Boosie, Black Boys, and Rape Culture

Transcribed is an Intelexual Media series that transcribes past Intelexual Media videos with poor audio. Check out the full series here.

This video was originally published in 2020.

“And if you got a daughter older than 15, I'mma rape her/Take her on the living room floor, right there in front of you/Then ask you seriously, what you wanna do?” - DMX

I know she is a minor and it is illegal, But the bitch is worse than Vanessa Del Rio… And if you decide to call rape, we got the little hooker on tape, now. Tell the fuckin' slut to please hurry up and wear that dress that's tight on her butt, sso I can finger-fuck on the way to the bed -Ice Cube

You can 76 the 69, try 68, Make Raven-Symoné call date rape. - Biggie Smalls talking about the then 9-year old Cosby Show star.

In each of these rap lyrics made by iconic members of the genre, the sexual abuse of a child is normalized. Sadly, there are scores of people who would defend such lyrics as “jokes”, not to be taken seriously. But in an America where 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 4 boys youth are raped or sexually assaulted before turning 18, how do we know who to take seriously, and how do we know who was “just clowning?” Would most of us extend such grace to a white musician making songs about lynching niggers or buck breaking black men? Hell no.

“At eleven Im gonna get my son a Ferrari, at seven I’m got get him head at his birthday party.”- Boosie Badazz rapped in his song Daddy Loves You. The lyric probably slipped by the masses because most people in fact do not listen to the regionally popular southern rapper, also the father of eight children by six women. But his 2017 instagram comment sparked much more outrage. When wishing his then-14-year-old son a Happy Birthday, he said he was gonna give him money and a bad bitch to give him head. Internet debators clashed over what age a “bad bitch” could be, but most people with sense found it appropriately worrisome that a father in the 21st century would be encouraging his son to have any kind of sex. While Boosie backtracked and said he was joking, Boosie fans and bandwagon supporters quickly pointed out, “It aint nobody’s business.” People insisted, like Boosie, that teens have sex. But what kind of parents encourage, or even directly participate in securing sexual partners for their teens? Stick a pin in that. Fast forward to May 2020. Boosie, the proud commander of over 8.8 million instagram followers, hops on live and voluntarily declares how he paid a woman to give oral sex to his pre-teen nephews and sons, and then had the woman give him oral sex. As a matter of fact, I’ll just let Boosie speak with his own words. [Insert Clip]

This can be looked at in a number of ways. As many Boosie apologists mentioned, black boys being assaulted by grown women is quite common. Numerous celebrities have mentioned being assaulted as youth by older women, including R. Kelly from ages 8 to 14 and Chris Brown by a 15-year-old at 8. So for some, Boosie’s actions are viewed as typical of his environment— specifically, Louisiana. One 2019 report mentioned that one in 2000 Louisiana children is the victim of sexual abuse, so it could be possible that Boosie himself has undergone the training he spoke of. Boosie’s actions can also be viewed as potentially incestous, seeing as male perpetrators of family sexual abuse sometimes find a slimy satisfaction in sharing sexual partners with their children. Boosie could even be sexually aroused by the idea of his sons and nephews engaging in sex. You can also view Boosie’s behavior as a defensive and homophobic. Boosie has a long history of denouncing LGBT people. After his release from prison, in 2015 he said “Since I’ve came home ever time I turn on the Tv some gay sh*t on I try to watch love n hip hop (gay sh*t)tried to watch empire (gay sh*t) walked n on a cartoon doing gay sh*t a f*ckin cartoon kids watch tv,” I guess next they go have a f*cking gay channel for kids saying if U want to be gay watch this tune n smh f*cked up world n my eyes ( but everybody don’t agree smh).” Of course, Boosie has gone on to say that porn is more appropriate for his minor sons to see than gay characters in cartoons. Another one of his most infamous rants involved recounting homosexual behavior he saw while incarcerated. 

