Impact of Commercial Hip Hop/Rap Music Videos on Women of Color

Abstract

The purpose of this research project is to examine hip hop and rap’s portrayal of minority women and how that adversely affects the development of female identities. Young females of biracial or multiracial backgrounds are the targeted demographic of this research. The types of images as well as the cultural tolerance of these images presented in hip hop and rap music videos have changed significantly over the decades. The television channel MTV had created a platform for a visual component of music that had never existed before in the industry. Since demeaning lyrics have been a hot topic in the past, music videos are the main focus of this research. Women of color in videos are being objectified through their clothing, what they are saying, and their actions. The methodology for conducting this research is an examination of literature reviews of scholarly articles as well as an analysis of a sample size of popular videos from each decade since the creation of MTV in 1981.