Chains & BBLs

Is cosmetic surgery currently hip-hop’s most coveted accessory?

In today’s Full Beat we analyze the growing relationship between hip-hop & cosmetic surgery.

Listen to this playlist, which includes all the songs listed as examples, while you read the essay.

In a slew of recent songs, rappers are bragging about their ability to afford cosmetic surgeries for themselves and/or others. Popular cosmetic surgeons rely on trending rap songs and soundbites to promote their services to their social media following. As a result, I have been thinking a lot about how surgeries, especially the popular and risky BBL, have become so intertwined with hip-hop culture. In “Face Down, A*s Up,” I explored Black women’s erasure from popular discourse about undoing fillers and implants and I considered whether some of them were motivated by capitalism to return to thinner bodies. Here I am concerned with how cosmetic surgery has become the latest expression of material success in hip-hop, especially for men, and what that means for Black women’s bodies?

“I love your natural body, bae, but let's enhance it - Gorgeous (Remix), Tee Grizzley

“I can build a bitch from scratch, eight-figure ni*ga” - Dumb, Moneybagg Yo

“All my bitches got BBLs, all my bitches got butts (Straight up)” - Runnin, 21 Savage

Many male rappers speak positively about these procedures and express interest in women who have them. I am not suggesting that women choose to have plastic surgery to pique men’s interest as this is reductive and infantilizing. However, only a willfully obtuse person would deny that men influence women’s beauty standards (and some women’s interest in cosmetic surgery). Male rappers who brag about paying for plastic surgery, however, engender the commodification of risky procedures that have material consequences on people’s lives. This is dangerous because it obscures the potential risks of complications and implies that the decision/action is determined by the men fronting the bill. At its worst, this trend marks women’s bodies as objects that can be transformed to suit the whims of fickle men.

“Make sure my bitches and my glizzies get makeovers, new BBL” - Yes, You Did, Real Boston Richey

“I paid for BBLs and Birkins” - Broken Road, Kanye West

I half like you, so I went half on your butt shots” - Stay Down, Lil Durk 

In these songs, the BBLs (and other surgeries) are less about the women who have them and more about the men who can afford them. The ability of the male rapper to afford the highest quality surgeries for the women he’s interested in elevates his status among men. In her discussion of rappers and masculinity Mikalah Guyton writes, “Expensive jewelry, customized chains, and designer clothing are common physical representations of financial advancements achieved by Trap rappers. Even lyrical references of costly possessions help reinforce the monetary success of rappers.” So, in the same way that one's ability to purchase expensive goods marks the rapper as “rich” and masculine, so too does his ability to pay for BBLs.

“Yeah, in the city I be buildin' hoes, put butt shots and her titties on” - Backstage Passes,

EST Gee

“Got her a BBL down in DR (DR)” - I Said Me, 2 Chainz

“Say she got some butt shots, told her gon’ and get some hips” - Safe to Say, Yella Beezy

It would be easy to link the increase in discussion of BBLs and other procedures to the massive growth in mainstream female rappers, but as I shared elsewhere nothing about Black women’s beauty culture is uncomplicated. There is obviously a connection between highly visible female rappers discussing their cosmetic procedures with the increase in surgery discourse in public spaces. However, the increase in such discussions, especially about BBLs, began to increase well before the current wave of female rappers began discussing them. Male rappers on the other hand spent the earlier part of the past twenty years disparaging cosmetic surgeries, including butt shots and breast implants. Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj, a primary female rap figure for a decade, spent that time distancing herself from butt-shot rumors.

“I don’t know, man, guess them ass shots wore off, Bitches ain’t poppin’, Google, my ass” - Dance (A$$) (Remix), Nicki Minaj

“Insecure hoes with breast jobs and butt shots, Blaming on us rich niggas sponsoring shit and what not” - Charge It to the Rap Game, Ludacris

“B*tch, I bagged my ni*ga way before the BBL” Latto & Lakeyah Mind Yo Business

Just ten years ago, many celebrities were tight-lipped about having any kind of work done. And rightfully so, as popular media was notoriously vicious towards women’s bodies (and ironically any changes they made to their bodies). While much of the popular discussion about the impact of toxic media culture in the 2000s highlights white women’s experiences Black women and girls were also severely impacted (#JusticeforToccara). As a result, only recently have prominent Black women openly discussed their decisions to have cosmetic procedures. Affordability and public discussion about butt enhancements have evolved a lot in the past decade and have made open discussions about surgery shameless for some. I have shared elsewhere that I believe the increased transparency about cosmetic procedures helps people make safer choices. Male rappers have used Black women’s bodies to assert a vision of masculinity that is largely determined by their access to capital. And, if hip-hop culture undercuts access to the truth about the risks of having cosmetic procedures it must be criticized.