Nas’s Doja Cat Diss Proves Hip Hop Has a Misogynoir Problem
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 21: Doja Cat performs during the TIDAL's 5th Annual TIDAL X Benefit Concert TIDAL X Rock The Vote At Barclays Center - Show at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on October 21, 2019 in New York City. Steven Ferdman/Getty Images for TIDAL /AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==
- Legendary rapper Nas released a diss track against Doja Cat.
- The track, “Ultra Black,” features the lyric “unapologetically Black, opposite of Doja Cat.”
- Nas didn’t have to stoop so low as to diss her — but hip hop has a misogynoir problem.
Nas has dissed Doja Cat.
The legendary rapper has taken to the mic for “Ultra Black,” a purportedly “woke” song which features a shot fired against the controversial rapper.
While we can all agree that the “Mooo!” rapper is problematic, Nas’s open and outward antipathy towards her has its roots in ugly misogynoir.
Despite What Nas Says, Doja Cat Is, In Fact, Black
In his new Hit-Boy produced track, Nas announces that unlike other, less-enlightened rappers, he is in fact “ultra black.”
Peep the track below.
VIDEO: Nas Disses Doja Cat In “Ultra Black”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JjW4I9wrkQ
Now, let’s be clear: there is absolutely nothing wrong with Black pride, and taking pride in Black culture. And, certainly, Nas does just that as he name-checks the likes of Billy Dee Williams, Grace Jones, and Iman.
But even though she has a Jewish-American mother, the artist born Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini has a Black South African father, and thus, she identifies as Black.
So what was the reason for Nas to go after Doja Cat the way he did?
In A Word, Misogynoir
Hip hop, in general, has a problem with its depiction of women — but it has a particular issue with its attacks on Black women. These attacks — dubbed misogynoir , so named because it’s a brand of misogyny that specifically targets Black women — has ugly roots in the American slave system, and is particularly distressing because it upholds the problematic Madonna/whore trope with a far uglier, slave-based flavor.
There is no shortage of Black women who are cultural critics that can explain the misogynoir concept far better than I, and I strongly encourage you to read them to get a better grasp on it.
But what you need to know, for the purposes of this conversation, is that Nas’s attacks on Doja Cat are rooted in exactly that.
There is absolutely no denying that Doja Cat is problematic and annoying — but her race has nothing to do with her personality traits because while she can work on being a better person, she can’t change her race.
If you want to go after her, go after her for one of her bone-headed proclamations — not her race. Because, just like Nas — and whether Nas wants to admit it or not (and he doesn’t) — Doja Cat is, like him, Black.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
