] The current picture of rock 'n' roll leaves of its many originators without due recognition.  However it is a known fact that “the reality is, black music never stays underground. White people always seek it out, dilute it and eventually claim it as their own.”[8]  Sadly, this era of interracial musical creation and consumption has been largely erased by popular memory. It buried simplistic parables of white appropriation and exploration of black culture in which “Elvis is a symbol of this problem of uncompensated and unrecognised white dominance of black cultural creation and labour”[9] . Nonetheless, it still makes for makes up the known history and fails to help us to understand the significance of Elvis and the whole biracial rock-and-roll phenomenon that intersected with the dawn of the modern civil rights movement.

Although sexual objectification is commonplace in media culture, music videos provide the most potent examples of it. Our analysis compared sexual objectification across artists' gender and musical genres (R&B/hip-hop, pop, and country). Compared to male artists, female artists were more sexually objectified, held to stricter appearance standards, and more likely to demonstrate sexually alluring behaviour. The results are discussed in light of objectification theory and sexual agency.  In addition it is very clear that "misogyny and degradation of women is present in almost every genre of music, yet the one genre that completely revolves around demeaning women is rap.”[10]Over the years rap and rap music videos have continually become more sexual and degrading towards women. Furthermore hip-hop has been criticized numerous times for this reason, and that is because “rap is one of the most popular genres of music for the younger generations"[11]In addition, this links perfectly to the Male Gaze theory it states the consumers of hip hop music is heavily male populated and targeted. The theory describes “to assume a (straight) male viewpoint and in particular the tendency of works to present female characters as subjects of implicitly male visual pleasure and appreciation.”[12]

Another example is the clothes used within the video are very eye catching, revealing and minimalistic which signifies that they are doing this only for male approval and appreciation as men are looking and admiring the women as seen in many of the shots. This is highly disappointing as it seems like the industry has “a lot of stigma attached as well, such as that women can't make it as artists unless they sell their body or unless they are extremely talented AND attractive.”[13] It is also noteworthy to mention that the men are dressed quite modestly and comfortably, emphasises on the one sided sexualisation of the genders but however many people argue that ‘Art has nothing to do with Morals.’[14] The Messages that tell young girls that being highly sexualised is the norm, and that tell young boys that woman are always “available and ‘up for it’[15].  It is acceptable for a women to be presented as having a large sexual appetite.  Despite this, it cannot be argued that the negative effects of this are heavier on women e.g. the worth and appreciation of a women within many music videos are presented through their ability to sexualise themselves. It is unarguable to state that “The music industry is known for pushing the stereotype that women are sexual objects.”[16] However, both how men and women are portrayed as sex-starved maniacs within the music scene and this can be argued that it is an overall underlying cultural problem. In addition, There’s this misperception that women in the music industry are "narcissistic and competitive—but I’ve found the opposite to be true. Most of the female musicians I’ve met are incredible humans and extremely supportive.”[17]

Mrs Crenshaw introduced the term intersectionality in 1989, it was widely adopted because it managed to encompass in a single word the simultaneous experience of the multiple oppression's faced by Black women. But the concept was not a new one. Since the times of slavery, Black women have multiple oppressions such as race, class, and gender. What the difference between these two similar concepts is simply racial privilege. As it allows “white women to have an increased ability to challenge gender-based oppression, while still maintaining access and freedoms that woman of colour is routinely denied.”[18] Institutionalised racism, misogyny and oppression within our societies are placing Black women at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Black feminism as a political and social movement is ultimately symbolising their right to be liberated from the harsh standards that have been implemented on them. A central issue in the movie “Dreamgirls” is based around the stigmas that black women face in music industry. It also focuses the existence of two music hit charts: the R&B, which is socially known as black people’s music and the pop chart, which listed the mainstream hits sold to largely white audiences. This movie conveys how the music industry felt it necessary to keep its eye on the recordings popular among black listeners, but the separate charts and inability of black people being unable to cross over to ‘pop’ whilst modern day singers such as Taylor swift and Adele is easily able to are clearly signs of racism and revoked privileges from the black singers. The existence of” two separate and unequal charts”[19] actually began to break down in the 1950s for several reasons. In its attitude toward the history of the period of the civil rights movement, “Dreamgirls gravitates toward the reactionary view of identity politics. Implicit throughout the film is the idea that there is an unbridgeable chasm between black and white cultures”[20].  Furthermore, it is arguable that Nicki Minaj is the most influential and successful female artist within the hip hop industry today. However through examination of her music video, it is clear that she has not been able to change the stigmas women face in the music industry despite her authoritative figure. Nicki Minaj is very well known for her alter ego and persona that she puts on stage and her music video. There is a more evil Nicki and a wholesome Nicki which connotes the whole idea of to the virgin/whore binary. The bad Nicki is considered the slut and wearing lingerie tights with black thong so everyone can see her butt and breasts whilst she is dancing. The good Nikki is wearing more covering and fluffy items to connate the idea of princess and fairies. The camera angles that are used in her videos are usually from the bottom looking up at the girls’ butts or from the top looking down into a girl’s breasts. Focusing on these parts of the female body makes both Male and Females think that women are objects that are sexually available for men at all times. Moreover, the bodies of black women are sexualised in usually specific ways, seen as inherently sexual and animalistic, with a heavy focus on body shape, particularly the posterior and breasts. Many women in the industry are unable to fight this as they were simply unaware of how much force men have in the industry as many female artist seem to say that the  “one thing I haven’t been ready for is how male dominated the industry really is”[21]

The term “afrobeat” was first coined by Fela Kuti. Afro beat is a “combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk, and chanted vocals, fused together with percussion and voice styles, which started in Africa in the 1960’s”[22]. Afro beat features chants, call response voices, and complex interacting rhythms. Afro beat originated from the southern part of Nigeria in the 1960s. Where Kuti had experimented with many different forms of contemporary music at the time. The main creator of afro beat is, “Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and band leader, Fela Kula”[23]. He is the one who gave it it’s name who used it to revolutionize musical structure as well as the political context in his native Nigeria This music is fairly new, beginning in the 1960s. Although it is relevantly new, afrobeat has expanded its horizons significantly during the past 50 years to point where we even have artists like NSG (original text) which are heavily influenced by this new wave of sound coming from Africa.  Hip-hop is well known for providing new perspectives to old classics. We often acknowledge the presence of funk and soul in hip-hop.  Examples are tracks where Fela Kuti’s presence is felt in this inspirational song by Alicia keys that use some rhythms from his 1972 track titled "Na Poi." In addition, West Africa is experiencing something of a musical golden age, with artists such as Wiz Kid and Davido attaining global stardom, almost entirely outside the mainstream, disseminating their music through social media. Interesting by the year  2012, “Ghana had the fastest internet speed in Africa, and Nigeria the eighth fastest, and this vast improvement in internet connection, along with the viral power of Facebook and Twitter[24]. The success of Fuse ODG and NSG (Text) are creating a home-grown variant of the sound, introducing elements that mix in well with the British audience.

In conclusion, currently Afro-beats has the attention of the room, and with that the potential to provide the necessary platform for an artist to emerge with the power to inspire both a local and global audience with an infectious sound as well as a conscious message. Whether this is an idealistic and how afro-beats are portrayed in the modern day is quite questionable.