Let me start off by saying that I would consider myself to be a fan of Lupe Fiasco. "American Terrorist," "Kick Push,” and "All Black Everything" are my jams! I also applaud Lupe Fiasco for being very outspoken on things like Western imperialism and the hyper-materialism and all around foolishness of modern mainstream rap. However, despite the fact that some seem to think that "Bitch Bad" is a deviation from the usual patriarchal narrative in hip hop, it is not different so much as it is just another side of the same coin -- the patriarchal coin. There is nothing new or subversive about black men telling black women that we need to be (better) "ladies." There is a deluge of movies, books, blog postings, tweets, etc. that are dedicated, if not hell bent, on telling black women what the “appropriate” standards of womanhood are and how we can best adhere to them. I can't stand it when it comes from Steve Harvey, a former comedian turned self described relationship expert who instructs that women should "Act Like a Lady and Think Like a Man" and I am not anymore receptive to it when it is coming from the likes of a conscious rapper like Lupe Fiasco.

In the song’s hook, Lupe claims “Bitch bad, woman good, lady better.” This hierarchy in which “lady” is “better” ultimately divvies up which women are worthy of being treated like human beings and which ones are not. Ideas of “proper” womanhood and ladylikeness are too subjective and ever changing to use them as standard measures for deciding which women deserve to have their humanity and dignity honored. The politics of respectability always seem to dictate that we tell young girls and women how to be more “respectable” but the more apt and important message is that all girls and women are worthy of respect. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, warrants our emotional, physical, sexual, and spiritual degradation. In the same way that we know Trayvon Martin’s hoodie and black skin did not give George Zimmerman license to stalk him down and take his life as if he were mere prey, we should know that black women’s clothing choices, musical tastes, hobbies, etc. do not and should not invite subjugation and abuse. 

A couple of weeks ago, I logged onto Twitter and my timeline was full of people tweeting about a domestic violence situation that unfurled right before our eyes on the social networking site. A young woman tweeted pictures of her bloodied and bruised face that she received at the hands of her boyfriend. A whole slew of folk were in his mentions telling him things like he needed help, he should be in jail, and he shouldn’t hit women. He responded with something to the effect of “I don’t believe in hitting ‘females,’ but [his girlfriend] is a dumb bitch and I don’t mind hitting dumb bitches.” Again, this is what happens when we decide whose humanity is worth being honored and whose isn’t.

The hierarchy of “bitch, woman, and lady” is also not a useful prescription for telling black women how to deal with sexism considering that historically, all black women were seen as the antithesis of anything regarding the “cult of true womanhood.” For instance, the racist and sexist controlling image of the sex starved Jezebel was meant to justify the sexual and reproductive exploitation of black women. If slave owners could make it seem as if black women were “lewd” and “lascivious,” then according to this logic, slave owners had free reign to use black women’s bodies for sexual pleasure against their will. Additionally, if black women had insatiable, animal like sexual appetites, then it also stood to reason that slave owners were justified in capitalizing on these alleged desires to exploit black women’s reproductive labor. As we know, black women’s reproductive labor was necessary to reproduce the enslaved labor force.

As illustrated, controlling images exist to justify oppression and seldom are they ever based in any sort of reality. Black women have been left out of ideas about womanhood not because we have done something to earn the brutality constantly levied against our bodies, rather, because it has been and continues to be profitable. The aim is not to trade in old controlling images for new ones or move black women up the arbitrary hierarchy of womanhood. The goal isn’t to try and stuff us into new contrived boxes but to truly liberate us from the confines of such dehumanizing ideas.

Just as it would be reprehensible for someone to argue that black women invited slave owners abuse, we should see and understand how these ideas are equally ludicrous in the present day. The only offense black women are truly guilty of is being black and being women. If being “ladylike” was enough, then women that were consciously or accidentally meeting these standards should be free from malice. However, I have heard countless stories from other black women and have my own personal experiences with street harassment to know that a failure or unwillingness to adhere to female propriety is hardly the cause of unwanted sexual advances. According to mainstream’s society’s standards, there is nothing particularly salacious about jeans and a t-shirt and a quick run to the grocery store so why do men still seem to think that these things warrant catcalls, lewd gestures, and comments? As I mentioned above, no outfit, hobby, or musical taste or whatever else invites subjugation but I use to the example of jeans and t shirts to illustrate that in reality, a racist and sexist society will find any reason to justify black women’s subjugation: herein lies the real issue, which Lupe fails to address in “Bitch Bad.”

