Rap Music and the decline of Strip Clubs.
nickifree
Texas
Is it a coincidence that the decline of strip clubs and the rise of rap music are both simultaneous occurrences. I believe the evidence validates a strong correlation between the two. I believe that popular culture is the overwhelming influence at play in the quality of the dancers available in strip clubs. And here is why I think so.
In the 1980's the greatest musical and cultural influence on strip clubs was the videos created by popular heavy metal hair bands of the'80s. In many of those videos strippers were in those videos and they were top of the line big bosom (usually enhanced) gorgeous hot women.
So the take away here (culturally) was that to be a stripper you had to have a nice tight bod and have a beautiful face to go along with it. Now remember, I am talking the 19880's and heavy metal hair bands.
Now let's go forward by about 20 years or so. Heavy metal hair bands are laughfully outdated. And Now , rap videos are king. But now let's look at the women in those videos. They are usually black (sometimes Hispanic) and for the most part all you see is there ass shaking in front of the cameras. So now the cultural message is to emulate the booty shaking ass rap videos these girls see and bring them into the local strip clubs.
My point to you is that the 80s videos with white blonde stripper with big breast is hightly more appealing than a big black booty . But today's strippers (even white strippers) seem to think that the booty shaking and thug rap is the way to $$$$$$.
In the 1980's the greatest musical and cultural influence on strip clubs was the videos created by popular heavy metal hair bands of the'80s. In many of those videos strippers were in those videos and they were top of the line big bosom (usually enhanced) gorgeous hot women.
So the take away here (culturally) was that to be a stripper you had to have a nice tight bod and have a beautiful face to go along with it. Now remember, I am talking the 19880's and heavy metal hair bands.
Now let's go forward by about 20 years or so. Heavy metal hair bands are laughfully outdated. And Now , rap videos are king. But now let's look at the women in those videos. They are usually black (sometimes Hispanic) and for the most part all you see is there ass shaking in front of the cameras. So now the cultural message is to emulate the booty shaking ass rap videos these girls see and bring them into the local strip clubs.
My point to you is that the 80s videos with white blonde stripper with big breast is hightly more appealing than a big black booty . But today's strippers (even white strippers) seem to think that the booty shaking and thug rap is the way to $$$$$$.
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43 comments
I also prefer rap music over heavy metal, & I think is much more fitting for strip club, & rap music is largely constructed around such things as strippers.
But that's just personal preference, we all have it.
Nope. I think rap has made the idea that pimping and whore'ing are no big deal. It's great! And why exactly do you call the changes a "decline", anyway?
"My point to you is that the 80s videos with white blonde stripper with big breast is hightly more appealing than a big black booty."
This is also my preference, but it is a personal preference. While I love busty blondes, others love big black booty. The last time I looked (last Friday), I could still find plenty of blondes with big breasts in strip clubs, and I don't care that other guys want something different. Can't we all get along?
Ok, having said that, let's apply the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) to the strip club industry. I don't think it's a stretch to say that 20% of the customers spend 80% of the m
ney. Sure, there are a lot of guys in the club late, but are they spending money? Not from what I've seen. The truly big money comes from guys 40 to 60. So why not cater to the best customers?
Whether it's the dancers or the DJ's that pick the music, they're picking music of their on preference. What other business operates by what the employee, not the customer, wants. If my waste management company felt that, I wouldnt get my garbage picked up this week.
Just another sign the SC industry operates with a fucked business model.
And this topic is bullshit because in the last paragraph you state that one thing is attractive and the other is not when that's just a matter of PERSONAL PREFERNCE!!!
Very good point, George. Perhaps the OP should have stated why he thinks strip clubs are in decline before pointing out the reason behind it.
If one looks at "mileage" in clubs - they're certainly not in decline.
If one looks at the quality of the dancers - well, I think we have established that is purely a personal preference, so overall it may moy have not declined.
I can only speak for the handful of clubs in Michigan I regularly go to, but attendance has most definitely declined dramatically over the past few years. And from I've heard from veteran dancers (so question the validity?)their incomes have been slashed by a huge amount.
