Hip hop has always been a reflection of society, yet since its inception, certain people have blamed hip hop for society's problems; it's been labeled the cause of violence, drug use, Fred Durst, even AIDS. It still gets the blame whenever a conservative needs a convenient scapegoat for mass shootings. Or when their own kid is caught with cocaine. It must be that damn rap music!
There are valid criticisms of rap (and all art) for its content and the influence it has on consumers, but most arguments focus only on the negative and miss the point of influence. Biggie talking about selling drugs and kidnapping a Knicks player isn't going to make me want to do the same. But Biggie wearing a Coogi sweater might make me want to get one. Biggie saying, "Now I throw shields on the dick, to stop me from that HIV shit" might make me think twice about going bareback. Throw in Snoop saying, "I got a pocket full of rubbers and my homeboys do too," and Ghostface Killah telling his boy to "take this raincoat, and practice safe sex," and protecting yourself from STDs and unwanted pregnancy becomes the cool thing to do. And when it comes to reaching people, especially young people, nothing works better than cool.
Critics argue that rappers promote promiscuity, but studies have shown that hip hop had no negative effect on people's sexual behavior. This study from the National Institutes of Health states, "Popular discourses on young men’s health risks often blame youths’ cultures such as the hip hop culture for increased risk practices but do not critically examine how risk emerges in urban young men’s lives and what aspects of youths’ culture can be protective." The authors of the study claim that Hip hop did not lead to riskier behaviors, and more studies should be done on the positive, or "protective" qualities of hip hop. Nothing says protective like promoting condoms, and it's quite possible that hip hop not only had a positive effect on sexual behavior, but that it played a vital role in helping to stem the HIV/AIDs epidemic in the 90s.
Throughout the 80s and 90s, HIV was rampant in the US. Once people realized it wasn't just killing off "the gays," the realities of the disease caused nationwide panic. TV shows and movies started to address the crisis. Hip hop, the most socially aware genre of music in history, constantly reminded its listeners, and viewers, of the dangers of HIV and the benefits of safe sex.
As usual, women led the way. In 1990, fresh off the success of their provocative "Push It," Salt-n-Pepa came back with an educational after school special of a song that somehow became a hit. "Let's Talk About Sex" was all over MTV, BET and mainstream radio. I remember hearing it in the car with a friend's parent and getting embarrassed, but it's such a good song that we were all singing the chorus by the end of it, with my friend's mom emphasizing "and the BAD things that may be."
The song wasn't preaching, it was fun, and conversations about sex should be fun. Kids are more likely to learn that way, but most adults are so uptight about sex that they can't overcome their own discomfort long enough to discuss it with children.
Salt-n-Pepa was by no means the first to mention the merits of condoms and safe sex. It was just the most earnest, and frankly, the most popular instance, so it was the most important. They reached an audience a lot of earlier rappers didn't.
The Teacha, KRS One, deserves a lot of credit for his contributions to providing comprehensive sex education to 80s kids. In 1988, Boogie Down Production released "Jimmy," where KRS says: “Jimmy hats are now in style ‘cause you can’t trust a big butt and a smile.” That song is loaded with gems like: "drippin jimmy’s is straight up wack." The shit is absolutely hilarious, but at the time, HIV was ravaging the country, and the federal government was openly mocking gays and calling people gay for even asking about HIV. Then here comes KRS telling straight men (who he calls "super hoes," so he was ahead of his time on gender equality, too) to wrap it up. It wasn't just gay people who needed to be careful. There was nothing like this in music at the time. BDP didnt exactly make it to mainstream radio, but this song was a legitimate rap hit. About putting on a rubber. In Reagan's America.
Of course, there's one more legend we can't overlook for his contribution to keeping your jimmy from drippin. Kool Moe Dee. The epitome of cool (it's in the name!). Before he was a "player" he had to go see the doctor. This was a cautionary tale about the consequences of unprotected sex. "As I turned around to receive my injection, I said "Next time I'll use some protection." This was 1986, two years earlier than BDP. It was straight up comedy, but it was no joke. Again, the best way to teach young people is using humor and fun, and there's not many songs as fun as this.
