ABSTRACT This essay uses J. Cole’s song “Wet Dreamz,” the artist’s boyhood tale about losing his virginity, as a case study examining how Black male hip-hop artists draw from ideas about the ordinary to position themselves vulnerably within the contours of the mainstream genre. I argue that Cole positions himself vulnerably by presenting himself as sexually insecure, making him susceptible to criticism around his masculinity and, by extension, mainstream marketability loss in a genre dominantly constructing Black men as sexually confident. Specifically, I explore how Cole discusses seemingly universal boyhood concerns about his penis size, “stroke,” and wet dreams, accentuating a sense of connectedness to his male listeners. Second, I argue that Cole rearticulates his masculinity through his heterosexual desire, which could otherwise be jeopardized by the song’s attentiveness to his sexual uncertainty. Through this case study, I demonstrate how Black male hip-hop artists can carve disruptive rhetorical space for expressing seemingly universal boyhood insecurities that commonly go unexpressed, depicting healthy sexual relationships, and representing Black boys as resilient and with sexual agency.

中文翻译：

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“我被吓死了”：“湿梦”中的讲故事、男子气概和脆弱

摘要 本文使用 J. Cole 的歌曲“Wet Dreamz”，该艺术家关于失去童贞的童年故事，作为案例研究，研究黑人男性嘻哈艺术家如何从关于平凡的想法中汲取灵感，将自己置于主流的轮廓中类型。我认为，科尔将自己定位为性不安全，使他容易受到围绕他的男子气概的批评，进而导致主流市场营销能力的丧失，这种类型主要将黑人男性塑造为性自信。具体来说，我探讨了科尔如何讨论看似普遍的童年时期对他的阴茎大小、“中风”和梦遗的担忧，从而强调与他的男性听众的联系感。其次，我认为科尔通过他的异性恋欲望重新表达了他的男子气概，否则这可能会因这首歌对他的性不确定性的关注而受到危害。通过这个案例研究，我展示了黑人男性嘻哈艺术家如何创造破坏性的修辞空间来表达看似普遍的童年时代通常不会表达的不安全感，描绘健康的性关系，并将黑人男孩描述为具有弹性和性能动性。