Alternative Representation of Women in Hip Hop

Lil Kim featuring Mr Cheeks – The Jump Off















The title of this video clip- ‘The Jump Off’ connotes that the protagonist Lil Kim is aggressive as the words in slang connote violence, fighting and hooliganism. This is an alternative view of women in hip hop as traditionally the women are subordinated and treated inferior, which connotes by their constant dancing in minimal clothing- connoting sexual objectification. This also connotes the fetihisization of females to attract the male audience’s attention and make them the primary targeted audience, by providing male gaze- the females.

Additionally, the use of props such as the jewellery, fur coat and big sunglasses are usually worn by men and therefore are worn by this masculine character Lil Kim. This adds to the sense that this female wants to be male and so surrounds herself around gangsters like men and refers to women as “bitches” and men as “players” and “goons”. She later confirms any suspicions of her lost masculinity when she states “we keep it gangster”. The use of the word ‘we’ refers to all her male friends surrounding her and herself.




Also, the use of constant reference to things that men would associate wealth to, she repeats over and over again in the chorus- “Hummer, Benz, twenty three inch rims, Jaguar”. By idolising the same things as me she shows that she is accepted by the mob lifestyle. However, she objectifies herself and quotes “I can make a sprite can disappear in my mouth”. This connotes oral sex, an act that all male gangsters-like artists are fixated upon during their music videos. So she identifies herself to once agin be masculine, aggressive and dominant.




With relation to the paragraph above, Lil Kim later says, “Rub on my tits, and squeeze on my ass” also, she screams “sex, drugs and cash”- the three things most associated with the gangster lifestyle, stereotypically by black male, rapper artists. In addition, opposite to men, she represents the female’s desire, it’s against stereotypes of women but due to her aggressive, red blooded, man-like nature she is exempts from judgment and frowning. To some extent it causes moral panic that women are reverting to men’s activities, and to an extent prostituting themselves.




With regards to furthering the concept that Lil Kim is of masculine nature she uses props such as a Land Rover and then exclaims “I bought the range and the rover”. This quote connotes that she too uses expensive items in life, like the male artists in the similar genre, to replace something they have missed in their life. And therefore she has become materialistic and spends money, brags about her dead gangster friends “Biggie” and then uses the excuse of alcohol to rub away any causes of concern by her audience.




Similarly, Lil Kim constantly refers to the gangster lifestyle mainly dominated by men and says “East Coast to West Coast, we keep it fly”. Usually this concept of divide refers to violent gangs rivalling each other in order to gain superiority and fight so they can reclaim the title of who is the ‘hardest’. This connotes that the ‘harder’ the crew of “goons” the more trouble they cause, the more powerful, and the more capable they are to cause damage.

To conclude, the protagonists (Lil Kim) actions and lyrics are aggressively violent, masculine, however, typical of the genre she represents. She is the anomaly.