If there’s one thing mainstream hip-hop has, it’s a serious Madonna-whore complex. Chuck Creekmur, the founder of AllHipHop.com recently penned an open letter to Nicki Minaj, in which he begged the question “won’t somebody please think of the children?” — “the children” being his daughter. He writes,
I’m trying to raise a young girl that will eventually grow into someone greater than the both of us. I know that this requires great parenting, great education, great luck and an assortment of great influences. I’m sure you know the influence you wield, but now, if you told the “Barbs” to scratch my eyes out, some would attack without thinking about it. I’m sure some will also replicate the “Anaconda” image without thinking about it too. Your original image already has 256,817 (and counting) likes under the original Instagram picture you posted, so I venture that your average girl could strive to get a couple hundred likes from her friends. Is this the path you want to lead impressionable kids down?
Creekmur then goes further down cognitive dissonance road and takes a left onto “are you fucking kidding me” lane and decides to get historical with it, by name-checking everyone from Maya Angelou (RIP) to Public Enemy to LL Cool J (sex? in an LL Cool J song? nahhh..) to Queen Latifah and MC Lyte.
But since bumpin’ U.N.I.T.Y. while not actually paying attention to the lyrics is a rather taxing endeavor, Creekmur must have missed the long list of male and female artists out there who create conscious music for the masses and have been for quite some time now. And strangely enough, they can be easy to miss because they don’t get the levels of radio play and online promotion that certain other artists get.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the current roster of artists on the front page of AllHipHop.com includes Soulja Boy, French Montana, and everyone’s favorite “rachet pussy” addict, Juicy J. I wonder if Creekmur has a son? Because, by his logic…
Personally, I’m pretty neutral on the whole booty for buzz publicity tactic. It’s a dated formula that hip-hop and pop fans have become accustomed to, and even expect. While black women’s bodies are constantly under a microscope, blatant femcee booty is actually pretty amoral by now, to the point of camp. So much of the excitement caused by Nicki’s posterior in pink revolves around anticipating outrage rather than actual outrage itself. Most of us are just reveling in the novelty of it, and I’m pretty sure Nicki’s in on the joke.
As someone who witnessed Lil’ Kim’s sparkly pasty covered breasts on MTV many times throughout the 90’s, I’m well aware of how little black girls actually process these images. At first we don’t know what we are seeing and singing, then we know and we are shocked — we laugh we giggle, we whisper. Then, we truly get it, and we decide for ourselves. In the end, only one of us grows up to be Nicki Minaj and there’s nothing wrong with that. And for all of those opposed to her, maybe your time and resources, like I don’t know, a heavily trafficked website, would be better utilized promoting the artists who decided differently from Nicki Minaj. Lord knows, women in hip-hop could definitely use the boost.
