Look at any hip hop music video and you are most likely to see women dressed in next to nothing while dancing around the males in the video who are ironically fully clothed. Go even further and decipher the lyrics of the songs and you will most likely find lyrics that objectify women (She got that million-dollar pussy?) and make light of domestic abuse (I’m Ike Turner. Now eat the cake Anna-Mae?) From these observations you can tell that hip hop music is not here to advocate for women. Cue Angel Haze, a Detroit-born 22 year old rapper.
Angel Haze has suffered years of abuse at the hands of family members and decided to put her experiences into song by means of reworking Eminem’s Cleaning Out My Closet. The lyrics are quite graphic and give a clear picture into the abuse that she has suffered. While hoping hip hop will change its attitude towards these very serious issues, it is a long shot because let’s face it, hip hop is an industry highly laced with misogyny.
Furthermore with hip hop becoming the main definition of popculture today, the contributions that hip hop artists could add to advocating against women abuse could add a massive because the ability of hip hop to influence is undeniably powerful (how many of you wanted J’s on your feet and Versace underwear after the songs came out?) and the music form has a large audience.
Listen to Angel Haze’s song here:
https://soundcloud.com/angelhazeym/angel-haze-cleaning-out-my
