From video vixens like Karrine “Superhead” Steffans and Kat Stacks to VH1’s “Basketball Wives,” the mainstream images of urban women are fiiled with depictions of gold-digging, conniving and sexually rapacious females who will do anything to get fame and money.
There are few who empathize with these women except for veteran Southern rapper, Juvenile. According to Juvenile, we should all think twice before judging these women since they often carry heavy burdens.
“People go through things and we [are] all human so I leave them be,” he says. “Something could have happened to them as a kid. It could be a situation where a woman is sick of dudes or two people in love and it didn’t work out. You don’t know what a person is going though. I just stay out their way and that’s the fine line.”
While Juvenile is content to live and let live there is no denying the public’s insatiable appetite for the juicy gossip that results from these women exposing their celebrity partners. Juvenile says that’s the demand that helps perpetuate these stereotypical images of women.
“What happens with those stories is you don’t hear both sides because who wants to hear the good things about your life? Controversy always sold and some people know how to use that as their advantage. I always look at it like you got to remember there are kids out there and they are easily persuaded. You got to watch what you doing out there,” he says.
That’s quite a statement coming from a man who has come under fire himself for sexually explicit lyrics and images of women in videos for controversial songs like “Back That Azz Up.” With his forthcoming album, Beast Mode, aimed at women, Juvenile defends himself by noting that unlike the often-leaked nude images and sex tapes of alleged “groupies,” he is only reciting lyrics.
“When you actually physically see something, then that’s a whole other ball game. I’m saying the song, not physically doing it where they can see me doing it. Controversy sells and I’m an entertainer. I know how to walk that fine line,” Juvenile says. –souleo
