The Depiction of Women in Rap and Pop Lyrics

Abstract: The aim of the study is to investigate song lyrics within rap and pop music from a cultural and a gender perspective, focusing on the depiction of women. The investigation focuses on the nouns the songwriter use to refer to the concept of woman. Twenty songs from each genre are conveyed in this study. The results show that rap lyrics contain multiple nouns referring to the concept of woman that depict women in a negative way. Pop lyrics do not contain these words and thus have a more positive way of depicting women. Nouns that occur in both genres tend to be of positive value whereas nouns that are only represented in the rap genre tend to be of negative value, something that indicates these nouns to be bearers of cultural values. It is easier to distinguish hip-hop culture, of which rap is a part, due to the fact that it consists of distinctive language that is highly connected to that particular genre. Pop music however, is very broad and also more difficult to distinguish as a unique culture compared to hip-hop. The language used in pop lyrics is rather commonplace and does not stand out in the crowd as the language in rap lyrics does.