Raunch aesthetics is a term in feminist theory which describes the ways in which women in hip hop express their sexuality through the performance of lyrics, choreography, and staging.
[1] These aesthetics are performed by artists such as Lil’ Kim, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Cardi B, Ciara, Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion and Miley Cyrus with the intention to embrace and take control over their own bodies and sexual identities through verbal and physical expression.
[2] Hip hop emerged in the 1980s as an outlet for young African-American youth to replicate the experiences of urban life and marginalization.
[3] Hip hoppers created and innovated new ways to manipulate music, their voices, and their bodies to showcase their talent and skills and gain respect within the community.
[4] Some female rappers choose to incorporate a sex sells framework into their work to market their sexuality and be successful.
Female rappers of the late 1990s began engaging in the increasingly hypersexualized genre, using it to gain cultural power and reverse the elevation of pimp roles weaved into many rap songs.
Such raunch aesthetics were their source of power in the male dominated genre for many female artists such as Lil Kim.
[7] This is mainly because it's hard to decipher between real sexual empowerment and a false sense of it because the terms have been so com-modified in the United States to get women to consume various goods.
They do not support women that "give into the system" to reap the benefits of making a great deal of money from their body image.
[5] At the same time, because of the extreme sexual nature of raunch aesthetics, many in American culture see its practices as grotesque, explicit and vulgar.
[11] When women take part in activities that may be considered "slutty" or unladylike, they are condemned by society for not complying with the gender norms.
However, recently through the use of hip hop and the media, women have been combating these norms thus making raunchy aesthetic more controversial in today's society.
[15] Cyndi Lauper commented,"And there she is a young twenty-something trying to prove, you know, she can hang with the big boys and girls, you know, basically simulating a 'Girl Gone Wild' video onstage and I just felt like it was so beneath her and really.
In her song "Partition" from her self-titled album Beyoncé, which came out December 2013, she sings: I don't need you seeing 'yonce on her knees Took 45 minutes to get all dressed up We ain't even gonna make it to this club Now my mascara running, red lipstick smudged Oh he so horny, he want to fuck He bucked all my buttons, he ripped my blouse [17] The song suggests the sexual act of fellatio while being driven in a limousine to a club party.
Granting her a top 10 record on the U.S Billboard 200 list in 2006, she began to her take over of the music industry with her hit single "Pon de Replay".
[21] Some of "S&M"'s lyrics are: There's no way I'm turning back Now the pain is my pleasure Cause nothing could measure Love is great, love is fine Out the box, out of line The affliction of the feeling [22] Here Rihanna expresses her fondness for out-of-the-box sex, in honor of her newfound raunchiness she embraces her power to choose how she enjoys sexual encounters.
Proclaiming that chains and whips excite her, is a major slap in the face to white patriarchal standards of being a proper woman.
On the cover Rihanna is drawing a sexual desire from her fingers clawing her fresh, her gun tattoo pointing towards her side boob.
In 2012 former boyfriend Chris Brown and Rihanna decided to collaborate on a few remixes that critics and fans rejected because of their history of domestic abuse.
With this provocative language, the singer angered a lot of people who did not believe that she should be singing, nor engaging in any sexual activity with Brown.
[29] Lizzo has gained mass popularity in the last few years, with songs hitting the charts such as, "Truth Hurts" and "Good as Hell".
"[30] Lizzo's song “Rumors" that came out in early 2021 is a perfect example of raunch aesthetics in today's world, with lyrics such as: Spending all your time tryna break a woman down Realer shit is going on, baby, take a look around If you thought that I was ratchet with my ass hanging out
[32] Megan Thee Stallion is a Houston native rap artist who has made a name for herself through her provocative lyrics and sexual expression/display of her body.
Her rise to fame began from posting highly engaged rap freestyles and led her to now holding multiple Grammy Awards.
Her popular collaborative song WAP with Cardi B generated much backlash from Republicans who felt that their Grammy performance was extremely inappropriate and vulgar for television.
[33] Megan has also expressed her sexuality and exhibited raunch culture by posting twerking videos along her social media pages which has also been met with disdain from commentators who felt she performed the dance excessively.
In an effort to step out on her own and express herself as the woman she is, versus the teen image she maintained while building her career, she released a song called “Have Mercy”.
In the song Chlöe describes her figure and takes control of her sexuality which can be heard in the following lyrics.All this ass up in my jeans You can't get up in between You tryna get a piece of me
Chlöe has also displayed raunch aesthetics through provocative post on social media to promote body positivity and acceptance of self.