Step away from the juice, gentlemen at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture

Step away from the juice, gentlemen

by Carmen Van Kerckhove

What the hell happened to Dr. Dre?

Somehow I have a feeling that bulk didn’t come just from eating egg whites and skinless chicken breast all day.

But seriously, there’s an epidemic in hip hop. Especially among the older gentlemen in the game.

Sure, it’s the entertainment industry and there’s pressure for people to look good, regardless of age or gender. And we all know about Interscope’s policy on rap album covers.

But enough is enough.

First we had LL Cool J’s extreme makeover.

Then came Timbaland’s 120-lb weight loss and purported bodybuilding career.

Then Busta Rhymes followed in their footsteps, though lately it looks like a lot of that muscle has turned into flab. I liked the lean and mean look. But now, he’s all neck.

Dr. Dre’s jumping on the bandwagon too?

Stop the madness!

Trackbacks & Pings

Steroids? Hip hop made me do them! at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture on 28 Jan 2008 at 9:12 am

[…] Jay Smooth totally calls it. Yes rappers, lay off the juicing before Oprah holds a town hall meeting about why hip hop is making everyone use […]

Comments

Mireille wrote:

Why, Carmen, I’m surprised at you! I thought you guys would at least comment on the incident of white-on-white violence last night at the VMAs.

But yea…I was left scratching my noodle at that Dre. Big muscles scare me…

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 4:04 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:

Dre,

take the hanger out of your shirt.

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 4:26 pm ¶
S wrote:

Ew, Carmen! I was eating lunch when I clicked on one of the links above and saw 50 Cent twice! Yuck! That is a nasty lookin man. I did not deserve to see that:)

With all the high standards men place on us, it’s about time they step it up. Would you want Biggie and Fat Joe on the front of an album cover with their shirts off???

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 4:38 pm ¶
hadji wrote:

black men aren’t allowed to get grown in music. they’re basically cartoon characters in order to be viable. Russell Simmon is the “old dude in the club” and he’s rich. Jay-Z is “the retired hustler”… The rest are old thugs… Remember Melle Mel? he’s been pumping jumpin’ that Canseco-serial killer look since about ‘89–all cock-deiseled-out just trying to stay validated in the eyes of the 18-34 year old multiculti folks that buy rap and mainstream A&R types that sign acts.

Dre looks sad. Busta’s been rhymin’ about crack for the last 2 albums now. Why? To catch up with LiWayne and the Clipse and yhe other yungins… The stereoroids and botox and whatever else these guys are pumpin’ is just part of the hustle they fell into.

it’s like the white girls in the 80s shoe their fingers down their throats to keep up with cindy crawford.

just took these guys a little longer to catch up.

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 4:53 pm ¶
summer wrote:

I don’t know Carmen, unlike the other gents you reference (*except LL), Dr. Dre looks hot. Not too bulky. Just nicely sculpted.

*To LL’s credit, he’s always had a nice physique — for like a couple of decades now.

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 5:05 pm ¶
deb wrote:

Sippin’ on gin and juice?

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 5:58 pm ¶
Rachel S. wrote:

I can’t believe that’s Dre.

I also tend to agree that most of these fools end up looking bad after their surgeries. LL looked really surprised for like a year and half with the eye lift of whatever it was he did to his face.

And lay off the juice guys. I see enough of that at my gym. Plus, it really does do harm to your fertility and your arteries.

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 6:01 pm ¶
mj_fromla wrote:

Could it be that these older guys just want to look good so they hit the gym?

I agree that LL’s vanity got the best of him, but Timbaland has said several times that his weight problem was causing him health issues, that is why he lost weight and hit the gym.

As far as Dre, he was a porky middle aged guy for a minute - like a lot of guys who hit 40 (cough, cough…) , one day you walk up the mirror to brush your teeth and wonder where your 20 year old six pack and pecs went. Some men don’t care, some men (cough, cough - must be drafty in here…) hit the treadmill and the weights…

Great blog - was directed here by LA Brain Terrain.

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 8:29 pm ¶
merq wrote:

Carmen,

In fairness to LL, he was always pretty muscular. He let himself go every now and again, but he was always pretty big.

And while I won’t endorse taking anything to the extreme, I’ve gotta say I’m glad Timbaland lost all that weight.

Although I don’t like him now (becoming Justin Timberlake’s bra-strap is never a good look for anyone), I was a major Tim fan through his near-decade stranded in Underdogville. As someone who appreciated his music (or hell, cared who he was), I hated to see him so unhealthily large, subtly gasping for breath every now and again. So a 120-lb loss was welcome news to me.

