Still

Images of women surrounding male rap stars in music videos are as common as the jewelencrusted subject matter of today’s rap lyrics. Females are seen in packs hovering around male rap stars, playing the part of enthusiastic cheerleader or die-hard groupie. Rap music videos sell not only hip-hop culture, but also the very image of its women. They serve as eye candy designed to satisfy an assumed male video audience, affirming critiques of the culture as hyper-masculine and misogynist. “Still” is a series of photographs from contemporary rap music videos. These artworks invite a second look at the hip-hop video vixen, displaying an interest in moments unintended by music video narratives. Some stills reveal agency rather than victimization, while others provide reminders of the narrow representations of women in hip-hop. Still is a series of artworks that address representations of women in contemporary music video. The mediated appearance is a literal appropriation, as the imaging process involved capturing video photographically in real time. Captured frames imply moments unintended by the larger music-video narrative. Compositional choices reduce the depiction of once-dominant male performers to supportive background visuals, if they are represented at all. The images’ focus exclusively on women offers a second look at the socalled music-video vixen. Formerly images based in time, the video characters, now frozen, permit unconventional portraits. Some photographs reveal agency rather than victimization, inviting readings of women’s willing participation in sexualized constructions of identity. Within the feminist critique of hip-hop, is there room to consider women’s embrace of sexually provocative performance forms? Then again, other photographs provide reminders of the narrow representations of women in hip-hop.