FEATURE:
He’s a Man
IN THIS PHOTO: Bob Vylan
Highlighting Ideals of Masculinity and Calling Out Toxicity in Music
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ONE of my favourite songs of the year…
PHOTO CREDIT: Mustafa ezz/Pexels
comes from the duo Bob Vylan. He’s a Man is taken from their upcoming album, Humble As the Sun. One reason why the song resonated was because of its messages. Some of the lyrics seem to point towards modern masculinity or a particular type of man. Lines such as “Pinch a cheeky bottom, says there's never harm in looking” suggests that, today, there are men who think it is okay to be obnoxious and abusive. They are a man. That is what men do. It is a savage and sharp song that is pulsating and timely. It got me thinking about Bob Vylan in general, though also whether masculinity and ideas of manhood are discussed through music much. I think groups like IDLES and Sleaford Mods have addressed it in the past. With so many cases of sexual assault and abuse from men inside music and out, there is a need really to call that out but also define what modern masculinity and manhood should be about. There are still so many who are violent and antisocial men who thinks that is how they behave. Many idolising the wrong people. In an age of Andrew Tates, what role can music take in steering so many impressionable young men away from the sort of misogyny and hatred that you get towards women? He’s a Man might highlight a particularly bleak or extreme form of bloke, the lyrics mix the raw and funny (“All these rules, things he just can't say, he just can't understand them (Uh uh)/Misses the days when he could count on Clarkson, May and Hammond/Now it's only mediocre gear that he can get his hands on (Wahey)”).
Even though Bob Vylan are speaking about politics and other subjects through Humble As the Sun, is it their latest single which has grabbed me. That notion of what it is to be a man. Turn everything up. Conform to ideals and age-old and dated notions of what masculinity is. Bobby and Bobbie of Bob Vylan are forging their own path. They know how important it is to address social and political topics. They explored more with Ticketmaster recently:
“Your sound darts between rap, rock, punk and grime, but ultimately seems defined by political and social commentary. When it comes to lyric writing, where do you find your inspiration?
Bobby: I always think of the lyrics as being rap or grime lyrics, it just so happens that the production leans more towards a punk style. When the two come together, they marry well.
Punk lyrics tend to be quite simple, which is very effective sometimes. We use that, because sometimes you need something simple, but we also want to explore these topics in greater detail. I think grime and rap lends itself to a wider exploration of a subject than punk music does, in terms of lyric writing. You hear more clever wordplay in rap music than you hear in punk music because punk has always focused on the feel of the music, rather than what the lyrics are. In rap and grime, it’s all about the lyrics. That is what the scene has been built on. It has a focus on the MC, whereas punk has a focus on the band.
Naturally some of Bob Vylan’s music is quite divisive. By commenting on Britain’s cultural, economic and political issues, do you think it’s important that people can learn from your music even if they don’t initially agree with you?
Bobby: Whether or not it’s important, I personally am not sure. Part of me thinks that you can create whatever you want. If you want to write songs about getting drunk at the pub with your friends, then you can write that. I don’t necessarily think that because you have this ability to write songs, you should talk about social issues.
But it’s what comes natural to us, so we do it. Outside of the music, we’re aware of these issues that we face. We’ve grown up facing them, so I think for us, it would feel like we were doing a disservice to ourselves if we didn’t talk about these things. It’s a case of ‘know better, do better’.
Bobbie: I also don’t know that it’s necessarily important that this stuff is always conveyed through the art. What is important is that with the platform that comes with the art, you use that to talk about these things. The art itself can be whatever you want it to be.
Bobby: We can write these songs all day long, but we still might not have the same impact as somebody like Ed Sheeran, who doesn’t even write political songs. He uses his platform to get up and say something in parliament, and that’s his form of artistic activism. We could write a song about a topic, but he might have more of an impact on changing people’s views on that certain issue because he has a much bigger platform”.
This is not a new conversation. Men have been challenging and redefining what manhood is for years now. This 2016 article name-checks artists like Hayden Thorpe. I want to briefly quote from this 2019 Elephant article about how music and masculinity got a makeover:
“The Lover & Fighter
The most brilliant musical highlights of recent times have seen artists harness “masculinity” in thrillingly innovative ways. British singer-songwriter/guitarist Anna Calvi’s exquisite third album Hunter has summoned both an elemental force and a fearless vulnerability in its tracks (and exhilarating accompanying videos) including “As a Man” and “Don’t Beat the Girl Out of My Boy”. French singer-songwriter/dancer Christine and the Queens (aka Heloise Letissier) restyled herself as a boyish heart-throb on her potent and playful second album, Chris.
“The most brilliant musical highlights of recent times have seen artists harness ‘masculinity’ in thrillingly innovative ways”
“I wanted to express a sense of liberty and freedom on Hunter, because the album is wilder and more visceral,” explains the soft-spoken, sharp-witted Calvi. “I didn’t want to be so ‘perfect-looking’. As a woman, you’re told that your biggest power comes from what you present visually; I think with men, it’s considered more about what they do—but the power of a flesh-and-blood woman is rarely represented when it’s men telling the stories.”
