Snoop Dogg - The reluctant feminist?
Usually when he’s talking about fatties, he means a big ol’ blunt, but Snoop Dogg’s guest entry on BET.com’s ‘Hip Hop Vs. America’ blog had a slight hint of feminism this week. According to the ‘Sensual Seduction’ rapper, its only good looking women that sell records. Sez Snoop:
How many ugly women selling records? None! Only the pretty ones sell records. Beyonce, Mary J, Keyshia Cole, the ugly ones don’t sell. I ain’t gon say no names, but they don’t sell records. They just be singing their little hearts out, but they don’t get no sales, cause they ugly. Now, that’s my fault? I can see this on TV now: ‘Snoop Dogg called me, ugly’. You beautiful on the inside, baby. What I wanna say to go on top of that, to the chocolate women, the dark-skinned women, I love ya’ll. I got a chocolate daughter at home. I always tell her chocolate is the best thing in the world. Black is beautiful. I love dark-skinned women. That’s why my videos be having dark women in them. I always used to have light-skinned women. Look at it. Show them one of my videos.
Well, ok he may not be the hip-hop Kate Millett but at least in his rambling, he’s acknowledging a common truth. After all, Beyonce, and Rihanna are more likely to sell better than their less glamorous counter-parts like Jill Scott and India. Arie. The only problem is that Snoop appears to just be endorsing an industry-wide bias. His daughter may have darker skin and that’s cool but he’s not saying my daughter is a large woman or my daughter is homely therefore I’m working to change the industry.
Although counterpoint, I think I’d rather see someone who looks like Jada Pinkett fake-playing the saxaphone on a beach then shaking her rump than someone who looks like Mo’nique. So in conclusion, I’m doing nothing to help the cause of women in hip-hop videos but in protest I’ll totally stop watching 106 and Park (at least for a few days).
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