The Whisper Song Analysis
In 2005, the Ying Yang Twins released “one of the greatest rap songs about sex”, titled “Wait (The Whisper Song)”. This song hit “No. 3 on Billboard's R&B/hip-hop singles chart, is up for best rap performance by a duo or a group” (Ollison 2006); however, was unabashedly misogynistic. This song received incredible praise for its brilliant use of “sexy whispering”. This song apparently needs special recognition for being “simultaneously ratchet and romantic. The words might be foul, but the Twins' presentation would make Barry White proud” (Gonzales 2013). We observe that the video and audio simultaneously work together to actively reinforce and perpetuate the preconceived stereotypes of black males in the media and women as victims or sexual objects. “Wait” re-secures hegemonic masculinity viewing males as having power-over and females as being submissive. Throughout this essay I will present a summary of the video along with its analysis, I will then present the many different responses stemming from the music video, and finally I will explain how the video actively reinforces
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He finds it ridiculous how one could miss the frequent and clear misogynistic lyrics. In the article “As women suffer to the beat”, interviewer Reed Baker (a New York-based hip-hop record producer and chief executive of Sophist Productions) asks Nicole Marzan, about her thoughts on the catchy song. She says, “No matter the club I went to last year, an upscale joint or a hole in the wall, women in the place flocked to the floor whenever "Gold Digger" or "Wait" boomed through the speakers”. Baker responds by asking, “How do you expect the media or anybody else to get upset about these songs when the women don’t?”. She hesitates, then says, “Women -- the women I know -- concentrate on the hooks and the beats, anyway. There's a general unawareness of the lyrics.” (Ollison
He finds it ridiculous how one could miss the frequent and clear misogynistic lyrics. In the article “As women suffer to the beat”, interviewer Reed Baker (a New York-based hip-hop record producer and chief executive of Sophist Productions) asks Nicole Marzan, about her thoughts on the catchy song. She says, “No matter the club I went to last year, an upscale joint or a hole in the wall, women in the place flocked to the floor whenever "Gold Digger" or "Wait" boomed through the speakers”. Baker responds by asking, “How do you expect the media or anybody else to get upset about these songs when the women don’t?”. She hesitates, then says, “Women -- the women I know -- concentrate on the hooks and the beats, anyway. There's a general unawareness of the lyrics.” (Ollison