“I remember I was in Angola I walked down on a nigga riding a nigga dick from the back. I said man I want to go home. "Fucking the s**hit out that man in that bitch. I was like this ain't no place for no human being. When I saw that s**t I was like these n****s sick man. You a nasty MF. Nasty a** n***a. The same n***a walking round that b***h talking like you a gangsta, you a punk.”

So when Boosie says in his 2020 IG live video that he is “training” his nephews and sons by coercing them to have sex with older women and grooming them to view such abuse as normal, we can logically assume that “training” is rooted in a homophobic belief that black manhood is all about being ‘gangster’ and securing pussy.”[Children] shouldn't be turned onto gay cartoon when their mind not even developed yet. What if they like how that cartoon talk? Now, you're forcing them to be gay,“ Boosie also said. Boosie has a problem with kids seeing homosexual representation in media, believing they aren’t developed yet, but has no problem with being an emblem of black male hypersexuality and violence.

Boosie's lyrics, social media, and persona drip with the constant reminder that Boosie believes manhood is about having as many female sexual partners as possible and defending one’s honor among likewise thinkers to the point of violence. I don’t need to remind you that for centuries now these warped views of black masculinity have been rooted in slavery’s dehumanization of black men. They could not own land, they could not hold power, or even be autonomous in their daily lives— but for the sake of masa’s pockets, they were often encouraged to fuck and breed with as many black women as possible. Black people enjoying sex should not spark respectability political lectures about how we’re stereotyped as hypersexual, but this is not that. There is a difference between encouraging your child to safely explore their sexuality when they are emotionally ready, and hiring a pedophile to assault your children so that they are “trained” like buck slaves. So those are the ways we can look at Boosie’s appalling comments. But what the comments cannot be viewed as, is a joke. 

If you are an adult who would NEVER under any circumstances have “sex” with a child, even if said child begs you for the experience or insists they are mature enough to handle it, you understand that Boosie’s actions are wrong. You cannot sweep the abuse of Boosie’s children and relatives under the rug as experiences the children wanted because you know that the adult involved, and anyone who finds an adult willing to do such a thing, is also wrong. 

Boosie’s actions and his defensive supporters are an important facet of rape culture. 

What is rape culture? To incels, misogynists, and rapists-in-training, it is a myth meant to demonize all men. But in reality, rape culture was coined in the 70s, and it embodies all the ways our society normalizes sexual harassment, degradation, non-consensual interactions, and explicit violence. And before anyone tries to tell you otherwise, rape culture impacts not just women, but men too. At least 1 in 6 men are raped or sexually abused as minors, and underreporting likely makes that rate much higher. In the black community, multiple things makes male victims less likely to disclose. For starters, there’s a mistrust of law enforcement. Secondly, as with male sex abuse victims of all races, sexist attitudes, a key part of the foundation of the rape culture pyramid, means that black male youth may feel compelled to consider their abuse enjoyable or a rite of passage into manhood. It’s a common theme in our society that boys can’t be victims because “real” men want sex whenever it is offered. As an ex-lover who was abused by his “hot” Spanish teacher mentioned, he didn’t like what she was doing to him but he didn’t want other guys, some of whom were also being abused, to know that he did not like it. He didn’t want to be the weird f-word. On the flipside, if a black boy is abused by a man, disclosing such abuse can mean homophobic ridicule and confusion about their own sexuality, further dissuading victims from coming forward. 

In 2016, former music executive and political organizer Ronald Savage accused the legendary hip hop star Afrika Bambatta of sexual assault in 1980. Other men who felt shamed into silence came forward to support the allegations. They all told similar tales of the rapper grooming his preteen and teen victims with food, money, and shelter when they couldn’t go home. He showed them porn and would coerce them into receiving oral sex. So remember how I brought up Boosie’s homophobia? He is merely one of millions of black people who are hostile to gay people on the belief that they are members of a government plot to eradicate the black race and/or feminize the black man, and such homophobia was even more potent in the 80s and 90s. Though the sexuality of Afrika Bambatta’s numerous victims are irrelevant, the perception that they may have enjoyed the abuse, coupled with the usual shame and guilt rape survivors feel, stopped them from coming forward. Black male sexual predators can exploit homophobia by shaming their victims into silence meaning homophobia is an important aspect of rape culture.  