Growing up, Calvi recalls sensing a “subliminal message” when she discovered the work of punk poetess, and Robert Mapplethorpe muse, Patti Smith (“This was a real woman who’s not afraid to express sexuality about desire and wanting, and not just receiving”). When Calvi later emerged with her self-titled 2011 debut, she earned serious acclaim, yet still found herself pushing aside crass interview questions (“How does it feel to play a phallic symbol?”).
Calvi is a fiery presence in her latest videos and mentions that she worked with choreographer Aaron Sillis to create a heightened sense of physical freedom. However, she does not appear in the stand-out visuals for Hunter’s title track; in this intensely tender film (directed by Matt Lambert), the focal points are two non-binary performers.
“Matt [Lambert] and I were talking about how from a queer perspective, exploring your body and pleasure is almost an act of defiance, because we grow up in a society where presenting your natural urge is shameful,” says Calvi. In “Hunter”, love genuinely conquers all; the elegant strength of these expressions also contrasts boldly with the overblown, gung-ho machismo that still looms in the mainstream:
“Donald Trump is the extreme of the toxic, perverted caricature of masculinity,” says Calvi, although she adds: “It feels like the last gasp of this kind of trope: that male-centric power could save us, even though it couldn’t be more unsafe for the world. It’s funny that it co-exists simultaneously with more rounded depictions of men in music; acts like Years and Years [fronted by vocalist Olly Alexander] show that strength doesn’t have to be macho”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Shania Twain joined Harry Styles onstage at Coachella in 2022 for a duet of her hit, Man, I Feel Like a Woman/PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Artists such as Harry Styles are redefining masculinity and modern views. Even though there has been evolution and change through the years, we are living at a time when a lot of hatred, abuse and discrimination is still present. Every major conflict and war happening now is being conducted by men. So many cases of domestic and sexual abuse. Random acts of violence. Even disruption and cases of verbal abuse, the (vast) vast majority of it is from men. As The Guardian wrote this year, it is the extremes of masculinity that make it toxic, not masculinity itself. I guess one problem is that many male artists are caught between not wanting to project harmful and alpha-male stereotypes and not be accused of pandering or being insincere. Last year, The New York Times discussed this balance and risk. One faced by artists like Harry Styles and Jack Harlow:
“But there’s also an increasingly fine line between allyship and pandering, one that fans aren’t shy about calling out online. Styles and Bad Bunny have been accused of the very contemporary crime of “queerbaiting,” or cultivating a faux mystique around one’s sexuality to appeal to an L.G.B.T.Q. fan base. To overemphasize straightness and alpha-male stereotypes, though, presents its own risks, especially in a post-MeToo moment. What’s a man to do?
Harlow, the 24-year-old Kentucky-born rapper, spent 2022 trying to figure it out. A technically dexterous rapper with an easy charisma and a head of Shirley Temple ringlets, Harlow is known for making artistic choices that spotlight his skills and convey his seriousness as an MC. He’s also cultivated a persona as an irrepressible flirt with a particular attraction to Black women. He famously shot his shot with Saweetie on the BET Awards red carpet, repeatedly popped into Doja Cat’s Instagram live broadcasts and even parodied his reputation during a star-turning “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig, when he played himself in a skit that imagined him seducing Whoopi Goldberg on the set of “The View”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Jack Harlow/PHOTO CREDIT: Urban Wyatt
I have been thinking about masculinity and how, this year, so much of the minor and major distress and controversy we have seen this year has been from men. Whether affecting the global stage or the music industry, there is still a lot of toxic masculinity and violence. So many who feel like they are entitled and immune from repercussions and justice. More who are insensitive and irrational. The music industry can do a lot when it comes to artists redefining masculinity and manhood. That this idea of the alpha-male is desirable. That there needs to be a change in attitudes. Men need to do their part regarding becoming better and changing how they behave. Culture impacts people in many ways, so artists projecting positive images and a deeper, more healthy and nuanced idea of modern manhood. Last year saw artists doing this. We have seen this happen in 2023, though there have been a lot of extremes and cases where men in politics and the media have made me believe that there need to be more songs, messages and men standing up and challenging things. Calling out men and asking whether more needs to be done to reframe masculinity and why so many prehistoric attitudes and behaviours still exist. Bob Vylan’s He’s a Man documents a particular type of man. A ‘manly man’. Something that still exists quite widely. Some may think it is a harmless type of person, though I wonder how easy it is to be this idea of an alpha or typical man and then slide into darker and more dangerous areas. To be radicalised and violent. There is a lot to unpack and discuss. Some artists have challenged ideas and stereotypes this year, though I think 2024 is one where this needs to…
BE intensified.