With this said, I would have been much more impressed had Lupe actively taken his hip-hop colleagues (especially his male peers) to task for not only perpetuating but profiting off of the controlling images meant to justify black women’s oppression. Unfortunately, the artists that spew these sexist and misogynistic lyrics are only background figures in Lupe’s narrative. For instance, in his opening verse, Lupe uses a hypothetical mother rapping along to a “Bad Bitch” anthem to suggest that by rapping along, she is responsible for sending mixed messages to her young son about women. Wouldn’t it have been much more “inventive” and “new” if had he taken on the artist rapping those misogynistic lyrics that mirror how black women are portrayed and treated in society at large? Where do black men’s culpability figure into Lupe’s narrative?
 
Lupe’s second verse centers around a group of young girls watching music videos online with a singer singing “all I like and need in this life are bad bitches.” Lupe raps “Now let’s say that they less concerned with him (the performer)/ And more with the video girl acquiescent to his whims.” While I agree with Lupe’s point that black girls internalize images of black women in rap videos, we can’t simply be “less concerned” with the performer because of the nature of patriarchy. Young girls learn from an early age to deny or downplay their own subjectivity in order to become objects of male desire. If girls are learning that their self-esteem, self-worth, and identity are measured by their desirability, it’s strange that Lupe would suggest that they would be “less concerned” with the male performer. 

In the final verse of the song, the young boy from the first verse, and one of the little girls from the second verse meet later down the line when they are both a bit older. They both view the phrase “bad bitch” differently: The boy remembers his mom rapping to the song earlier in the first verse and relates the phrase to his mother, while the girl relates it to the video vixen.  To describe this situation, Lupe raps “he caught in reality, she caught in an illusion.” It is interesting that the boy and the girl both listened to the same sort of music but somehow only the girl internalizes messages and images associated with “bitches.” In Lupe’s scenario, the boy grows up unscathed by the sexist and misogynistic music he listens to, save for the bad influence of his mother. This is not rooted in any sort of reality. Young boys also glean ideas about masculinity and manhood from these songs and far too often it is a model of manhood that is hypermasculine, violent, and misogynistic. By the end of the song, we are left with the impression that women impart sexist knowledge on their sons and girls are easily duped. Lupe offers no real ideas or critiques of how men perpetuate and are affected by sexism. 

Lupe Fiasco tweeted that the song was meant to the elevate the discussion and not meant to be a thesis on sexism or the portrayal of women in mainstream hip hop and I get that. I understand that he cannot hit every point in a 3-5 minute song. However, my point is that he chose to enter the conversation from a tired, old angle. Others have argued "Hey it's not perfect but we should give him an A for effort and applaud the fact that he has tried. Stop downing the brother.” As the domestic violence case I mentioned earlier illustrates, the situation is just too dire for us to be lax on any sort of well-meaning yet arbitrary hierarchies and dichotomies that dehumanize black women. To those folks I say that Lupe's (and black men’s) egos will heal much faster than black women's lives, souls, and bodies. 

Lastly, it is not my intention here to let the white corporate execs off the hook that seek to gain the most financially and suffer the least from the worst that commercialized rap has to offer. Critiques against the industry that promotes and profits at black women’s expense are always in order. However, it is important to take rappers to task because they come from and are still very much a part of the black community that stands to lose the most from these types of songs. These men (and women) have daughters, sisters, mothers, aunties, and cousins that could very well be on the receiving end of the same sexism and misogyny they espouse in their music. 

Secondly, and most importantly, artists must be called out and pushed to change their music because collectively, they have undeniable power. These artists help to bring in record profits to these record companies and if they refused to make music that capitalizes on and profits off of black pain and suffering, execs will be forced to acquiesce to their demands. Furthermore, well established and successful veterans that have their own labels like Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, and Kanye West cannot cower under the excuse that they are under the whims of white corporate execs when they are calling the shots. These artists and others must recognize their responsibility to their communities and their own agency so that hip hop can be restored as an art form that critiques the worst of American society and does simply mirror it.

Nikeeta Slade is an activist in New York. She blogs at Afro Blazing Guns.