When people say something is “rape-y”, at times it can spur accusations of “reaching”. Many people have a narrow view of rape in their head, and the rape culture pyramid may seem confusing at first. If you look at these things individually, you may see them as no big deal. But I’ll do my best to break it down for you, with the pertinent reminder that consent is key to everything.  At the bottom are things that normalize rape in our society’s psyche. Rape jokes make rape seem less threatening and less damaging. When a legitimate sexual predator says something as disgusting as one of the rap lyrics mentioned at the beginning of the episode, it can be shrugged off as a joke, even if it isn’t. Fallback excuses like “boys will be boys” and “that’s just locker room talk” normalize behaviors sprinkled at higher levels of the rape culture pyramid, like cat-calling, whistling, groping, and unsolicited dick pics. These excuses take away the individual responsibility every man has to respect the consent and boundaries other people. For example, how could there be any accountability for a subway train groper if people insist that cat-calling or being sexually aggressive towards women is just “boys being boys?” Unequal pay in the workforce means women are more likely to be economically inferior to men, which can lead to coercive sex at the hands of predatory bosses or landlords. It also makes them more dependent in abusive relationships, especially if children are involved. As for rhetoric like “girls should stay home”, this normalizes the notion that men only commit rape on women who are asking to be abused— and therefore any sexual encounter, no matter how violent or non-consensual, is not actually rape at all. In fact, blaming victims happens to both genders, and further normalizes rape. Slut shaming, based in sexist attitudes that forces women to walk the line between good wifey types or no good whores, is is a recurring theme for rape apologists. If sluts cannot be raped because they are always hungry for sex, then any victim can become a slut to the public if the perpetrator is famous, rich, charming, or important enough.

The next level of the pyramid involves acts of degradation, or actions that are meant to embarrass, scare, or shame people— and because of the normalization tier, are often excused. Receiving unsolicited dick pics, something everyone from seasoned sex workers to pre-teens surfing the web have experienced, can be humiliating, traumatizing, scary, or just gross. Such media is sent without the consent of the receiver. Stalking incidents are common, though isn’t really punished harshly. Stalking hinges on a sense of entitlement that a predator has for his or her victim, and is a violation of a person’s privacy, as well as a direct challenge to their ability to consent to the predator’s company. Stalkers often take non-consensual photos as well. Revenge porn is another example of violating a person’s ability to consent. By sending out nude or explicit media of a person who does not consent to their media being distributed or sold by anyone but themselves, you are further normalizing the act of violating a persons ability to consent. It is just a hop and a skip away from yanking down someone’s panties and raping them. 

The third level is the removal of autonomy, or taking away an individuals' ability to make their own choices and control their own lives. Many of these things when pointed out by anti-rape activists are considered to be examples of “feminist reaching”, because for some people, true sexual assault experiences are violent, or happen between two strangers. Sexual coercion in rape culture means a woman being asked repeatedly for sex until giving in, even if she only gives in out of fear or sheer exhaustion. Noted pro-rape and neo-masculine personality Roosh V has encouraged such coercion in his pick up artist courses. Roosh V has also advocated for making rape legal on private property, allegedly to dissuade women from going home with men they aren’t sure about. Pick-Up Artistry is a major component of the anti-feminist Manosphere, like incels and men’s rights activists. Pick Up Artistry hinges on the ideology of women being stupid, easily manipulated sexual conquests who just need to be convinced they want to have sex with you.

Sexual coercion can also mean a person feeling compelled to have sex for a ride, for emergency money or food, or for other requirements of travel. Homeless women and men are prime targets of such coercion. Sexual coercion also happens to undocumented immigrants or other people dealing with police, as cops have been known to demand sexual favors in exchange for freedom. For example, former Oklahoma City Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw was convicted of eighteen counts of abuse against eight different black women in 2016. He ran background checks on his victims and then blackmailed them into submitting to sex. The women were “imperfect” victims because they had criminal backgrounds, were sex workers, or used drugs. Its likely that he was convicted because his last victim was a 57-year-old woman who was not poor and had no arrest record.

