Original Feature | March 2016

2016 started with a bang after Beyoncé’s Super Bowl 50 performance of “Formation” reminded mainstream audiences the importance of being unapologetically BLACK. California, Bay Area artist Kehlani demonstrated why she is unapologetically STRONG, and Rihanna continues to show us why it is essential she remain unapologetically SEXY!  

While hip hop and pop cultural debates over the reigning Queen Bey’s Super Bowl 50 performance of “Formation” have simmered, it is imperative to briefly acknowledge how those conversations created opportunities for important messages to be expressed and discussed within diverse Black spaces. Initially social media outlet narratives began to surface upon the release of the music video (the day prior to Super Bowl 50) interpreting the visual aesthetics and lyrical content.   Beyhive fans were ecstatic to listen to lyrics stating:

 I like my baby hair with baby hair and afros,
I like my Negro nose with
Michael Jackson nostrils!       
 
I like cornbreads and collard greens, bitch.
Oh, yes, you best to believe it.

Black audiences were delighted about “Formation’s” celebration of Black Southern culture with feminist empowerment combined with Trans “slayage” and anti-police brutality imagery. However, non-Black media outlets tried to take license per usual, the hegemonic articulation of the Black cultural production.  Many were complaining that they were not “included” in the song or video, and commenced to re-opening the gates of White rage and superiority. On the actual day of the performance, many critics seemed to be outraged for Bey’s tribute celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense during the halftime show. They used it as an excuse to try and trample the Black Lives Matter Movement. The attention began to focus on the costumes dancers wore and symbolism rendered in pictures of them holding their fists in the air.  Media outlets had the audacity to demand Beyoncé actually apologize for her performance. But to no avail, no ma’am, no sir, she most certainly did not.

Furthermore, as media outlets begin to attack Beyoncé and her husband’s past in lieu of Black history month, Black communities began to focus on the hidden transcripts they noticed.  These important messages incited conversations about the White-Gaze, colorism, Black respectability politics, sugar mommas and the overall importance of celebrating Black culture in America. While there were no monolithic answers to the many important questions that arose due after the video release and the Super Bowl performance, it became very clear that the results of the productions reflected the vitriol people in America have against those who are unapologetically BLACK.

Unapologetically Strong!

Top 40 radio has historically disproportionately acknowledged female artists of color by categorizing them within limited population segments like “urban.” Top 40 radio charts continue to dictate whom we should be listening to and why we should be listening to them. Moreover, if you are not Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj or Rhianna, as a female artist of color establishing oneself in mainstream media you may fall under the “radio radar” and not get exposure. While there are other media outlets to listen to music such as Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, YouTube and Soundcloud, these alternative platforms are only accessible via the Internet. If one does not have access to such spaces then you have pre-selected options which are determined by radio corporations. However, music aficionados know that it has always been the “streets” that inform the radio “suites.” So while mainstream radio may be focused on only a few artists, I’d like to highlight the unapologetically STRONG, R&B princess Kehlani Parish.

Kehlani was nominated for a 2016 Grammy for “Best Urban Contemporary Album.” Yes, she was nominated for the “urban” category. However, the “mixed” Oakland native embraces her urban roots. With two albums released (independently that is) and several singles Kehlani has a strong following.  Her hip-hop and R&B style pay homage to other unapologetically STRONG artists like Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Jill Scott. Kehlani has been featured with Chance the Rapper, Trey Songz, G EaZy and has worked under the tutelage of Nick Cannon. After joining the girls group called PopLYfe on a television show America’s Got Talent, Kehlani soon went solo.  Early on she had to make this critical career choice that would leave her unapologetically STRONG and suitable to break into the industry.  It’s not only her career choices that make her unapologetically STRONG, it is her actual upbringing. Growing up without a father and raised by her aunt, Kehlani has had no choice but to be STRONG.

I want to include her in this list of important artists because of her songs that speak to female independence and strength. The songs that make her stand out as an artist are not necessarily the songs that will make it on to the top 40 radio charts, but instead are the unapologetically STRONG lyrics featured on her mixtape, You Should Be Here which debuted in April 2015. Songs like “Niggas,” “Bright,” “Letter” and “Runnin” speak to her strength as an independent person focused on empowering others.

Cause I know every man has
a fear of a strong-minded woman
But I say she's a keeper if she
got it on her own and keeps it runnin'
If she can keep it all runnin'

Kehlani is proving her strength in the lyrics she writes encouraging women to be independent and self-supportive despite intimidating male counterparts. She also has been unapologetically STRONG in clapping back at hip-hop artist the Game for including her in one of his many social media rants stating that “he and Fiddy used to be "tight as Kehlani p***y." Although Kehlani is a relatively new artist, Kehlani did not hesitate to stand up for herself letting it be known that the Game has never met her, nor did she ever want to meet him.  She also spoke about him being disrespectful to women and inappropriately speaking about women hardly old enough to babysit his children. This next verse in “Runnin” was written prior to the Game incident, yet speaks directly to it

I always said I'd be the one to do it
I changed the way they lookin' at us women makin' music
Don't put back on the crown, stop makin' us look so stupid

In this verse, she is calling on males to stop denigrating female artists. She foresees being a part of changing the way women are looked at in the music industry. Kehlani once again has demonstrated why she is unapologetically STRONG, a new role model for young women, and a breath of fresh air representing Bay Area R&B hip hop.

