Hip-hop began in the 1970s in the south Bronx of New York and served a cathartic purpose for the black community. People could explore issues such as the eradication of racism and equality, but since Hip-hop was created, the cathartic use has been abused through the increased use of misogynistic lyrics and music videos. Artists like Ludacris, 50 Cent and Eminem portray women nothing more than “ho’s”, “bitches” and “freaks”. Nothing more than sex objects; and yet, their biggest fan base is adolescents, this is dreadful as neuroscientists have discovered that the teenage brain still undergoes the same radical development as seen in childhood . Teenagers are easily influenced through their formative years ; as they are consuming music videos and lyrics of a sexual nature, the adolescent will not only become desensitized to the misogynistic views; but may also become a misogynist themselves. The teenagers who are passive viewers and are directly affected by what they view, are those who the supporters of the Hypodermic Needle Theory worry about.
The Hypodermic Needle Theory (also known as the magic bullet theory) suggests that viewers are passive and are subliminally accepting a message without considering its faults; this is because as a source (for example, radio) can be the only possible source you could view news from, and you then rely and accept its message. An example of the hypodermic needle theory is “The War of the Worlds” radio panic. In October 1938, there was breaking news on the radio declaring that Martians were invading Earth. It was calculated that 1.7 million viewers believed this information. The frenzy caused an outburst to the society, causing a civil panic – this example proves the theory.
Onika Maraj aka Nicki Minaj is an example of a media product that also proves the hypodermic needle theory of misogynistic views in hip-hop.
Nicki Minaj is an American singer and song-writer of Indian and African descent. She lived with her grandmother in Trinidad until she was 5 and moved to Queens, New York to live with her mother and alcoholic father. She then worked as a waitress to fund her music. After being signed to Young Money Entertainment, Nicki Minaj has become popular in the hip-hop scene with collaborations with Usher, Ludacris and Robin Thicke and also being proclaimed as ‘the savior of female rap’ , but her music topic is the same as any other hip-hop artist. She has collaborated in songs such as Shakin’ It 4 Daddy and Lil Freak and both songs are about women degrading themselves for money and/or for sex with a celebrity; I do not understand why Minaj is being called the ‘savior of female rap’ if she represents women who would gladly demean themselves in order to get what they want. This affects female teenagers as it shows promiscuity negatively, they will feel forced to act in a licentious way and use their assets to get what they want. One of Nicki Minaj self-proclaimed nicknames is ‘Nicki Lewinsky’; she named herself that after the mistress of Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky. Minaj stated that she felt Monica Lewinsky could’ve had more power if she had been smarter in her relationship with Bill Clinton , she no longer calls herself Nicki Lewinsky as she gained many young fans and realized it was inappropriate, as her younger fans would assume infidelity is correct (there have been many rumors that she named herself as Nicki Lewinsky as Monica Lewinsky slept with Bill Clinton – President of United States of America and Minaj had an affair with Lil Wayne – President of Young Money Entertainment). Monica Lewinsky is mainly famous for performing the act of fellatio on the former president and she has been associated with this act ever since. As Nicki calls herself Nicki Lewinsky it also tells her fans that she also performs this. Nicki Minaj has done numerous things to make herself a celebrity; she had undergone cosmetic surgeries several times to look (what she believes) is sexy. She is an eccentric character, but what would persuade a woman to enhance her body so much?
In an Interview with Vibe Magazine, Nicki stated, “When I grew up I saw females doing certain things, and I thought I had to do that exactly. The female rappers of my day spoke about sex a lot… and I thought that to have the success they got; I would have to represent the same thing. When in fact I didn’t have to represent the same thing”, this is the perfect example of the hypodermic needle theory at work. As Nicki Minaj grew up, her inspirations were Foxy Brown and Lil Kim. Nicki Minaj was also a passive watcher, as she watched all her favourite artists perform and talk about women in a degrading way. The affects of this on Nicki was she also became thinking like a woman who had no respect.
Kimberly “Lil Kim” Jones is an American singer-songwriter and rapper who was associated with rapper Notorious B.I.G. The self-proclaimed Queen Bee (short for bitch) has made tracks such as Suck my d***, Shut up b**** and How many licks which is an innuendo of sexual scenarios of Lil Kim having sex with men from different cultures.

How many licks? [Lil' Kim]
I've been a lot of places, seen a lot of faces
Ah hell I even f*** with different races
The extract above has been carefully selected as the description of sex and nudity in the rest of the song is cringe worthy and disgusting – so much so, it borders on offensive. Songs like How Many Licks? and Magic Stick, were the music Nicki Minaj listened to and processed through to her adult life. She has made a track named, Wanna Minaj? which is very similar to How Many Licks? this clearly shows the Hypodermic Needle Theory in action- what young people listen to and like, they then emulate.
Wanna Minaj? [Nicki Minaj]:
You wanna a freaky girl, welcome to Nicki world,
Ni-Ni-Ni-Nicki world, Ni-Ni-Ni-Nicki world…

Sex game kinky, n***** call me pinky
F*** with presidents, I am Nicki Lawintzky
In terms of content, the similarities between the two songs are striking; both women revel in the act of fellatio and pleasuring men forgoing their own self esteem and pleasure at the same time. Subliminally, rap music has shaped her perception of sex and has left her of the impression that women must speak about sex in a provocative way in order to succeed in the rap industry.
I believe there is a cycle of degradation in Hip-hop that affects all the listeners, especially females. It is a cycle that will pass on from generation to generation because teenagers will constantly hear misogynistic lyrics in the media, they will then receive the information into the reptilian fraction of the brain, this section of the brain takes this subliminal message as a command and the teenager becomes a misogynist itself and if the teenager uses music as a cathartic purpose such as Nicki Minaj, they may also pass out misogynistic view and the cycle will continue. The degradation itself also evolves, now, instead of solely having lyrics that are sexist, we also have music videos, female rappers and music video models also known as video vixens.