Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Words, Sticks, and Stones: Misogyny in Hip Hop on Social Media

Dream Hampton committed the cardinal sin of hip hop last night on her Twitter thread, she dared to express her opinion.  Hampton said that J Dilla was the greatest producer of all time.  When another producer & hip hop icon, Pete Rock of Pete Rock and CL Smooth, took exception to her expressing this opinion, taking it as an insult to his own producing cred, he called her a groupie and a rider, short for dick rider.  Men who either supported Pete Rock's sensitivity about his legacy in the game or who just disagreed with Dream's opinion also attacked her validity to have an opinion on the issue.


When Busta Rhymes, of Flip Mode Squad and Leaders of the New School, Q-Tip, of A Tribe Called Quest, and Questlove, of The Roots, either re-weeted or agreed with Dream's opinion, all the male hip hop heads who were up in their feelings, or up in Pete Rock's feelings, gave them the pass of silence.  None of the negative, aggressive, or bullying comments that were lobbed at Dream were directed towards Busta, Tip, or ?uestlove.

Furthermore, when Dream committed the second deadly sin of hip hop, calling out the misogyny laced in the comments she received, the volume on the bullying speech was turned up.  People demanded that Dream stop playing the sexism/male hegemony card and defend her position.  However, the gender-based comments were launched well before a debate could take place. No one even asked Dream why that was her opinion before Pete Rock said she should know better, he's not going to let her diss him, and FOH, short for fuck outta here, as in get the fuck outta here.

What does a Twitter squabble mean in the gist of hip hop?  For starters, it would seem that the total dismissal of a woman's voice via gendered aggressive language is still second nature to some in hip hop culture.  Again, before one person asked her why, there were several attempts to silence Dream and piss on her opinion.  It's the former that's the higher offense, as the latter sometimes happens when all involved are passionate about the subject.  The mean spirited knee-jerk response of Pete Rock and shameful taunting comments of his cronies that followed seems a testament to the fact that there's still a long road ahead for equal respect of women in the genre.  Not just for rappers but also for people expressing an opinion, which is just sad.


The saving grace in this exchange was Hampton's refusal to be intimidated or silenced.  She owned her voice and agency and never gave them up.  She didn't apologize for anyone's hurt feelings or bruised ego and refused to correct an offense she didn't make.  Another bright light was the show of disgust by men at the comments of an immature few.  While some men tried to see both sides, others outright threw the shame back into the face of Pete Rock and his co-signers. 

Be more clever.  Sexism is too easy of a path to take but it may be the only path available when you have no intelligent basis for debate.  Women have had and continue to have a voice in hop hip.  Get over it.  Women are the subjects of lyrical inspiration and they have produced some of its most memorable content.  Women, including Dream Hampton, have given some of the most articulate critiques about the genre and have been its biggest guardians.

The most tragic and wholly unacceptable part of this incident is that Dream was heckled outside her home by guys who may have been adding their personal 2 cents about the Twitter argument.  An immature social media response could have been a most unfortunate physical encounter for these guys who felt entitled to try to interrupt someone's life. [**Dream has since confirmed this was not the case. Not all hope is not lost!]  And this is the problem with the way hip hop is presented to the masses.  No respectful disagreements, only disrespectful dismissals via sexist taunts.  To the people who claim to love and live for hip hop but act this way, grow up.  You're old enough to know better and hip hop deserves better.

19 comments:

  1. they guys on my roof weren't hecklers, they were two bit, graf artist, tagging the building next to me. I went out on my roof to defend my hammock and kick them off my roof. Mere coincidence. Thank you for this piece. Very true accounting.

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    1. Thank u for the clarification and so glad it wasn't more than that. U gave folks confidence, men & women, to express their opinions.

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    2. For what it's worth, I got your back on Dilla...

      Brothers acting out like that is weak...If it wasn't for Black women, none of us would be here

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    3. So now having a difference of opinion is a sign of weakness? Pure nonsense.

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  2. Misogyny /mɪˈsɒdʒɪni/ is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. That is a strong word. This article is utter non sense. It is weird how complaining and being bitchy is so appealing to some people. Damn, I definitely wouldn't want to see the author of this rubbish in the shoes of a Somali living in poverty--this person would probably never stop whining.
    This is truly disgusting nonsense. When you make statements about who "the best of all time is" you are going to get feedback. Hip Hop is raw, that is why it is great. It is honest. And, of course 're tweeters' aren't going to be attacked as much as the originator of the controversial opinion. Also, where was the misogynistic language again? did I miss that part?
    This is pathetic. I wish this author would use that big brain to think about real issues rather than trivialities. Here is an example of something worth making a fuss over: The fact that Libya had a significant portion of its civilian population blown to pieces.

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    1. disrespect for women in all cultures in all forms comes from an origin of devaluation. whether it's of their opinion, bodies, or lives, whatever the context. hip hop is honest and raw, but unfortunately, for many, it's certainly disrespectful towards women. even if that woman has a hand in building the culture and expresses her personal opinion. thank you for reading and for your feedback.

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    2. Questlove, a producer himself, didn't just RT, he unequivocally restated what I'd said in his own tweet. Blog abt what you like Smartygirl, men trying to tell you what's worthy of your pen is only more silencing.

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    3. As a bloke, one of the reasons I am waaaaay on the outs with HipHop is the layer of misogyny underneath a whole lot of it.

      That's "misogyny" as in "woman hatred" as in "the inability to treat a woman like a human being" btw. Yes, that's right folks: there are even ways to tell a lovely little lady that she's looking lovely tonight that are misogynistic. Same way there are films that are *entirely about* black people that are still racist... can you handle that?