"Jimmy hats" became a popular term in rap in the late 80s and 90s. It was like a rebranding of the too technical "condoms" and too silly "rubbers." Jimmy hats was a clever, funny term created by hip, young black men. Hip hop slang, though often ridiculed, travels the world and eventually becomes mainstream. (Remember how many old white people said "fleek" in 2016? They used it mockingly at first, but they used it.) The term "jimmy hats" maintains that sense of coolness that is so important in reaching young people when it comes to changing risky behavior.
KRS may have pioneered using the term "jimmy" in a song, but others weren't far behind. In Digital Underground's awesome 1990 single, "Same Song," everyone's favorite fake-nosed rapper Humpty says:
Pull out my jimmie, time to get busy wit a Jenny
If it's good and plenty, don't you know
There I go, there I go, there I go
But I don't go nowhere without my jim hat
If I'm rapping, 'cause she's clapping
Then I'm strapping 'cause I'm smarter than that
In 1991, former NWA member Ice Cube released "Look Who's Burnin." The song starts with people talking at a clinic, with one guy saying "I came here to get some rubbers." The nurse lists off STDs. Then Ice Cube comes in and raps:
I went to the free clinic, it was filled to capacity
Now how bad can a piece of ass be?
Very bad, so I had to make the trip
and thank God, I didn’t have the drips
I was there so a hoe couldn’t gimme that
Just to get – twenty free jimmy hats.
The same year Ice Cube dropped that song endorsing condoms and clinical check-ups, Magic Johnson was diagnosed with HIV. To say it was a shock doesn't do it justice. The electric chair is a shock. This was an asteroid landing on our heads. The NBA and hip hop have always been closely connected, and Magic's diagnosis reverberated through hip hop culture. There were the obvious jokes but there was also serious concern. If Magic, an icon, a hero, can get this disease, that meant anyone could. It wasn't just the black community or basketball or hip hop community that felt it, it was the whole world waking to this realization.
That's why it was so iconic and powerful when TLC debuted in 1992 and Left Eye wore the condom as an eye patch.
It couldn't be ignored. The whole group often wore condoms as accessories. It was a fashion statement with a message. It was provocative, because everything related to sex is provocative in this uptight country, but they were promoting safety as well as female and self empowerment. They showed that women could take control of their own sexual health. They may not have been too proud to beg for sex, but they were too proud to have it unprotected.
Many other rappers deserve credit as well. There were countless lines promoting safe sex in the 90s. In Bonita Applebum, one of hip hop's greatest love songs, Q-Tip lets people know that "if you need em, I got crazy prophylactics." That was before TLC came out, and later, his rhyming partner (RIP Phife) reupped the claim, even shouting out the ladies who had become synonymous with condoms: "But just in case I got more condoms than TLC."
There were also some...questionable references to safe sex. You'd think the man responsible for creating the Hip Hop Love Ballad would be a little smoother with his sexual metaphors. And yet, he released "Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag Getting Crushed By Buildings." As a single!
Jay Z once said he "got a condo with nothing but condoms in it." Damn, Shawn, not even a fridge? Or a bed? Where are you gonna use those condoms? There's not even a rug you can lay out on the floor? It seems a bit excessive.
Dre Dre had an extended verse about his experience with STDs. If I had to guess, I'd say the doctor has had to treat himself a few times:
And before me dig out a bitch I have ta’ find a contraceptive
You never know she could be earnin’ her man,
And learnin’ her man, and at the same time burnin’ her man
Now you know I ain’t wit that shit, Lieutenant
Ain’t no p**sy good enough to get burnt while I’m up in it"
Many rappers like Dre focused on the consequences of unprotected sex to shame people who didn't protect themselves. Shame can have a powerful effect, too. It was not cool to get "burned." We all loved Ol' Dirty Bastard, but we didn't want to be like him and get burned not once, but "actually two times goddammit." Unfortunately, a lot of the shame tactics turned into anger at women, a common male tactic, which is why TLC's fashion statement was so powerful in a male dominated industry.
