Women Are You Selling or Being Bought?
Uploaded by somethingelsetoremember on Jan 18, 2009
While as a society we would like think that women's equality is a very real and sincere outcome of the battles for social progress within the last hundred years, rap music keeps suggesting that men still define and control things. For example, love. In their tracks that Usain Bolted up the charts, T.I., 50 Cent and Lil’ Wayne reveal that the love of a woman is not something won anymore, it’s something that is bought. In his ridiculously popular hit “Whatever You Like,” T.I. raps, “My chick could have what she want / And go in any store for any bag she want / And know she ain’t never had a man like that.” Here, T.I. suggests that his “chick” has never had a real and deep relationship with a man before, all because T.I. can buy her a handbag. While one handbag is nice, 50 Cent claims in his club-hit “P.I.M.P.” that the good life is really about being able to buy everything in the whole mall: “We could toast to the good life, girl we could have it all / We could really splurge girl, and tear up the mall.” As 50 Cent puts it, tearing up the mall is a representation of the living a good, and therefore happy life. The Kanye West produced hit “Comfortable” on Lil’ Wayne’s album [i:2637fe0213]Tha Carter III[/i:2637fe0213] approaches the theme a bit differently however. Wayne assures his woman of their happiness by reminding her of his deep bank account. On the track, he calmly flows, “Now if you rockin wit weezay / Bedroom in the bank, baby we safe.” For Wayne, security in his relationship comes from his financial status and success. The interesting question that arises as these three rappers try to woo their women with money is whether they are buying the love of women, or are women selling it? Almost regardless of that answer though, is the ever-looming dominance of men over women that continues to change shape and form.