If a person must be convinced to have sex or offered gifts or freedom in their time of desperate need, it is coercion and that person is not truly making an autonomous decision. It’s like the numerous examples of black enslaved women who settled into sexual relationships with their masters— there was no true autonomy, only a desire to survive or deter further abuse. Safe word violations or covert condom removal are violations of consent and autonomy that can happen even between a  loving couple. If someone grants you the ability to have sex with them under a certain condition— a condom being worn, a safe word being employed, etc—, proceeding to have sex and then ignoring those conditions is a form of rape. Condom removal and other contraceptive sabotage can lead to complications that the victim explicitly chose to avoid— like unwanted babies and STDs. In an America where cost of living and black maternal death rates are high, abortion access is being restricted, and hella Americans don’t have adequate healthcare, removing a condom aka stealthing should be considered a dangerous form of assault. No state directly outlaws stealthing. Lastly, threatening or dosing a person with drugs should be 100% obvious. 

So we’ve reached the final level of the pyramid, to the actions that are horrific but can be explained away because of the things in the bottom tiers. Does it all make sense now? Good, because its time for a pop quiz. 

Lil Wayne admitted on camera for a documentary that he was raped at 11 years old by a 14 year old girl. To those who downplay the seriousness of rape, the age difference doesn’t seem that bad. But when Lil Wayne was asked about the incident and whether or not it negatively affected his childhood, he said yes. To make matters worse, the abuse was orchestrated by adult men, including Baby/Birdman, Lil Wayne’s rap mentor and manager. A room full of adult men watched an 11-year-old child get oral sex from another minor. Like Boosie, these men saw the activity as a rite of passage that granted Lil Wayne a pass into manhood. “I was raped, and I ain’t press charges!” Wayne recounted in the documentary to 15-year-old rapper Lil Twist, to the hootings and hollerings of several adult men in the room. “It ain’t cus you a male, it ain’t cus you 15, you’re supposed to cus you’re young money.” Wayne declared between sips of lean. Speaking of lean, Wayne was of course allowed to share in the drugs being passed around by his abusers, something that contributed to his drug addiction later in life. 

Too often rape culture is viewed as an entity that harms girls and women, when it impacts boys and men as well. So. That pop quiz I mentioned. In what ways did Lil Wayne’s experience embody aspects of the rape culture pyramid? Wayne made a joke about his own rape, something that makes he and the people around him comfortable and less ashamed of the notion of a group of grown men watching two minors engage in sexual activity. The entire conversation Wayne has with Lil Twist is locker room banter, and can be written off by rape apologists as something that only men would understand, despite the distinct abuse. The sexist attitude that black boys and men are always horny and down to fuck informed Wayne’s abusers decision that at 11 years old, he should be ready to receive fellatio. But also, because of sexist notions about masculinity, if Wayne rejected the fellatio he could face accusations of being gay. Because the activity was perceived to be a positive rite of passage for Lil Wayne, we can skip the degradation tier.

At 11 years old, Wayne’s desire to fit in and be accepted by father figures like Baby/Birdman made him the perfect victim for sexual coercion. You wanna be like us, right? You wanna be a part of Young Money right? So do what a Young Money man does. Lastly, the fact that the 11-year-old Lil Wayne was likely illegally drinking and smoking with these older and influential men means that he was effectively dosed, or drugged. How did you do? Did you recognize all these aspects of rape culture in Wayne’s experience? Did you also make the connection that homosocial environments are perfect places for rape culture to flourish. It’s not just a bunch of music industry men in the studio facilitating rape culture, but fraternities, sports leagues, military units, and other environments where men thrive off of congratulating each other for being as masculine as possible— whatever that perspective of masculinity may be.

