Donald Trump, Hip-Hop, And The United States Of Victimhood
Trump showed the world that there's support to be found in victimhood’s resentment.
Donald Trump won his base of white supremacists by playing to false notions of whiteness being under attack by people of color who were simply seeking equality. While 47% of white women voted for Trump, his policy explicitly seeks a “better world” for white men at the expense of the rest of us. He continuously galvanizes them with reckless bombast.
White nationalist, male-only organizations like the Proud Boys have been more public than they’ve been in years because of Trump’s dog whistling and commendations that they’re “very fine people.” Trump bonds with these groups on the grounds of a false, shared victimhood. But it’s not just white male supremacists mirroring Trump. His victimhood and knack for spectacle defined the latter 2010’s zeitgeist — and persists into 2020.
The Washington Postreported that Trump had made over 20,000 “false or misleading claims” as of July 2020. He doesn’t deal in facts. He merely concocts his own “truths,” and uses tweetstorms and other bombast to frame his opposition as the true liars seeking to take him down. He and his supporters exemplify that “truth” is a matter of perspective.
That’s an adage many people have subscribed to across all walks of life, including the entertainment industry. Crisis management groups are likely culling from the Trump strategy these days. Maintaining a career after a misdeed isn’t about contrition, accountability, or begging for a second chance. it’s all about pleading to the sensibilities of the group most likely to believe your lie. More often than not for entertainers, the support comes from male fans who are desperate to cling to anti-woman pathology in lieu of acknowledging patriarchy’s flaws.
It’s in the Trump era where R. Kelly recorded a 19-minute pity party deflecting from his child abuse, where Tekashi admitted to beating his girlfriend while framing himself a victim of betrayal, where Talib Kweli continues to frame himself as a valiant hero while harassing Maya Moody, and where Tory Lanez has called the hoard of media who believe Megan The Stallion “a smear campaign.” Some of these campaigns worked better than others, but they all serve to show the next male celebrity who finds himself in trouble that instead of apologizing for victimizing, he should play the real victim. There’s support to be found in victimhood’s resentment.
Tory Lanez took to his Instagram Story last week with a montage of articles condemning him asking “who paid you?,” framing the pieces as a “smear campaign” and ironically noting, “I still have love for each and every one of you who continue to choose money over truth” — even if he did the exact same thing with his Daystar album. He had the gall not just to release the denial album which negated Megan’s claims that he shot her, but to take a moral high ground as if he was the person shot that night. That kind of audacity can only be flirted with in a country taking where someone prominent has already employed the same tactics — like the President.
The project’s 47.7 million streams indicate that there were plenty of people who resonated with him — they weren’t all curiosity listens. Music fans thought he “was done” after Megan alleged he was the shooter, but he’s managed to frame himself as the aggrieved to Black men sharing the same pathology as rapper Cash Talk, who opined, “We don't know what the hell happen in that car! Y'all know females be tripping and shit!!!”
Complex posted a brief tweet thread about recent accusations against Tory, including “Tory Lanez's team reportedly impersonated members of Meg’s label and sent emails to "campaign" for Tory” and “Tory Lanez's team reportedly created fake texts between Tory and Megan Thee Stallion to send to media outlets.” Despite how gross and too-specific-to-be-false the claims sounded, one Twitter account surmised that, “I swear @Complex running the biggest smear campaign on Tory Lanez. It’s so sad to see black media accounts blackballing a brother,” sounding exactly like a Bill Cosby apologist — or a Trump supporter condemning “the left.” With Black men who refuse to condemn a fellow Black man’s violence in his corner, Tory will likely sustain a semblance of a career. Like Trump, he can now thank hate for fueling his platform.
Another artist claiming to be done wrong by the industry is Tekashi 6ix9ine, who’s bluster has only been outdone by Trump himself (who he has said he’d vote for). The Brooklyn rapper’s TattleTales album woefully undershot expectations last month. In May, he had called out Billboard as “corrupt” when his ‘GOOBA” single didn’t reach number one. His fight against the industry continued in September, with him claiming his album had been “completely blacklisted” by the industry and blustering “WHEN THE INDUSTRY KNOWS THAT YOU ARE A MONSTER AND YOU CANT BE STOPPED, THEY MAKE SURE THEY DO EVERYTHING IN THERE POWER TO MAKE YOU LOSE.”
That complaint came after TattleTales wasn’t playlisted or advertised on Spotify and Apple Music. His false victimhood ignores that he was convicted of forcibly touching a 13-year-old girl, recently admitted to hitting his ex-girlfriend, and is unapologetic about helping put numerous Nine Trey Bloods in jail — because of the alleged misdeeds of his ex-manager Shottie. He also trivialized the deaths of Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke, and LIl Durk’s cousin Nuski while promoting his album. Any one of those reasons should have been enough for DSPs to not want to support him. But he somehow still has fans who follow his “me-against-the-industry” crusade, and look the other way on his abuses.
6ix9ine was attempting to get on any media platform he could during his recent media cycle, including Gillie The King and Joe Budden’s popular podcasts. There’s much to be said about Budden, but he was 100% right when he deduced that 6ix9ine was merely looking “for a co-sign” to employ his victim narrative. He wanted Budden and Gillie to be his Fox News and Breitbart, blindly supporting his spin. His victimhood tour hasn’t worked out well for him though, which is more of a statement about snitching than mistreating women.
Trump perfected the art of galvanizing hate in the digital media age. He knows how to play to the pathology of an oppressive group, and say the right things to make them feel like he understands they’re oppressed — even if he’s their actual oppressor. He knows how to make accountability seem like a smear campaign. He’s proof that truth is relative to people too comfortable living a lie. Today, even the most grotesque actions can be talked away as long as there are supporters who see themselves as victimized by the aggrieved identity. We see this most consequently in the political arena, but the trend is dominating pop culture. Even at a time when the pitfalls of patriarchy are becoming bigger talking points, there are enough men resentful of the idea that they’ll freely allow themselves to be manipulated just so there’s a famous face who shares their victimhood. Tory and 6ix9ine are just two artists who saw Trump’s blueprint and learned from the best — for the worst.
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Venmo: Andre-Gee
Thank god you see this bullshit too.
A couple questions:
1 - what are actual times men have been lied on?
2 - why is denial such a strong reason to hold on to misogyny?
3 - u heard of LuLu Be? If so, could you write about her? (Pls do.)