50 Cent wants you to be his bitch. Are you convinced? It's okay,
you'll be his girlfriend's bitch too.
The artist's latest single 'Be My Bitch' is a tribute to his
fictional bisexual girlfriend. In the music video (scroll down
to watch) this part is played by singer Brevi. She is featured
seducing another woman, who 50 refers to as his "plaything". The
video culminates in Brevi leading her conquest from bar to bedroom
where they kiss, lingerie-clad, while 50 lays back and enjoys the
show. The lyrics reveal a greater involvement on his part,
detailing that there is in fact "penetration" and the use of a
condom occurring.
How thoughtful.
'Be My Bitch' is a problematic song at best. Its title reeks of
misogyny, its lyrics of veiled homophobia, and its steamy,
femme-on-femme video is cringe-worthy in its transparency. In
short, this is the worst song to frame female sexual
experimentation as straight male titillation since 'I Kissed A
Girl' .
50 Cent is not a celebrated ally of the LGBT community by any
means. Although he has recently come out in support of same-sex
marriage, the artist is renowned for his homophobic views,
previously stating that he isn't "into faggots" and casually
flinging "no homo" around like confetti at a Pride march.
It's interesting to note that 50 Cent's mother was a lesbian, sad
proof that being around a gay person doesn't automatically make you
tolerant. He once told Perez Hilton
[http://perezhilton.com/2012-08-13-perez-hilton-interviews-50-cent],
"When you see two females together, you think, 'Oh, they're just
girlfriends, They're close.' But, with my mom, the male was
missing." I think this quote is very telling; it feeds back into
the politics behind this new single. The idea that a man can be
'missing', that two women need a man involved, is tired and
offensive. 50 Cent's interest in this topic is not motivated by any
kind of respect for the LGBT community, but by a desire to
objectify women. Rather than celebrating the gay community, this
song erases lesbianism and bisexuality as valid sexual identities.
It says that women cannot have relationships to the exclusion of
men. In the song's lyrics, he literally forbids his girlfriend to
sleep with this woman without his presence:
Shwaty wanna play at anytime I'm away it ain't OK
But when I come back you know that's how its going down
We'll be back up in this bitch passing her around
The hip-hop community has made great strides towards LGBT
acceptance in recent history. Frank Ocean has confessed that his
first love was a man, Lil' B has named an album 'I'm Gay' in
support of GLAAD, and rapper Murs has kissed another man in one of
his videos, all for the cause. But there is still a long way to go
before these acts of tolerance become the norm.
'Street King Immortal' will be released in
November.
Watch the video to 'Be My Bitch'
below.
