Analysis Of Jojo

Most R&B/Hip-Hop songs by male artist in the early1980’s use affectionate terms to address women as well as lyrics that diverged from the normalized ‘masculine’ characteristics of a man. Among the 10 songs that were analyzed, some of the most common terms that were used to refer to women were “lover”, “baby”, “girl”, and “honey”. Each individual song either used one or two of the affectionate terms when referring women. With the exception of two songs, each song described a relationship a man has with a woman, who happens to be his lover. One of the song exceptions was “Jojo” by Boz Scaggs, where the male character, Jojo, is described as a pimp who has a gentle and soft exterior but would quickly take someone’s life without hesitation. The

For example, in “Can’t We Try” by Teddy Pendergrass, Pendergrass describes himself as a “helpless fool in love”. He also emphasizes his feeling of pain and sorrow in the absence of his female lover. These “gentle and soft” features were demonstrated in 8 of the 10 songs that were analyzed. However, the sudden change of shared male features demonstrated in “Jojo”, reveals a rise of male-dominance and hypermasculinity in the lexicon of male artists. In the song, Jojo performs male-dominance and control over the female prostitute, as her pimp, by “keep[ing] her on the street”. This emphasizes the lack of respect or differing status positions Jojo’s has with the woman. Furthermore, he also maintains his standard role as a provider by “keep[ing] her right”. In other terms, specifically in prostitution, he provides her with the clothes, make-up, food or stimulant she needs to maintain an appealing image for potential paying

Among the 10 songs that were analyzed in 2016, some of the most common terms that were used to refer to women were “baby”, “broads”, “bitches”, “side bitch”, “lil mama”, “baby mama”, “wifey”, “hoe”, “girl”, “lady”, “woman” and “PYT” (Pretty Young Thing). Each individual song used either two or three of the listed terms when referring women. Furthermore, each song analyzed during this period contains lyrics that were directed towards women in positive ways (labeling them as “Queens”) and negative ways (viewing them as sexual objects). In addition, there were also song lyrics that referred to the way the male character perceives himself. One contradictory example is when artists make character comparisons with men who are stronger or more successful than them, while other artists dictate that their character is original and cannot be mirrored. Specifically, in his song “Panda”, Desiigner makes a hypermasculine reference towards himself in the line: “Man I’m the macho like Randy”. Randy Mario Poffo, also known as “Macho Man”, is an American professional wrestler who has been labeled as one of the greatest pro wrestlers in history. In the song “Broccoli” by D.R.A.M., the male artist’s lexicon perpetuates hegemonic masculinity through his demonstration of competitiveness, dominance, assertion of power