I don’t want you to walk away from this video thinking that rape culture solely exists in a vacuum of black celebs and communities, though surely a troll will attempt to argue that in the comments. Numerous cultures throughout history have had rite of passage sexual experiences for young boys, and studies of brothels in Europe and America have noted boys being brought by a paying relative to be deflowered. This is just proof that rape culture can be found lurking throughout the world, in every industry. But this does not make it anymore natural or consensual. Take Hollywood’s Me Too movement, and the avalanche of accusations against some of the world's most powerful and wealthiest men. Institutions like the Catholic Church and Boy Scouts of America have logged decades of pedophilic abuse. Women in male-dominated fields like firefighting and law enforcement report significant sexual harassment, though it is still underreported. We can even think about current events like COVID-19. Since people are increasingly becoming unemployed, men and women alike have been reporting their landlords trying to coerce them into performing sexual favors to avoid eviction. When you understand how people are stripped of their ability to consent in everyday situations— from leaked sex tapes on porn tubes to being slipped a date rape drug and groped at a club with songs like UOENO or Blurred Lines on their playlists— you understand why people may call things that aren’t brutal rape “rapey”. 

Boosie’s sons and nephews, raised to idealize and emulate the rapper, may have enjoyed their abuse, as several apologists yelled at me on social media, but that doesn’t make the abuse right. They may have even asked for it, but that doesn’t make it right— both the female pedophile and Boosie are wrong. Child sex abuse victims are more likely to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, alcoholism and drug abuse, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, problems in intimate relationships, and underachievement at school and at work. Boosie has proudly noted that he’s also raising his sons to run through women, demonstrating that they will be raised to see women as sexual conquests.

These consequences are issues that many grown men suffer with in silence because they a) don’t connect it to their childhood abuse b) don’t even see their childhood abuse as abuse. In addition to the many men who assured me that my concern for Boosie’s children was misplaced because they themselves had been sexually abused as children and turned out “just fine”, I have known many black men personally who were abused as children and look back on the experience fondly. They are the ones I’ve observed to have the most trust issues and misogyny towards women, to find self-esteem in frequent impersonal sexual encounters, to be majorly homophobic, to make excuses for rapists, and to be questionable father figures. Meanwhile, I’ve found it is the black men who acknowledge what happened to them as children as abuse to be more aware and rejecting of rape culture. While some may have commitment issues with women, they do not find fulfillment in disrespecting the ones their peers might view negatively. 

Boosie’s children and nephews may come to see what happened to them as abuse one day, and maybe they won’t. But what does Boosie’s continued success and support in the black community mean for all black male victims of sexual assault? Not only is he an emphatic embracer of rape culture who voiced support for Bill Cosby, but he is explicitly homophobic. You cannot separate these terrible aspects of his personality from his career because at this point his main career is being an internet personality. His last three albums haven’t even charted, but he has over 8 million instagram subscribers. When Boosie is shouted out or engaged with by other celebrities and influencers, his sickest comments are brushed off as jokes because those comments are normalized. R. Kelly spent years dropping hints about his predilections for teenage girls before he was taken seriously and locked up. How long before Boosie’s clear excitement for the sexual abuse of black boys will be taken seriously? 

The rallying cry will never come from a bitter sex worker feminist government contracted plant like me— instead, it must come from black men who are similarly tired of being told they are hyperseuxal beasts who want sex whenever it is offered, and therefore can’t be victims. It must come from black men who want to see the disgusting women and/or men who abused them held accountable for their crimes. It must come from black men who are willing to no longer support or excuse the predatory behavior of powerful black entertainers, politicians, or athletes because of conspiracy theories about bed wenches and purchases of NBC. It must come from black men who don’t deflect from rape survivors experiences with declarations that less than 2-8% of rape allegations are false. Lastly, it must come from black men who acknowledge that rape culture is a real and dangerous thing capable of doing real harm to future generations of black boys and girls— black men who know that rape culture isn’t just a figment of feminist imaginations. 

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