For the hip hop community, HIV/AIDS hit even closer to home in 1995 with the death of Eazy E. There became a sense of urgency to address the virus in the hip hop community and society as a whole. This was at a time when hip hop was becoming the most popular music genre in the country, so its impact was being felt on a massive scale.
In that year, 1995, there were more deaths from AIDS in the United States than ever before. There were well founded fears of a new age plague.
In 1996, the immensely successful Wu Tang Clan, fresh off a classic debut and several successful solo albums, decided to use their considerable influence for good. They came together with many other popular rappers (Common! Spice 1! Coolio!) to release "America is Dying Slowly," an album full of warnings and advice about HIV/AIDS. On the lead song, "America," Wu Tang raps in the chorus:
AIDS kills, word up respect this, yo
Coming from the Wu, it's real
Here were some of the best and most popular rappers in the world talking about the dangers of unprotected sex and AIDS over a 1996 RZA beat. Incredible.
This album went deep. These artists took real time and effort to make quality music with a powerful message. RZA even gave a great line about the popular conspiratorial claims about HIV:
Overcome with passion, big ass want lust upon him
But nigga he forsake to grab the condom
Fuck it, he said AIDS, was government made
To keep niggas afraid so they won't get laid no babies be made
And the black population will decrease within a decade
German warfare product against the dark shade
They dismissed the myths about AIDS and gave real life advice. It wasn't just a "my label wants me to do something positive" thing. They saw people dying in their community at a rapid pace and knew how serious the situation was, so they decided to do something about it.
By all accounts, it worked. There was a drastic drop in the number of AIDs related deaths in 1996. Many people credit the antiretroviral drugs that became widely available that year, and sure they deserve some credit (okay, a lot of credit) but it's not a reach to say that hip hop played a significant role in raising awareness about the disease.
Despite the rapid drop in AIDS related deaths in the late 90s, HIV/AIDS and STDs never went away, and rappers never stopped promoting safe sex.
In 2003, Freeway rapped: "And she want me to sneak in the building like trolls and a toy, Best believe there's Trojans involved, hats lift over the boy, oh boy."
In 2007, Beanie Sigel, always brilliant, provocative, and politically incorrect, rapped: "I'm Ruthless, but nothin like Eazy, I keep a pocket full of Magnums, believe me."
In 2008, the guy who made eating buttholes popular said: "Safe sex is great sex, better wear a latex cuz u dont want that late text, that 'I think I'm late' text."
Hip hop's promotion of safe sex is so well known that even condom manufacturers and brands took notice. In 2004, a company called Jimmie Hatz (great name!) marketed condoms to the young "urban" crowd. This had the added benefits of making the people at Fox News blow a fuse.
Magnum condoms, a brand popular with rappers for the...genital implications, saw their sales boosted 14 percent from 2001-2010. They largely attribute that boost to rappers referencing the brand in their songs, such as Ludacris ("Stop by the convenience store and pick up them rubbers, Magnum I hope") and Rick Ross ("Hit the Dodge lot I must've copped six Magnums/ Marriott suite, I must've used six magnums"). In 2010, with their first ever marketing campaign (they literally did not run ads because they relied on the free publicity from rappers) they held a rap contest in 2010 to see who could come up with the best song about Magnums.
Even the current White Boy Wonder G-Eazy referenced condoms just last year on a hit song: "keep a Costco pack of rubbers by my night stand." He's smart and thrifty!
Everyone seems to focus on the risky behavior that rap "promotes," such as promiscuity, but if the argument is that rap influences people, logically (considering the abundance of condom references) some of that influence must be positive.
Hip hop, for all the ridiculous blame it receives for society's problems, never got the credit it deserved for raising awareness about HIV/AIDS. The genre was highly influential in avoiding a much worse AIDS epidemic in the 90s and remains an important tool in promoting safe sex.
I Love You All...Class Dismissed.