      It's really hard to defend an art form as mature and worth listening to when the vast majority of men involved in it act like throwbacks: and a few years back I had enough of the 7 year old mentality which treats women as either holes to be negotiated with or subhumans with no right to an opinion. I no longer defend HipHop, or at least defend the indefensible in HipHop.

      And as usual, the first male response is to bring up some conflict a few thousand miles away and treat it as "reality" - a part of the fetishisation of so-called "hardship" or "hardness" that has dragged HipHop down to the level it's at today.

      it's just like the way a millionaire rapper will reach for "the street" to justify acting like a knuckledragger. What the hell does any of that shit have to do with your day to day life?

      I still listen to the music - and I'm not stuck in the past, either, there is great new HipHop - but I will no longer defend the art form, as I think it's been hijacked by asshole insecure men and their bullshit music industry sellouts who think it's a free pass to shit all over anyone they don't like.

      Fair dues to the men who stood tall and criticised Pete Rock et al: to anyone else involved in this - seriously, you think you can build a working society without women?

      Sexism and misogyny damage men EVEN MORE than they damage women. If you were capable of looking at yourself *truthfully* in the mirror and seeing how insecurity controls every aspect of your existence you'd be able to see that, Manchild.

      and meanwhile, to Dream and to LKSmartygirl: massive props, and I'm sorry this shit is uphill for you. One love.

      ::fist bump::

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  3. The article had a lot of truth in it and Im a man who has followed the art for over 25 years. The woman shared her opinion on twitter and was attacked for an opinion. Did you see the responses? You bringing up Libya has nothing to do with this article or hip hop. -Tony

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    1. thank you so much for reading and for your feedback. :-)

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  4. Legends are legends based on what others think, anyone who THINKS they are legend (even if some think they were) have lost focus and aren't who people who thought they were legends in the first place, thought they were. And with that, Pete Rock lost credibility to me, not that it matters to him (because it's only about what matters to him). More importantly, isn't the late, great (with no ego) Heavy D kin to him? I know his family taught him better than that.

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    1. So Pete lost your credibility as a groundbreaking producer because you don't like the way he expressed his opinion? If it were that easy to lose in the first place then perhaps it wasn't worth having. Its music its not brain surgery and the world will go on regardless of some subjective exchange about the greatest hip hop producer. Somewhere there is a mountain wondering "what in the hell just happened? I used to be a molehiil."

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  5. Stay strong Dream! They can't silence us all!

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  6. Ayo Dream, thanx 4 stayin yo ground! Do what U do!

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  7. Sorry you are both wrong the greatest producer so far is Marley Marl.

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  8. Standing your ground? Please, that's what anyone with a brain and any shred of self esteem is supposed to do. Its nothing special or worthy of applause or adulation. There was nothing misogynist about what Pete said, just look at any website frequented by fans of hip hop and they call each other d*ckriders, Stans and groupies all the time. Just because Pete's target was a woman doesn't suddenly make it misogynist. Just like Pete is entitled to his opinion dream is entitled to hers but you can't hide behind misogyny just because its a man who doesn't agree with you. "Best of" discussions are always subjective so there is no right/wrong answer, its like getting mad because you say your favorite ice cream is rocky road and someone else says its gross. This entire exchange is being completely blown out of proportion to be something more than it is. BFD Pete doesn't think JD is the best and dream and some other people do? This is not an example of misogyny and sexism in hip hop, its 2 people having a difference of opinion, apparently that's earth-shattering. It has nothing to do with gender and everything to do with people being way too sensitive and acting like no one can disagree with their opinion. And that goes for everyone, dream, Pete, Quest, Tip, Busta and the lesser known hip hop fans who engage in these conversations everyday. The difference between dream's opinion and that of Tip, Busta and Quest is they were either producing peers or worked with Dilla so its not unreasonable for Pete to let their perspective slide and take issue with dream. But to insinuate that his intent was based on sexism and misogyny is just absurd and a reach.

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    1. You said that the reason that QTip, Questlove, and Busta's agreement & restating of Dream's opinion of J Dilla being the greatest producer wasn't met with the same dismissive venom as Dream is because they were producers, not because the were men. So Dream's work as a journalist in hip hop for over a decade cancels out the privilege for her to have an unchallenged opinion on the issue? Is that what you're saying?
      That those three guys have more respect, translated into not being call a groupie and dick rider even though they co-signed on the same exact opinion. And this respect given by the guys who responded in such gendered mean-spiritedness was not because the 3 fellow artists were men, but because they were producers. Just to be sure I'm not misunderstanding your point.

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    3. No that is not what I am saying. Quest, Busta and Tip all have 1-2 things in common with Pete and Dilla that dream doesn't: they are either production peers or have actually worked with Dilla. dream's experience as a well-respected journalist has nothing to do with the fact that she's not a producer or an artist who has actually recorded with Dilla. Therefore her opinion is going to be framed differently because her perspective is not the same as there perspective but that in no way makes it irrelevant. Just because she was called a dick rider by a man doesn't make it sexist, like I said you go to any website or comment thread that immature hip hop fans frequent and you will see that term. Its just a silly insult used by people who think other people are following an opinion instead of developing their own.

      When expressing our opinion it is influenced by our individual bias. A chef's opinion about a dish in a restaurant is going to be framed in part by the fact that he/she knows cooking techniques as opposed to someone who just loves food and is a food critic. Both opinions are valid but they can't possibly carry the same weight. dream's opinion is as much framed by what she has done and by what she hasn't done and the same applies to Tip, Quest, Busta and Pete. That is what I'm saying.

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