Sex Sells: Sexual Metaphors in Selected Nigerian Hip-Hop Music

Abstract

Abstract “Sex sells” is a thriving trend in the hip-hop world which certainly applies to contemporary Nigerian hip-hop music, despite the Nigerian socio-cultural restriction. Studies of Nigerian hip-hop music have focused on the effects of sexual content, with a few focused on the strategies used in the discussion of sexual themes. Fewer studies, however, have examined metaphors of sex and body parts in Nigerian hip-hop music. This paper investigates the use of linguistic metaphors of sex in contemporary Nigerian hip-hop music with insights drawn centrally from the theory of embodiment and Odebunmi's approach to context. Sixteen tracks from eight contemporary Nigerian hip-hop artistes, comprising three females and five males, were selected through stratified random sampling. The selection was based on the recurring themes of sex and sexuality and wide acceptability and accessibility of their songs. The study revealed that metaphors of sex did not totally have cultural and religious allegiance, and that sex was cognitively described as a game, food, and music in the music. The work also revealed that sex linguistic metaphors were used freely in the music despite some socio-cultural restrictions. It was concluded that the use of metaphors constituted a powerful tool in understanding the perception of sexuality by youths in contemporary Nigerian hip-hop music.