Pleasure Capitalism: Black Women's Sexual Agency and Economic Resistance in Hip-Hop Through Kendrick Lamar's Lens

Abstract: Black women rappers (BWRs) increasingly foreground themes of sexuality and economic empowerment which directly challenge patriarchal norms in hip-hop culture. Drawing from semi-structured interviews with 20 Black women listeners conducted in 2021, this study investigates how they interpret and engage with sexual-economic scripts in BWRs' lyrics. Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl 2025 LIX halftime performance serves as an analytical lens to explore these listeners' resistance strategies within capitalist systems. Thematic analysis yields four key themes: recognizing transactional relationship dynamics, empowerment through sexual and economic agency, negotiating personal boundaries, and navigating tensions between material dependence and independence. These findings support the introduction of " pleasure capitalism ," a theoretical framework describing how Black women strategically leverage their sexual agency within racialized capitalist structures as forms of empowerment and resistance. This research contributes to broader dialogues on race, sexuality, and economic justice.