What's to blame? I can't say. It could be the culture created by rap music as the OP says, or it could just be the economy. Michigan was especially hard hit by the recession and is still in recovery. So I don't know what it's like elsewhere. But I do know dancers that used to make $800 to $1000 on a Friday or Saturday night now struggle to bring home $150.
So if dancer income being down indicates clubs are in decline - then yes, it appears to be so. But the causes are many. The economy and girls doing more OTC are certainly some reasons, and maybe, just maybe, the point the OP makes does contribute.
An old ATF used to regularly dance to Nas, otherwise I might be clueless. LOL.
Another point I want to make, is that I think customers want to hear music they are familiar with. Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison might be turning over in their grave hearing me say this, but I actually really like some rap and hip hop music. But it's the songs I've heard before and come to recognize and enjoy. I mean I love, "Bring it Back" (Travis Porter) almost as much as I like Black Sabbath's "Paranoid".
But I get the fact the girls are in the club every night and get really tired of playing the same old songs over and over again. They want to dance to new, fresh music. So it's hard to please us both.
I was in the club the other night...it was late, so it was filled with young guys (and women). Much to my surprise, the DJ plays, "You Gotta Fight for Right to Party" by the Beastie Boys. It's one of my all-time favorites, yet I'm thinking, these kids won't have a clue what this song is. The truth is, during that song, there was more energy in the club than I witnessed the whole night. Kids were out of their seats, dancing with the song, singing along with the lyrics. I loved it. So what's wrong with some older music?
EXACTLY! I don't get why this guy is SO obsessed with what type of music is played in a strip club.
If you hate don't like rap music, that's fine, that's your personal preference. But that's not the point.
nickifree, you don't see to understand WHY rap music is frequently played in a strip club. The reason why is because a strip club, in a way, is sort of a party type atmosphere. Therefore, it's APPROPRIATE for that type of music to be played. Strip clubs just play a bunch of pop, rap songs with catchy beats. They don't play anything with substance.
It's very similar to when you go to a house party. Rap music is frequently played at those too. Why? Because it's APPROPRIATE for that type of event.
while it's beneficial to us as customers that patronize the high mileage clubs, it causes the other clubs to suffer, and even more girls that don't offer high mileage to quit the business.
this is a culture thing, brought on by the attitude and behavior expressed in hip-hop. it's not about race because a lot of the white dancers are either dating a rapper wannabe, or are tolerant enough to remain. the tolerant though, are out-numbered by the hip-hop requests to the dj for their stage sets, and the once predominantly white clubs are overtaken by the ghetto culture and element.
In Atlanta, this happened at The Goldrush.
The irony is that the black girls that came to work at The Goldrush didn't want to work at a black club like The Onyx because of the poor attitudes of the black clientele. The white clientele left The Goldrush because of the endless droning on of the hip-hop and was replaced with black clientele even more thuggish than Onyx could ever imagine.
as I said. it's a culture thing. we now have words in our vocabulary like "baby daddy", stacks, bands, etc. not to mention that every rapper thinks he needs a stripper girlfriend as a status symbol now because of T-Payne's "I'm in love with a stripper".
still undecided about a decline of Strip Clubs?
consider this:
why are there pat-downs and metal detectors at most strip clubs now? why are 80% of the dancers single moms now as opposed to around 30% in the late 70s thru the 80s?
why are there more pimps hanging out in the strip clubs now?
why doesn't anyone in Atlanta want to go to Shooter's Alley anymore, or hang out at Follies at night?
Hip-Hop/Rap received its early financing through drug dealers and illicit activities. why do you think Tupac and Biggie had such violent ends? Surely rapping wasn't the motive to gunning down two young men.
At least not then.
let's consider rap lyrics now versus metal lyrics from the 80s/90s
Bon Jovi
Shot thru the heart, and you're to blame, you give love a bad name.
Juicy J
All the girls poppin' pussy, i'm just poppin' bands.
It is the rap culture- violent, criminal, cruel, heartless, selfish misogynistic, racist and homophobic- that I blame for much of the decline.
