Faux Real

Racialicious has a great post on the inanity of the new VH1 show Miss Rap Supreme, specifically on the pseudo-feminist goals of the show that fall short of actually making a feminist statement. On the episode featured in the post, the female rappers go up with a sixteen against Too Short, to whom I have admittedly undying affection. Racialicious writer Carmen Van Kerckhove notes,

It was a pretty clear illustration to me of how hard it is to counter a sexist attack. There are no words equivalent to “bitch” or “ho” or “pussy” to denigrate a man for his masculinity. The worst thing you can call a man is a woman (using misogynistic terms). Or a gay man (using homophobic terms).

This is true. But on occasion someone flips the paradigm in a way that isn’t explicitly feminist, say, but more than just a new take. Sometimes what I like best about hip hop is the underlying, implicit, call and answer — for example in this song, Khia, who just so also happens to be a contestant on Miss Rap Supreme, seems to be referencing Akinyele, Eazy E, and a bazillino other dudes in the rap game* who sing about the skills (or lack thereof) of a woman’s head-giving techniques [NSFW].

This isn’t meant to be a political criticism, by the way, but would someone revoke my feminist credentials for admitting that this was an anthem among friends for, like, three years?

_________
* Typing the words “in the rap game” feels really super-duper white.

And would it surprise you that I wrote about this very same topic three years ago?