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F**k B*tches Raw on the Kitchen Floor: A Feminist Examination of Condom Messages in Hip Hop and Rap Music, 1991–2017

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Abstract

Since 1991, the popularity of hip hop and rap music in the United States has expanded beyond traditional consumers of the genre. As such, this genre of music has the ability to shape cultural and sexual norms across racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic boundaries. The purpose of this study was to examine condom use messaging in hip hop and rap music. We conducted a lyric analysis of all tracks in the top ten albums between 1991 and 2017, as listed on the Billboard US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums Year End Charts. Overall, we analyzed 3732 songs. In our sample, 1171 songs contained sexually explicit messages and 98 songs had mentions of condom use. Sexually explicit messages were most common between the years of 1995 and 2000, and have been slowly increasing in rap music since 2010. By focusing on safe-sex messaging in lyrical content, we add to both: (1) the growing feminist critique of gender inequality and misogyny in the music industry from a public health standpoint, and (2) the analysis of the role of popular culture in understanding youth sexual attitudes and behaviors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Behavior, Society and Policy, Rutgers University School of Public Health, Piscataway, USA

    Marybec Griffin

  2. Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies, Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, USA

    Marybec Griffin

  3. Department of Music, New York University, New York, USA

    Adele Fournet

  4. Humanities New York, New York, USA

    Adele Fournet

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  1. Marybec Griffin
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  2. Adele Fournet
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Correspondence to Marybec Griffin.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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This study relies on secondary data analysis and therefore did not require institutional review board approval or informed consent of participants.

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Griffin, M., Fournet, A. F**k B*tches Raw on the Kitchen Floor: A Feminist Examination of Condom Messages in Hip Hop and Rap Music, 1991–2017. Sexuality & Culture 24, 291–304 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-019-09638-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-019-09638-y

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