What will be your reaction, if you ever heard a rap song called “Rape Rap”? Wait, if the name of the song isn’t self explanatory enough for you, I will give you the basic synopsis of the song. In this song, the singer relishes his fantasy/experience of savagely raping a helpless woman. I am hoping that your only possible reaction will be of shock, disgust and utter horror. Yet, such a decadently lavish display of misogyny was not only produced, but has been widely circulated to an international audience since 2006. The credit to this derogatory song goes to none other than the star Punjabi rapper, Yo Yo Honey Singh.
Being Punjabi myself, I have nothing but absolute respect for the ethnic Punjabi music industry. We have the most beautiful songs which can compete with any form of international music in terms of their emotional and spiritual depths. Yet, recent years have seen people’s preference shifting from traditional Punjabi music to Punjabi gangsta rap. Punjabi gangster rap, like its North American father (which it religiously tries to emulate) is a multimillion dollar industry erected entirely upon objectification of women.
The nosedive of Punjabi rap started when countless videos displaying scantily clad women dancing in clubs going crazy over wannabe rappers went unchecked; and has culminated in songs like Main Hun Balatkari (I am a rapist) and Choot (Vagina) having become cult hits. While researching this blog post, I had to read the lyrics to these songs, and trust me I could not go past the first verse. The sheer lewdness and sexual deviance shamed the most misogynistic North American rap song I had ever listened to. What troubled me the most was the fact, that these lyrics came to light only now in the wake of the Delhi gang rape case even though they are in wide circulation since 2006.
This is where the proverbial 'light at the end of the tunnel' enters our story. We have a heroine here. Kalpana Misra, an Indian blogger and activist, started an online campaign against the rapper’s New Year night concert in an up class hotel on Change.org. She managed to garner more than 2600 supporters (men and women) in the first 24 hours. Social media created a powerful ripple effect which resulted in outraged remarks by thousands of people on Twitter. Soon after, massive media coverage followed and the hotel managers had to cancel the show. The campaign even reached the neighboring Pakistan, where Honey Singh was scheduled to perform, and where he enjoys a huge fan base. This episode has sent out a strong message to the Indian Music industry: that from now on they are under close scrutiny; that misogyny and objectification of women are not acceptable; that women have had enough; that rape is rape and sex is sex, and distinction between the two must be clearly understood.
Learning Experience:
I chose to write about this incident because in my opinion, it is a small but meaningful event in the context of development and women rights. In the past, I have conveniently ignored misogynistic descriptions of women in media, even though I loathed them. I created a shell and taught myself to look past magazine covers and ignore vile rap songs, not out of choice but to keep my sanity intact. It’s difficult to be a woman in this world and it’s further difficult to be a woman of color because we face discrimination on multiple levels. Lending out our voice to a cause immediately labels us as feminists (which has a very bad connotation) and even homosexuals (both of which I do not have a problem with personally, but these labels tend to discourage intelligent discourse). Kalpana Misra’s courageous example is inspirational and has taught women like me that we should believe in the power of ripple effects. We shouldn’t be scared of what we are not comfortable with. We should report, campaign and use social media to our advantage. We should be on the lookout for such songs and images which depict us as anything but living, breathing, fellow human beings. We should create awareness not just for women but for our brothers, boyfriends, husbands and sons.
So what do you think about this story? What are your thoughts on Honey Singh and rap music in general (Any type of rap music)? What solutions do you put forth for the reduction of objectification in the rap music industry? Please let me know. Thanks.