I also don't believe that its simply a matter of the economy. The economy was just as bad, if not worse, in the early to mid 90's. So no it's not the economy- it's the attitude.
you hit the nail on the head!
Certain areas may have suffered temporary setbacks, but overall, I don't see much evidence for your alleged "decline".
Times change but people often don’t; for better or worse.
Most folks feel the generation when they grew up was better than the current generation be it terms of music or society in general.
In the 50s, Rock n Roll was looked down upon. Elvis Presley at first would either not be shown on TV or would be shown from the waist up b/c of his subjective movements/dancing.
In the 60s, the hippies were looked down upon.
In the 70s, the long haired rockers were often seen as douchebags.
In the 80s, the hair bands were seen as promiscuous and druggies.
Now it’s hip hop’s turn.
20 years from now, the hip hopers may be saying, man in my day … but today it sucks b/c ….
This sort of thing seems to happen w/ every generation.
Old fart.
I'm coming back to work in about three more weeks, and I wish I knew how Nikifree looks so I could see the look on his face when he sees me on stage. I'm not blond nor petite; I'm the complete opposite, for I'm brunette. I have medium boobs: as in, large in size (currently 36F, previously 36D)but they look just right for my amazon/linebacker physique. I wanna see him running out of the door once I set foot on stage; that would be the funniest thing since the time I had a 1/2 hour CR with some tiny Indian dude who was like half my size.
They either treat the girls or customers or both so poorly they stop showing up.
I don't mind rap or hiphop. It isn't my favorite but I like some. The music that kills me is country. I can't stand it. I think country themed strip clubs are in decline! Good riddance!!!
It's not about what size ass or what color that ass is. It is the idea of what you think about the person's character. The emphasis I placed on "big black booties" is that American society does not view black female bodies the same way they view white female bodies.
Rap/hip hop videos celebrate black females, but the underlying culture (rap culture) is repugnant. So for many men the representation of black bodies becomes repugnant as well.
It is the overall association with rap that does a disservice to the sexuality that strippers of trying to sell. You can have a nice booty. But tying it to the culture that rap represents is a very big turn off for the majority of male customers in strip clubs. Of course, clubs that cater to this is a different story. But more mainstream clubs with find rap/hip hop dancers unsatisfactory.
Stop trying to sell us something we don't won't.
And you just switched your argument from simple dance moves from BET to personalities and just general view of women. Trust me, your a small sum of people who find the stereotypical black girl look repugnant
Is this a fact?
I'm not gonna keep saying the same thing over and over in regards to the SC music, but I will say Heavy Metal sounded like crap too to people in the 80's. But, this isn't about the quality of music, just the quality of dancers, right?
"I believe that popular culture is the overwhelming influence at play in the quality of the dancers available in strip clubs."
I doubt all the dancers back in the 80's were hot, just like not all the dancers today are any worse looking than the hot ones from the 80's. Some areas have there high spots; some low. Just like it probably was back then.
That applies to the music as well. Not all rap music is negative shit, just like not all heavy metal was power ballads and fucking girls, girls, girls.
"It is the rap culture- violent, criminal, cruel, heartless, selfish, misogynistic, racist and homophobic- that I blame for much of the decline."
Yeah, cause none of that was going on in Heavy Metal.
Heavy Metal had a whole generation living by the words "Sex, Drugs, and Rock-n-Roll!" and they weren't talking about a little marijuana when they said drugs.
Rap doesn't have anyone OD'ing on coke in the middle of the night on Sunset Blvd. People do coke now because they just want to. In the 80's it was because "Sex, Drugs & Rock-n-Roll" was the motto.
Gene Simmons slept with damn near 5,000 women.
A little more contemporary: Marilyn Manson.
Ozzy Osbourne didn't influence anyone.
Metallica doesn't make anyone wanna fuck shit up.
Don't blame the music, man. Just like you reached down for those Bon Jovi lyrics, it would be nothing to find some good rap lyrics.
She thought it was funny. I thought it was sad.
Sad? I think it is more a sickness. A moral one, not a medical one.
Fuck the dancers and their rap music. I'm takin' the DJ into the VIP right now.