 Unapologetically Sexy!

Mainstream media outlets do their diligence in giving critical attention to the latest songs taking over the music charts. Album reviews, single reviews, and lyrical content analysis come together to highlight or shade performance patterns of music artists. Many of the same cultural critics that presented their opinions of “Formation” once again took to social media to voice their perceptions of the first single from Rhianna’s 8th album entitled Anti. Rhianna is one of the most unapologetically SEXIEST female R&B artists. Her song “Work” is one of the hottest radio songs receiving accolades for continuously being in the top five R&B or Hip-hop countdowns across the United States and internationally. BBC Radio Charts“Work” has received rave reviews but also a lot of criticism for what some deem as non-comprehensible diction and sexual objectification in exchange for female empowerment.
 
Social media outlets are focused on Rhianna’s language in “Work.”  These debates discuss issues of the legitimacy of spoken and written Bajan Patois. Many critics are refusing to acknowledge Patois. Commentators are especially interested in criticizing Rhianna’s pronunciation of terms like “work” (sex), “haffi” (have to), “ah go” (going to) and “mi no cyar”(I don’t care).
 

Work work work work work work
He said me haffi
Work workwork work work work!
Hesee me do mi
Dirt dirtdirt dirt dirt dirt!
Andso me put in work work work
work work work!
When u ahguh
Learn learnlearn learn learn learn
Mi nuhcyar if him
Hurt hurthurt hurt hurting

While the song is open to interpretation many agree that it is about a relationship between a male and female who have a difference of opinion about what they ultimately want in the relationship. Rhianna’s word choice, however, is defined according to Patois. Even people who claim to be fans criticize her lyrics because they are privileging American English as THE language to be spoken. While critics may try to language shame Rihanna and thereby those who speak Bajan Patois or any other form, their arguments are overhauled by her choice to include it. She, in fact, is empowering the people who speak this language and paying homage to her native tongue disrupting the hegemonic order and shifting the power of who gets to define what is true, false beautiful, ugly etc. Staying true to oneself despite people’s hypercritical perceptions is being unapologetic.

The song’s popularity is also in part due to her unapologetically SEXY dancing for Drake. Hence, this may be the area in which women’s respectability politics come into play. In both videos, Rihanna has overtly sexual performances that seem to encourage women to want to re-enact her moves. DJ’s across the United States and outside of America will tell you that when the song “Work” comes on girls are hitting the dance floor. They are working it, twerking it, slow grinding, Trini-twining, and showcasing the natural ways in which their bodies can roll and twist. She is unapologetically paying homage to sexy Caribbean dance styles. African dance origins have always showcased lower body movements to poly-rhythms and “Work” taps into such performance patterns. What is important to note here is such movements have not always been interpreted as sexual.  However, due to the fetishization of the Black body such movements are embraced as confident sensuality.

Rhianna’s unapologetically SEXY dance moves and fashion choices in “Work” are still giving us something to learn. Receiving equal criticism to her singing in Patois is the fact that in both videos Rihanna is the object of sexual desire for Drake.  In both videos, it is Rihanna’s body that is unapologetically on display. In the first video, she is wearing a sheer dress exposing her ass as she grinds on Drake. In the second video, Rhianna is wearing a see-through netted sheer shirt exposing her braless breasts. Rihanna is telling the viewers that she is not going to apologize for being sexy, nor allow others slut shaming to take precedence over finding freedom in self-expression. Rhianna is staying true to her authentic roots despite what the American public may have to say about her lyrics, dress code or dance style. Rhianna clearly ignores respectability politics and finds a way to embrace who she is, demonstrating that it is okay to embrace her sensuality as an unapologetically SEXY woman.
 

All three of these women and the work they produce
provide examples of what it means to be
UNAPOLOGETICALLY BLACK, STRONG, and SEXY!! 

Cultural Inspiration Contributor | Wk. 3
@DrDreaMoore

Dr. Andrea L.S. Moore | Professor | Ethnic History | Socio-Cultural Production

Andrea L. S. Moore received her B.A. in Sociology and Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from the University of California, Davis.  Her academic brand focuses on Ethnic History and Socio-Cultural Production.  Areas of expertise are situated within Pan African History, Cultural Studies, Sociology, and Popular Culture. Moore has been teaching in higher education for over 10 years serving concurrently as a lecturer in Sociology for the Department for Behavioral Social Sciences at Sacramento City College and the University of California, Davis for the African American and African Studies Program. As an Adjunct Professor, more has taught over four years in the Ethnic Studies Department here at California State University, Sacramento.