An unfortunate truth is that the hip-hop culture still struggles to uplift women, and correctly glorify them. Rap lyrics today often refer to women as b*tches, h*es, or much worse. The stripper lifestyle has been made to look almost beneficial as artist talk about going to the clubs to spend money in exchange for explicit acts.
All of this comes in light of the recent release of “All Eyez on Me” a movie about Tupac Shakur’s life. Tupac was a big enthusiast for increasing respect for women both from themselves as well as his male listeners.
It is apart of the culture to rap about going to the club and having relations with numbers of women but as the artist get older, a lot of the glory from all the flash begins to fade and you can see the artists become more conscious about what they say.
Although some of the younger artists speak down about women, those who do mention their mothers, sisters, and daughters often give high praise to them. Big Sean is always giving thanks to his grandmother, Chance gives a special shout out to his baby mama in “All We Got” and the legends like Kanye and Jay-Z are constantly showing love to their wives through their lyrics.
Other positive examples for women of the hip-hop culture to follow come from Beyoncé and Rihanna. Both women are very successful and well respected because they stay true to themselves rather than giving in to culture stereotypes.
Although the culture has not quite turned the corner on giving women the full respect they deserve there is hope because of the examples some of the more well known voices set. Without women there is no life, and without life there is no music. We love music, so we should love our women.