Now, regarding the rest:

Here’s the tragedy of the situation. People whose minds are tightly tethered by the media have a very narrow view of Black Male masculinity — even if they’re black males, themselves.

I’ll never forget the sadness I felt when my (older!!) brother took a look at the singer Jaheim**, and with a somewhat puzzled expression, said “he really should get into rapping. he’s too diesel to be a singer.”

**Jaheim, sadly enough, has seemingly squandered a promising career (with a voice that often drew comparisons to Teddy Pendergrass) on a similarly limited view of himself. His discography almost reads like an explanation to people like brother-o’-mine:
Ghetto Love (2001)
Still Ghetto (2002)
Ghetto Classics(2006)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… being a black man in America is like living in a box that gets smaller and smaller every day.

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 9:21 pm ¶
dnA wrote:

wait so…girls don’t like guys who look like that?

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 11:25 pm ¶
d wrote:

Agreed, but Timbaland is oddly very sexy to me these days.

Posted 10 Sep 2007 at 11:31 pm ¶
Rachel S. wrote:

The problem with LL wasn’t so much the muscles as the plastic surgery. He had a face lift or something.

Yes, DNA most women don’t like that look. It’s too fake, and the guys look like somebody blew them up like a balloon. I guess this is in the same way many men don’t like Pam Anderson’s huge fake breasts.

And BTW, I agree about Jaheim. He needs to turn it around and make a big comeback. You have to wonder….The shelf life on singers is short, but I would suspect the shelf life on singers that they market in this way is much shorter. You can only sell a ripped body for as long as you can keep the body up, but the singing talent last a lot longer. Look at Luther Vandross.

Posted 11 Sep 2007 at 8:59 am ¶
Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:

Or maybe Jaheim should just join Tyrese, Tank and Ginuwine in the Shirts Off Tour.

Posted 11 Sep 2007 at 9:05 am ¶
gatamala wrote:

@ hadji - I saw Melle Mel on tv the other day & didn’t recognize him!!

Busta’s head/neck ratio defies nature. It’s just a matter of time before Congress links ‘roid rage to hip hop.

I agree with the statements regarding the limiting nature of commodified black manhood. Folks can’t grow up w/o being called “soft” or “out of touch”.

Posted 11 Sep 2007 at 9:09 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:

Mireille -

I think Jamie Foxx had that covered. Poor Jennifer Garner…

dnA - It’s gross man. Women like different things on men (muscles, lean physiques, big and cuddly) but I would bet 90% of women don’t want a guy who could double for the Incredible Hulk. Dre doesn’t look natural. I kept waiting for him to scream out “Hulk SMASH!” and throw his award.

Merq -

I feel you on the self-limitation bit. I had that same feeling when the Boondocks first aired on Cartoon Network. I loved the comic, but when the show came out, I heard far too many people going “Riley’s my nigga!” Ummm…he’s a parody y’all. You’re not supposed to identify with Riley! He’s supposed to be symbolic! (or at least, that’s what I got from it.)

Posted 11 Sep 2007 at 10:17 am ¶
merq wrote:

LaToya,

I agree with you on Riley, but let’s not pretend like McGruder had any responsible motives with that show.

Posted 11 Sep 2007 at 6:31 pm ¶
deb wrote:

@ hadji - I saw Melle Mel on tv the other day & didn’t recognize him!!

For the longest time I’ve said he’s got that prison workout physique. That’s not to say he’s been locked down, only that he looks like those cats on lockdown who work out a lot.

Posted 11 Sep 2007 at 9:40 pm ¶
Loretta wrote:

I’m a fitness fanatic myself and also a fan of bodybuilding. I think muscles on a guy is attractive and on a gal (since I lift weights myself) and also way better looking than fat. Which would we rather have - fat or muscular? I choose buffness. I read an article on another site that it’s “trendy” for Blacks to be fat and I don’t think it’s attractive to be overweight. I don’t mean to sound like a snob, but I believe in living a healthy lifestyle. We should be promoting more people to hit the gym. Those are my two cents.

Posted 13 Sep 2007 at 10:27 am ¶
simmie wrote:

Men, like women, have body image issues. Wealthy hip-hop icons are no different.

Posted 15 Sep 2007 at 1:20 am ¶
Sportaphile wrote:

I think its pretty irresponsible to assume or imply someones on steroids with no sound reasoning.

Theres only so long you can live on fried chicken and blunts before you have to get it together.

Posted 20 Sep 2007 at 2:39 pm ¶