Column: The Lesbian Effect

Yo, Drizzy sayin' get her Imma get her
I get the kind of money that make a broke bitch bitter

Gon' ahead and deep-throat.
4-chick Foursomes,
Skin colors mocha.
Sally and Sonia put the pussies on my Totem.
Pole.

Cause I'm bout go have a ménage
With this lady and some freaks at the bar
who like fuckin' with a star…
If you fuckin' with me
Really fuckin' with me
Let her put her hands in your pants
Be my little freak

Excuse me little mama
But you could say I'm on duty
I'm lookin' for a cutie
A real big o' ghetto booty
I really like your kitty kat
And if you let me touch her
I know you're not a bluffer
I'll take you to go see Usher

Make a straight girl out of lezzie…
and this bitch I brought with me she be baggin bitches for me
I got a girl named Kima
and Kima like Christina
baby three dont make a crowd it make a sex scene meaner
I just wanna get between her
turn it over scream her
than its one, two, Im through, see ya

3 is the new 2
Baby, bring about your girlfriend when you come through?
A whole lot of freaky little things we gonna do
If that's your fantasy
Then girl im feeling you

If Pink is the new black, then gay is the new straight. Well, lezzie chic at least, and I don’t mean your bi-curious kiss after a kegger during your senior year of undergrad. Sex sells, and in both underground and mainstream music, the fascination with and sexual conquests of female-on-female possibilities has found a highly profitable male niche in a most un-female friendly genre: hip hop. While its true, hip hop circumvents the blase norm and instead delves into the more glamorous, rough, or intoxicated aspects of life, as of late it has taken an increasingly feminine twist, and caught onto a wave of trendy sexual orientation seeping into conventional pop culture. We shall call it, the Lesbian Effect. It has made its way into movies, magazines, award shows, sitcoms, and yes, now music. With the steady flow of introductions of aspiring female rappers; Diamond, Hedonis Da Amazon, Nola Darling and Tiye Phoenix ( to name a few), the game has formally welcomed outspoken lesbian Nicki Minaj to lead the forefront of a ‘Black Barbie’ revolution. And why not? Nicki is exactly what any mass producing hip hop generator would want: she’s unpredictable, confident, sassy, quick witted and sexually appealing to both men and women. Ok, probably mostly men. Unlike her contemporaries, relaying solely on their actual talent, Nicki and her team of Young Money are quick to point our her bark and her bite for both sides of the fence: “I'm lookin' for a cutie, A real big o' ghetto booty…And if you let me touch her I'll take you to go see Usher”. Her lyrics, whether self-professed or cleverly doctored, hint toward her sexuality yet never cross actually confirming it. Is she gay, bisexual, or simply smart for having us talk about it? Only she knows, yet her persona and appeal was created to dramatize a male-centered imagination come-to-life: a bodacious pit bull in a mini-skirt who spits game as well as a guy. But is into girls. Or maybe both? Listening to her lyrics I'm pressed to wonder, are these her own desires or those of a misogynistic society dictating her increasingly sexualized aura to obtain success? Nicki Minaj – 'Minaj' being a reference to “eating” females a la menage a trios – isnt the first or the last female to use her mystic femme fetal to get what they want. And she in particular isn't the source for this sudden Lesbian Effect. Furthermore, her being gay or not really isn't anyone business in the first place. Perhaps, the actual issue lies in the fact that yet again we have stooped creatively – are we actually to the point of commercializing homosexuality to sell rap albums? Its looking that way. We as a hyper sexualized culture have taken something inherently feminine, lesbianism, and turned it out; it has now become a venue for male conquest and profit based on the backbone of female sexuality. Realistically speaking, a large aspect of hip hop and its assumed lifestyle lies in the wealth and abundance of its females. Women are required to look, act and appeal to an ideal – to an ideology. And this appeal extends past the superficial to ones own sexuality. The Lesbian Effect trickling into hip hop, and oozing throughout pop cultural in general, has taken aspects of the increasing female sexual liberation stemming from the 60's and somewhat morphed it into a rather sense of exploitation. Being a lesbian is nothing, seemingly unless it involes a man in some sort; “I got a girl named Kima/ and Kima like Christina/ baby three dont make a crowd/it makes a sex scene meaner”. Or if a man cane profit from it; “My girl's got a girlfriend/ I just found out/but its alright/as long as I can be with her too”. Rarely, I would simplify to say, is the act and preference of being a lesbian solely a female occupation when glorified in today's society. Nicki and her male counterparts are embracing the idea of selling just another fantasy, and we are all to willing to buy it and play along. Hip hop music, it unfortunetly seems, is simply the latest pawn to the oldest game in the book.