Magna wrote:
I don't get why the intense misogyny in a lot of rap music is ok. To me it's no different than if there was a musical genre that was racist or xenophobic, but it got a pass...because [ insert explanation here ].
The same reason it gets a pass in extreme metal, the artists for whom that's their bread and butter tend to have a fan base that isn't offended by it. It isn't a defining trait of the genre even if it's common enough to be a familiar trope. One potential compounding issue that would apply with a lot of hip-hop, but not a lot of extreme metal would be the context of the relationships being described. In a lot of extreme metal (and to be fair, some hip-hop including Eminem) misogynistic violence is being described in the context of either targeting random strangers just because or domestic violence. In a substantial portion of examples of misogynistic references or references to misogynistic violence it's often in the context of members of the criminal underworld who attract hangers-on who are effectively paid retainers, it's not really unreasonable for someone who is admitting that most of their relationships have been along that dynamic to also express that they view partners of that nature as sex trade workers, because odds are, so do the retainers/partners in question. If someone is exchanging 'favours' for money, power or being provided with intoxicants, that's the nature of the exchange and it shouldn't be problematic to call it what it is.
That's also why it tends to be a handful of artists with crossover appeal to pop artists who get more scrutiny than others, because no one cares what some random one-man slamdeath band with a following of 217 fans sings about until he turns to incel terrorism (true case), and similarily, no one cares what some wannabe pimp talks about because his reach is minuscule, but when that person has the stature of Jay-Z or Eminem even attempts to distance themselves won't succeed entirely no matter what the current of their current output is.
I enjoy genres that sometimes express those sorts of issues, but I notice 9/10 when people bring up misogyny in contemporary music they will only focus on the issue in certain genres and while I can't assume racial biases are the reason, it often emerges as part of a broader pattern if a long enough period of examination occurs.
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