What do you mean? — Inês Barbosa da Costa

WHAT DO
YOU MEAN?

Role: Concept, Illustration, Animation

Client: Self-Initiated

Year: 2020

What do you mean?! is a collection of figurative prints exploring topics such as gender, race and misogyny in hip hop music lyrics. The illustrations transmit an ambience of confusion and resentment through the character and the type play.

I found particularly interesting how Jay Z on Girls, Girls, Girls (2001), decides to objectify women by stereotyping them according to their race, shape and size. Specially how he chooses to describe his “African chick” in a tribal manner by calling her “Miss Fufu” and describing her wear as “primitive”.
The comparison he makes to the film Coming to America by referencing “(...) Eddy Murphy on her skull (...) “also highlights the dynamic on how media chooses to portray lighter skin vs darker skin women. Favouriting the lighter skin complexion by portraying her as “soft”, “exotic”and “well mannered “ vs the darker skin complexion as “untameable” “problematic” and “undesirable”.