Date of Award
Winter 1-3-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Jeremy Glick
Second Advisor
Jeffrey Allred
Third Advisor
Janet Neary
Academic Program Adviser
Janet Neary
Abstract
Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar use their latest albums, 4:44 and Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, to address the wake of damage their behaviors have caused. On a personal level each artist apologizes to their wife for infidelities, but along the way they deconstruct performances of masculinity that have dominated popular hip-hop music since the late 1980's. Highlighting the pressure the music industry puts on hip-hop artists to perform a hyper-sexual, hyper-violent masculinity, I argue that the artists join the genre of African-American autobiography to reveal the inauthentic performances of 'realness' in hip-hop. Posturing as representatives of African-American men, Jay-Z and Lamar offer a new humanity that listeners can embody in an attempt to halt the path of generational trauma.
Recommended Citation
McMahon, Leo, "‘Keeping it Real’ Goes Wrong: Deconstruction of Masculinity in the Work of Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar" (2025). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/1288
Included in
Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons, Music Performance Commons
