GeeChee One... SEX LOVE & HIPHOP

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me." THIS nursery rhyme remains a way for youngsters to defend themselves against verbal taunting, but unfortunate, words can hurt, and words cannot be ignored. In recent years, as African-Americans, we have been-in the midst of a disturbing cultural controversy around the words that are projected in hip-hop and rap music. According to Ice-T, the exaggerated machismo style of rap "doesn't mean anything." On the other hand, contradicting himself in 1994, he said that his rap was reality-based and that what he said was "real" because it was a reflection of how he lived and talked, This attempt to have it both ways is reflexive of the problematic gender message of "gangsta rap" and "booty rap" music. There has been a growing war between Black men and women since the '60s, and hip-hop is a significant and influential site of contemporary gender battles. Added to this cultural "war between the sexes" is the overriding influence of the huge profit-making machine which is hip-hop. It is critical to note that gangsta rap does not appear out of nowhere. It is profoundly connected to patriarchical values that are pervasive in American society. These values underscore the belief that the way to be a man is to have power, and in gangsta and booty rap and culture, this often means the use of obscene language, glorification of violence and profound objectification and disrespect of women. If such words and images are where many young Black folks get their gender messages, including their ideas about sex, love, friendship, dating and marriage, then rap music tells us some disturbing things about how the hip-hop generation sees and reacts to gender issues.