Jam, juice and forbidden fruits: Edible Black masculinities in contemporary pop culture

Abstract

In the past couple of years we have witnessed rap artists banking on their image and their appeal to promote energy or sport related drinks. Nelly is selling Pimp Juice, Lil John advertises Crunk, and even 50 cent has got his own line of Vitamin Water. What they are selling is their masculinity, and a peculiar brand of it—brash, in your face, very sexualized. Why are audiences—especially young ones, and often white and suburban—willing metaphorically to ingest their masculinity? Is this a new phenomenon or are there other occasions when black masculinities were perceived as edible in the pop culture arena? From the Chocolate Salty Balls of South Park to the charming Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation , I try to analyze different declinations of the complex relationship between food and the black male body in contemporary America.