Since the inception of rap music, females have been the objects of the rhymes that emcees spit.
In general, love, death and daffodils have always inspired artists. But until recently, the women in rap songs weren't given love and adoration, but were rather assigned the characteristics of say, a promiscuous flower.
But things have changed for women since the '80s, when the lyrics didn't get deeper than a G-string in a fat a--. Now, many of the lyrics glorify women rather than objectify them.
The best example of this phenomenon fittingly comes from Drake, the heartfelt boy who used to play up on "Degrassi." What more could a girl want to hear than "Sweat pants, hair tied, chillin' with no make-up on / That's when you're the prettiest / I hope that you don't take it wrong."
And a ton of other rappers have also hip-hopped on this bandwagon. "Nothin' on You" by B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars takes a different and reassuring angle on relationships.
My personal favorite, Gudda Gudda's verse on "Bedrock:" "She ain't got a man / but she's not a lone / Miss Independent / yeah she got her own / Hey gorgeous / Um, I mean flawless / Well that's what you are / How I see it is how I call it."
This is not to say that rap music doesn't have a long way to go in terms of how it treats gender roles, though.
Lil' Wayne may throw down, "But anyway I think you're bionic / and I don't think you're beautiful / I think you're beyond it" but in the same breath he says he wants to "f--- every girl in the world."
And how hard did David Guetta really think when he was trying to find the words to describe this girl without being disrespectful?
But hey, at least we have put the days of Ying Yang Twins' "Whisper" behind us.