Azealia Banks is a rapper from Harlem, NY who has had her career RUINED because of her refusal to be quiet, prim or proper.
In her 2018 appearance at the Billboard Music Awards, in an interview Bhad Bhabie commented that she was “regretful” of her Dr.Phil appearance, stating that her behavior doesn’t reflect who she truly is as a person. Convenient. It’s hard to not see these statements in a distasteful light. To me, this comes off as “I used the persona to build my platform and now that it no longer serves me any use I will stop.” However Azealia Banks is not allowed the same space in which to essentially clear her past. Azealia is constantly penalized and condemned for her outspokenness, loud, “ghetto” behavior. Because Azealia is a black woman, she is not allowed to navigate and slip in and out of this space as freely as white women are. Bhad Bhabie is not the only example of this, one only has to look as far as other artists such as Iggy Azalea and Miley Cyrus to find similar acts.
With this history set in place I would now like to shift the lens to evaluate what avenues Bhad Bhabie used to reach her status and the stark contrast in these avenues from Black contemporaries, as well as the ways in which society has changed to allow this space for women in general to exist.
From Cardi to SZA to Rihanna, women in music, and Black women in particular, in the past few years have been engaged in a liberation of their image and message. The perfect example is the enigma that is Cardi B. Belcalis Almánzar, more commonly known as Cardi B, was barely more than another member of the Love & Hip Hop cast who stripped as well. However, after signing to Atlantic Records (the same label as Bhad Bhabie), Cardi had her breakthrough hit in 2017 with her single Bodak Yellow. With this single launching one of the most successful careers of this decade, Cardi has not strayed away from her stripping past or toned down her Bronx attitude and demeanor. With events such as the infamous Nicki/Cardi fight during New York Fashion Week and her court appearances, Cardi has not toned any part of her sexuality down.
Cardi is not the only woman to follow this trend of sexual liberation as Artists like SZA and Rihanna both released albums full of unapologetic feminine energy. Rihanna has successful turned her sex appeal into a number 1 album, a lingerie brand, and a multi-million dollar makeup brand. It must be noted that this space for women has not always existed in society and really only became acceptable recently. Society has finally allowed women to be open about their sexuality and women are reclaiming it. This is not to say that these displays of expression have been completely removed from harsh and sexist criticism; however, in the face of this criticism these women still power on, and the world is listening. Happily at that.
What I would like to point out about these instances of feminine freedom is the avenue in which these black women have expressed themselves. Sexually. Each of these women's brands are built on unapologetic self expression of their body and their sexuality. While this is certainly powerful in its own right, this is not the same as Bhad Bhabie. Bhad Bhabie’s brand is and has always been built around rambunctious, disrespectful behavior that has been termed such phrases as “ghetto” and “ratchet”, terms that have historically been coded and used against Black bodies. With the exception of Cardi, neither of these women have these labels attached to their brand because the impact would be much more profound. One only needs to look back to the start of Nicki Minaj’s career and the policing done around her behavior to understand these are not qualities that are commonly praised when found on Black bodies, but somehow find credibility when attached to white women.
Next let’s take a look of another case of a white woman achieving some semblance of fame from behaving ratchet, Whoa Vicky.
After a slew of singles in 2017 including features with acts such as Rich the Kid and Asian Doll, Bhad Bhabie secured even more credibility for herself with the single Gucci Flip Flops released on her 15th birthday, featuring Lil Yachty. In what was effectively a co-sign from arguably one of raps biggest, most profitable names, Lil Yachty told fans that Bhad Bhabie is his “Lil Sis” and that she was “harder than most rappers out.” With this stamp of approval Bhad Bhabie released her debut mixtape “15″ which included even more star-studded features with names like Lil Baby, YG, and Ty Dolla $ign amongst the
roster. With a major label release, Bhad Bhabie was honored with being nominated for a Billboard award for the Best Female Rapper of the Year in a category with the likes of Nicki Minaj and Cardi B while also making history for being the youngest rapper to ever be nominated in the category. Although she did not win, Bhad Bhabie had already turned her 2017 vitality into a viable career by the end of 2018 and announced in 2019 a beauty line endorsement deal with Copycat Beauty worth a whopping $900K. With a hotly anticipated debut album, a snapchat series chronicling her day to day life, Bhad Bhabie has successfully transcended her origin as a mere meme, trading it in for a prolonged career.
Enter Whoa Vicky, another viral Internet personality attempting to turn her 15 seconds into a life long career. Whoa Vicky has also worked to build her brand around being a white girl with “ghetto/ratchet” mannerisms. In fact, the only thing Whoa Vicky is known for is how well her portrayal of a caricature of a black woman is. Lil Tay is another example of this phenomenon. It appears that anyone can be a black woman, or what society deems are traits held by black woman, except black women. This can be highlighted further when placing Bhad Bhabie against the infamous Azealia Banks.
After securing her place in meme culture with her infamous “Cash me outside” tagline, Bhad Bhabie wasted no time securing headlines (and getting banned from Spirit for life in the process) and it would be soon after that we would get the single that would shape a future. The song ‘These Heaux’
was released in August of 2017 and quickly garnered acclaim, going so far as to reach #77 on the Billboard Hot 100, a feat no other 14 year old has ever accomplished in Billboard’s Hot 100 history. This success was not overlooked by record companies and Bhad Bhabie quickly secured a multi-album recording contract with Atlantic Records. This deal would be the catalyst for continued success for Bhad Bhabie.
The media environment we live in today is like nothing ever seen before. Every changing and reinventing itself, media today is obsessed with vitality and a culture that thrives off of meme culture and hot flashes of fame. In an every shifting landscape the question then becomes “How do I turn my 15 seconds into a lifetime career?” Enter Bhad Bhabie. In this blog series I will explore the history of the phenomenon known as Bhad Bhabie and the ways in which her proximity to blackness while being in a white female body, along with shifting societal standards of acceptability have allowed her to turn herself into a highly successful media object.