There are valid criticisms of rap (and all art) for its content and the influence it has on consumers, but most arguments focus only on the negative and miss the point of influence. Biggie talking about selling drugs and kidnapping a Knicks player isn't going to make me want to do the same. But Biggie wearing a Coogi sweater might make me want to get one. Biggie saying, "Now I throw shields on the dick, to stop me from that HIV shit" might make me think twice about going bareback. Throw in Snoop saying, "I got a pocket full of rubbers and my homeboys do too," and Ghostface Killah telling his boy to "take this raincoat, and practice safe sex," and protecting yourself from STDs and unwanted pregnancy becomes the cool thing to do. And when it comes to reaching people, especially young people, nothing works better than cool.
Critics argue that rappers promote promiscuity, but studies have shown that hip hop had no negative effect on people's sexual behavior. This study from the National Institutes of Health states, "Popular discourses on young men’s health risks often blame youths’ cultures such as the hip hop culture for increased risk practices but do not critically examine how risk emerges in urban young men’s lives and what aspects of youths’ culture can be protective." The authors of the study claim that Hip hop did not lead to riskier behaviors, and more studies should be done on the positive, or "protective" qualities of hip hop. Nothing says protective like promoting condoms, and it's quite possible that hip hop not only had a positive effect on sexual behavior, but that it played a vital role in helping to stem the HIV/AIDs epidemic in the 90s.
Throughout the 80s and 90s, HIV was rampant in the US. Once people realized it wasn't just killing off "the gays," the realities of the disease caused nationwide panic. TV shows and movies started to address the crisis. Hip hop, the most socially aware genre of music in history, constantly reminded its listeners, and viewers, of the dangers of HIV and the benefits of safe sex.
It wasn't exactly subtle either.
As usual, women led the way. In 1990, fresh off the success of their provocative "Push It," Salt-n-Pepa came back with an educational after school special of a song that somehow became a hit. "Let's Talk About Sex" was all over MTV, BET and mainstream radio. I remember hearing it in the car with a friend's parent and getting embarrassed, but it's such a good song that we were all singing the chorus by the end of it, with my friend's mom emphasizing "and the BAD things that may be."
The song wasn't preaching, it was fun, and conversations about sex should be fun. Kids are more likely to learn that way, but most adults are so uptight about sex that they can't overcome their own discomfort long enough to discuss it with children.
Salt-n-Pepa was by no means the first to mention the merits of condoms and safe sex. It was just the most earnest, and frankly, the most popular instance, so it was the most important. They reached an audience a lot of earlier rappers didn't.
The Teacha, KRS One, deserves a lot of credit for his contributions to providing comprehensive sex education to 80s kids. In 1988, Boogie Down Production released "Jimmy," where KRS says: “Jimmy hats are now in style ‘cause you can’t trust a big butt and a smile.” That song is loaded with gems like: "drippin jimmy’s is straight up wack." The shit is absolutely hilarious, but at the time, HIV was ravaging the country, and the federal government was openly mocking gays and calling people gay for even asking about HIV. Then here comes KRS telling straight men (who he calls "super hoes," so he was ahead of his time on gender equality, too) to wrap it up. It wasn't just gay people who needed to be careful. There was nothing like this in music at the time. BDP didnt exactly make it to mainstream radio, but this song was a legitimate rap hit. About putting on a rubber. In Reagan's America.
Of course, there's one more legend we can't overlook for his contribution to keeping your jimmy from drippin. Kool Moe Dee. The epitome of cool (it's in the name!). Before he was a "player" he had to go see the doctor. This was a cautionary tale about the consequences of unprotected sex. "As I turned around to receive my injection, I said "Next time I'll use some protection." This was 1986, two years earlier than BDP. It was straight up comedy, but it was no joke. Again, the best way to teach young people is using humor and fun, and there's not many songs as fun as this.
