Presentation

My name is Vanessa Delgado.

My first article was "Unladylike Divas": Language, Gender, and Female Gangsta Rappers.  This article discussed how female gangsta rappers display femininity through their music, and how it is used to claim social power through "unladylike" lyrics and behaviors.

Gangsta rap is a subgenre of rap.  It differs from rap in that its lyrics usually tell stories associated with urban life and crime.  It is also known as "hardcore rap", and uses "gangsta" images, explicit language, and criteria such as volume and pitch to exhibit masculinity.  Gangsta rap has been traditionally dominated by men.

The article focused on three female gangsta rap artists: Mia X, Lady of Rage, and Lil Kim.  The phrase "unladylike" was originated by Mia X because her rap lyrics and behavior differ from American society's view of how a female should act in order to be perceived as a lady.  She proudly declares herself as the "Unladylike Diva", therefore creating her own feminine identity, and choosing to go against the norm.  Her lyrics pronounce her power over men, both lyrically and physically.

In contrast, the Lady of Rage does, in fact, view herself as a lady.  However, through her lyrics, she addresses what society views as a lady, and chooses to redefine the term.

Lil Kim uses her sexuality as a position of power in the lyrics to her song, "We don't need it".  In this song, she declares that she won't have sex with a man unless he gives her oral sex first.

Males use derogatory terms such as "bitch" and "hoe" towards women in their lyrics.  What female gangsta rappers have done is redefine those terms, and used them to their advantage.  Therefore, disempowering their use by men.

Female gangsta rappers also claim social power through their lyrics.  Lady of Rage's song, "Sho Shot", is about her ability to metaphorically murder other rappers in rap battles.  She presents the challenger as begging for mercy by using a higher-pitched voice.  As her voice is lower-pitched, she represents the authoritative role and higher social status.

My second article was Charting race: The Success of Black Performers in the Mainstream Recording Market, 1940-1990.  In this article, seven hypotheses were tested.

Two literatures were used for this study.  The dependent variable was the quarterly percentage of Black performers who had a hit song on the mainstream charts of Billboard.  The findings show that the success of Black performers grew in the 1950s, was highest in the 1960s and 1970s, and declined moderately in the decades following.

The independent variables were: market concentration, decentralized production, integration of the American Federation of Musicians, industry recession, dominance of network radio, rise of MTV, and racial conflict.  The control variable was the total number of Black performers that had mainstream success in the previous quarter.

The statistical method was used, and because it was based on data from a large time frame, preliminary analysis showed autocorrelation.  Therefore, EGLS regression was applied to avoid any misleading results.

The results of this study found that when there was increased market concentration, the success of Black performers declined; when production was decentralized, the success of Black performers went up significantly; when the AFM was integrated, it caused success for Black performers; the industry recession during 1979-1982 caused a negative effect on Black performers; the dominance of network radio also negatively affected Black performers' success; the rise of MTV did not significantly affect the success of Black performers; and racial conflict had a significantly positive effect on the success of Black performers.

The music industry was historically dominated by White performers until the 1940s, when rhythm and blues entered the mainstream market, causing Black performers to enter, as well.  When Black performers were segregated from the mainstream radio, their success declined.  When racial conflict was heightened during the civil rights movement, exposure of Black performers increased, therefore was beneficial to their success.