Women in the Mix: A Critical-Pragmatic Study of the Gender Representation in Nigerian Hip-hop Music

Hip-hop music has become a popular trend in Nigeria, as it enjoys a high level of acceptance among the Nigerian youths. Thus, this study examines the representation of female gender in hip-hop music and the messages the music conveyed about female gender; it also unravels the hidden pragmatic meanings behind the content of the music. Nine (9) data from the lyrics of selected hip-hop music were randomly selected and analysed using Mey's (2001) pragmatic act theory. This paper adopted a qualitative approach which is due to the nature of the data that was analysed and the approach that was used in analysing it. Findings revealed a dominant portrayal of slangy expressions suggesting sexual overtones, female as mere edibles, women as sexual stimulants, seductive dance steps, and indecent dressing in the lyrical contents sampled. The paper also revealed that the implicit practs of exposing, seducing, luring and proposing were used in the data to show the role females play as characters in hip-hop music videos. The paper concludes that the use of vulgar expressions in the description of these female characters portrayed them mainly as sex commodities and sex workers, this questions the dignity of the African woman and the virtues she is expected to project to her fellow female folk, home and abroad.