"Jimmy hats" became a popular term in rap in the late 80s and 90s. It was like a rebranding of the too technical "condoms" and too silly "rubbers." Jimmy hats was a clever, funny term created by hip, young black men. Hip hop slang, though often ridiculed, travels the world and eventually becomes mainstream. (Remember how many old white people said "fleek" in 2016? They used it mockingly at first, but they used it.) The term "jimmy hats" maintains that sense of coolness that is so important in reaching young people when it comes to changing risky behavior.
KRS may have pioneered using the term "jimmy" in a song, but others weren't far behind. In Digital Underground's awesome 1990 single, "Same Song," everyone's favorite fake-nosed rapper Humpty says:
Pull out my jimmie, time to get busy wit a Jenny
If it's good and plenty, don't you know
There I go, there I go, there I go
But I don't go nowhere without my jim hat
If I'm rapping, 'cause she's clapping
Then I'm strapping 'cause I'm smarter than that
In 1991, former NWA member Ice Cube released "Look Who's Burnin." The song starts with people talking at a clinic, with one guy saying "I came here to get some rubbers." The nurse lists off STDs. Then Ice Cube comes in and raps:
I went to the free clinic, it was filled to capacity
Now how bad can a piece of ass be?
Very bad, so I had to make the trip
and thank God, I didn’t have the drips
I was there so a hoe couldn’t gimme that
Just to get – twenty free jimmy hats.
One of the top comments on that video says:
"One of the main reasons I always kept condoms on me...Thankz Cube!"
"One of the main reasons I always kept condoms on me...Thankz Cube!"
The same year Ice Cube dropped that song endorsing condoms and clinical check-ups, Magic Johnson was diagnosed with HIV. To say it was a shock doesn't do it justice. The electric chair is a shock. This was an asteroid landing on our heads. The NBA and hip hop have always been closely connected, and Magic's diagnosis reverberated through hip hop culture. There were the obvious jokes but there was also serious concern. If Magic, an icon, a hero, can get this disease, that meant anyone could. It wasn't just the black community or basketball or hip hop community that felt it, it was the whole world waking to this realization.
That's why it was so iconic and powerful when TLC debuted in 1992 and Left Eye wore the condom as an eye patch.
I can't explain the hat though.
It couldn't be ignored. The whole group often wore condoms as accessories. It was a fashion statement with a message. It was provocative, because everything related to sex is provocative in this uptight country, but they were promoting safety as well as female and self empowerment. They showed that women could take control of their own sexual health. They may not have been too proud to beg for sex, but they were too proud to have it unprotected.
Many other rappers deserve credit as well. There were countless lines promoting safe sex in the 90s. In Bonita Applebum, one of hip hop's greatest love songs, Q-Tip lets people know that "if you need em, I got crazy prophylactics." That was before TLC came out, and later, his rhyming partner (RIP Phife) reupped the claim, even shouting out the ladies who had become synonymous with condoms: "But just in case I got more condoms than TLC."
There were also some...questionable references to safe sex. You'd think the man responsible for creating the Hip Hop Love Ballad would be a little smoother with his sexual metaphors. And yet, he released "Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag Getting Crushed By Buildings." As a single!
This came out in 1993 and I had no idea it was a metaphor for safe sex until 2017.
It still makes no damn sense, but good job I guess, LL.
Jay Z once said he "got a condo with nothing but condoms in it." Damn, Shawn, not even a fridge? Or a bed? Where are you gonna use those condoms? There's not even a rug you can lay out on the floor? It seems a bit excessive.
Dre Dre had an extended verse about his experience with STDs. If I had to guess, I'd say the doctor has had to treat himself a few times:
And before me dig out a bitch I have ta’ find a contraceptive
You never know she could be earnin’ her man,
And learnin’ her man, and at the same time burnin’ her man
Now you know I ain’t wit that shit, Lieutenant
Ain’t no p**sy good enough to get burnt while I’m up in it"
Many rappers like Dre focused on the consequences of unprotected sex to shame people who didn't protect themselves. Shame can have a powerful effect, too. It was not cool to get "burned." We all loved Ol' Dirty Bastard, but we didn't want to be like him and get burned not once, but "actually two times goddammit." Unfortunately, a lot of the shame tactics turned into anger at women, a common male tactic, which is why TLC's fashion statement was so powerful in a male dominated industry.
