Black Women on OnlyFans: Empowerment or Exploitation?

Sexual Dance Economies and the Emotional Labor of Black Women Rappers

The ways Black women navigate the intersection of music, performance, and labor, all while dealing with the emotional and relational demands placed on them is complex. Black women rappers, in particular, are often at the crossroads of artistic expression and societal expectations. These women, who have gained significant social media followings, are also navigating platforms like OnlyFans, where they create sexually explicit content for a subscription-based audience. Their creative work is often commodified on this platform, requiring them to negotiate their identities in a world that simultaneously celebrates and exploits them. Further, beyond the economics of music and performance, the unseen and often undervalued work that Black women contribute to these spaces, navigating systemic inequities and carving out spaces of empowerment through their artistry is a concern. These realities requires them to manage emotional labor while participating in the sexualized dance economies of the industry.

In this episode, Dr. Jabari Evans-, an Assistant Professor of Race and Media at the University of South Carolina, takes us through the complex ideological tensions Black women face within a genre often steeped in racial stereotypes. Author of "Drill Rap, Sex Work, and the Digital Underground: (Clout)Chasing on Chicago’s Southside", Dr. Evans' research explores strategies youth use for self-expression on social media platforms as well as other digital media tools and technologies.  His book project, Hip-Hop Civics centers on a Hip-Hop Based Education program in Chicago Public Schools and argues for rap song making’s utility for fostering connected learning in the formal classroom.

To learn more about Dr. Evans, click here.

More Works by Dr. Evans:

• Drill Rap, Sex Work, and the Digital Underground

• Reframing civic education through hip-hop artistic practices: an empowerment and equity based learning model for black adolescents

• The Audacity of Clout (Chasing): Digital Strategies of Black Youth in Chicago DIY Hip-Hop

• Connecting Black youth to critical media literacy through hip hop making in the music classroom.

• We [mostly] carry guns for the internet’: Visibility labour, social hacking and chasing digital clout by Black male youth in Chicago’s drill rap scene.

THIS PODCAST WILL BE AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 1, 2025.

Season 2 Episode 18

Running Time:  35 minutes