Pimp

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The pimp (English, actually " pimp ") is a phenomenon of Afro-American pop culture (see also hip-hop ). The pimp uses his financial independence for self-centered stylization of his person in clothing, manners and leisure activities and pursues an aestheticization of all areas of life.

As a verb, the English to pimp also means "pimp, thunder, tune ". The MTV television show Pimp My Ride , which featured cars styled in a flashy pimp style, helped spread the verb.

Features and history of the "pimp" phenomenon

The pimp first appeared as a cultural phenomenon in the 1960s . The civil rights movement had given the Afro-American population in the USA a new self-confidence, but at the same time social differences between black and white were still manifest and opportunities for social advancement were virtually non-existent for blacks. In many cases, socially disadvantaged blacks resorted to semi-illegal or illegal channels in order to achieve financial and social success; Prostitution (cf. bitch ) - and the pimping that goes with it - became an Afro-American phenomenon. The profit generated in this way was often displayed excessively and established a new self-image and self-confidence among blacks. Fur coats, eye-catching jewelry and expensive clothing in eye-catching colors were popular accessories of the pimp and combined with an attitude that oscillated somewhere between extreme machismo and deliberately tuna-like behavior. The pimp lifestyle is always extremely misogynistic. Women are degraded to mere sex objects whose bodies are the only thing that matters. The Blaxploitation films popularized this pimp lifestyle during the 1960s and 1970s .

Pimpin 'had a variety of influences on African American pop music in the years that followed. Particularly noteworthy here is the P-Funk , which ultimately forms the link to hip-hop culture, within which the pimp experienced a revival and finally received its current form.

Westcoast rappers such as Too $ hort and Snoop Dogg perfected the pimp lifestyle in the 1990s and removed it from the original pimp context. In hip-hop culture, the pimp adopted its own slang (“Fo 'Shizzle my Nizzle” for “For sure my nigger ”) and now preferred to devote himself to the hobbies of gambling , marijuana and champagne consumption and its low riders Collection, whereby he mostly financed his lifestyle through a well-endowed record contract and other sources of income - such as porn films . Pink and purple became the pimp's favorite fashion colors.

Known pimps

literature

  • Eithne Quinn: "Who's The Mack?": The Performativity and Politics of the Pimp Figure in Gangsta Rap . In: Journal of American Studies 34: 1, 2000, pp. 115-136.
  • Tricia Rose: The Hip-Hop Wars . Perseus, New York 2008; in particular Chapter 1.8, “There are Bitches and Hoes” , pp. 167–185.
  • Annegret Staiger: “Hoes can be hoed out, players can be played out, but pimp is for life” - The Pimp Phenomenon as Strategy of Identity Formation. In: Symbolic Interaction 28: 3, 2005, pp. 407-428.