For the hip hop community, HIV/AIDS hit even closer to home in 1995 with the death of Eazy E. There became a sense of urgency to address the virus in the hip hop community and society as a whole. This was at a time when hip hop was becoming the most popular music genre in the country, so its impact was being felt on a massive scale.
In that year, 1995, there were more deaths from AIDS in the United States than ever before. There were well founded fears of a new age plague.
In 1996, the immensely successful Wu Tang Clan, fresh off a classic debut and several successful solo albums, decided to use their considerable influence for good. They came together with many other popular rappers (Common! Spice 1! Coolio!) to release "America is Dying Slowly," an album full of warnings and advice about HIV/AIDS. On the lead song, "America," Wu Tang raps in the chorus:
AIDS kills, word up respect this, yo
Coming from the Wu, it's real
Here were some of the best and most popular rappers in the world talking about the dangers of unprotected sex and AIDS over a 1996 RZA beat. Incredible.
This album went deep. These artists took real time and effort to make quality music with a powerful message. RZA even gave a great line about the popular conspiratorial claims about HIV:
Overcome with passion, big ass want lust upon him
But nigga he forsake to grab the condom
Fuck it, he said AIDS, was government made
To keep niggas afraid so they won't get laid no babies be made
And the black population will decrease within a decade
German warfare product against the dark shade
They dismissed the myths about AIDS and gave real life advice. It wasn't just a "my label wants me to do something positive" thing. They saw people dying in their community at a rapid pace and knew how serious the situation was, so they decided to do something about it.
By all accounts, it worked. There was a drastic drop in the number of AIDs related deaths in 1996. Many people credit the antiretroviral drugs that became widely available that year, and sure they deserve some credit (okay, a lot of credit) but it's not a reach to say that hip hop played a significant role in raising awareness about the disease.
Despite the rapid drop in AIDS related deaths in the late 90s, HIV/AIDS and STDs never went away, and rappers never stopped promoting safe sex.
In 2003, Freeway rapped: "And she want me to sneak in the building like trolls and a toy, Best believe there's Trojans involved, hats lift over the boy, oh boy."
In 2007, Beanie Sigel, always brilliant, provocative, and politically incorrect, rapped: "I'm Ruthless, but nothin like Eazy, I keep a pocket full of Magnums, believe me."
In 2008, the guy who made eating buttholes popular said: "Safe sex is great sex, better wear a latex cuz u dont want that late text, that 'I think I'm late' text."
Hip hop's promotion of safe sex is so well known that even condom manufacturers and brands took notice. In 2004, a company called Jimmie Hatz (great name!) marketed condoms to the young "urban" crowd. This had the added benefits of making the people at Fox News blow a fuse.
Magnum condoms, a brand popular with rappers for the...genital implications, saw their sales boosted 14 percent from 2001-2010. They largely attribute that boost to rappers referencing the brand in their songs, such as Ludacris ("Stop by the convenience store and pick up them rubbers, Magnum I hope") and Rick Ross ("Hit the Dodge lot I must've copped six Magnums/ Marriott suite, I must've used six magnums"). In 2010, with their first ever marketing campaign (they literally did not run ads because they relied on the free publicity from rappers) they held a rap contest in 2010 to see who could come up with the best song about Magnums.
Even the current White Boy Wonder G-Eazy referenced condoms just last year on a hit song: "keep a Costco pack of rubbers by my night stand." He's smart and thrifty!
Everyone seems to focus on the risky behavior that rap "promotes," such as promiscuity, but if the argument is that rap influences people, logically (considering the abundance of condom references) some of that influence must be positive.
Hip hop, for all the ridiculous blame it receives for society's problems, never got the credit it deserved for raising awareness about HIV/AIDS. The genre was highly influential in avoiding a much worse AIDS epidemic in the 90s and remains an important tool in promoting safe sex.
I Love You All...Class Dismissed.
No comments:
Post a Comment