With the recent popularity of referencing annilingus in music, we wondered how and if hip-hop's relationship with oral sex had evolved over the past two decades. We also wondered how these changes could possibly be connected to a larger cultural shift.

When Jhene Aiko nonchalantly stated that all prospective partners must, “eat the booty like groceries,” this, among other such odes to tongue-centric activities signaled that it was seemingly shaping up to be the year of unabashed annilingus. Aiko is of course not the first and certainly won’t be the last artist to lyrically ponder what dat mouf do. However, it is interesting to observe how sexuality and what sexual practices are deemed acceptable has evolved in hip-hop over the past two decades.

Throughout the ‘90s it seemed that many male rappers weren’t quite ready to cop to being "cunning linguists."  In fact, quite a few lyrically decried the practice, but were nevertheless completely down for fellatio. Taking into account this mentality (which of course doesn’t apply to every artist), it’s not a stretch to say that many of them would have been even less inclined to consider the recent “booty eating” craze as acceptable. Since inception,  hip-hop has often been characterized by aggrandized hyper-masculinity, and has also been repeatedly taken to task (and perhaps unfairly generalized) for being homophobic. It’s possible that the topic of annilingus, though sometimes broached, wasn’t as readily embraced because hip-hop was still fairly young in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Perhaps publicly admitting to such activities ran the risk of being perceived as borderline homoerotic, even if it occurred with a woman.

To see how far the practice has come, we take a look at the most notable instances over the past two and a half decades.

N.W.A - “Just Don’t Bite It” (1991)

Notable lines:

She got nut all over her face

There’s a slight chance if I fuck she might burn me / And then I might have to shoot the ho’

Stick my dick in her mouth like a wet broom

Too Short - “Hoes” (1992)

Notable lines:

Tried to get some head and she just kissed my dick

Don’t eat pussy and play these hoes

Kool G Rap and Mr. Polo - “Fuck You Man” (1992)

Notable lines:

You couldn’t deep throat G Rap if you was a m*therf**kin’ giraffe

Now I’m not a deep-sea diver but I love it when my dick’s covered and smothered with saliva

I’ll go to a Chinese restaurant, b!*ch, if I wanna eat cats

DJ Quik - “Can I Eat It?” (1995)

Notable lines:

You can keep that salmon sandwich to yo' self

Ain’t nothin’ fly bout’ the pearl tongue lickin’

Mase - “I Need to Be” (1997)

Notable lines:

I never eat pussy cuz I’m too stubborn in my ways

Get down and dirty and lick ice down my butt cheeks

From the mid to late ‘90s songs about all manner of sexual escapades continued. However, cunnilingus didn’t stay a dirty little secret for long. Quite a few audacious women entered the rap game, and with them they brought the demand for oral sex; they also made it pretty clear you had to give it to get it. As time passed it seems that their male counterparts finally started to let their tongues loosen on the subject (figuratively and literally), too.

Lil’ Kim - “Not Tonight” (1996)

Notable lines:

I don’t want dick tonight, eat my pussy right

The moral of the story is this / if you ain’t lickin’ this you ain’t stickin’ this

Suck my pussy till they kill me, you feel me?

Lil’ Kim & Notorious B.I.G - "Queen B!tch" (1996)

Although Lil’ Kim is credited as the artist behind this song B.I.G contributed tremendously to the lyrics. Peep the reference track here.

Notable lines:

Got buffoons eating my pussy while I watch cartoons

Bet I wet cha like hurricanes and typhoons

Akinyele featuring Kia Jeffries - “Put it in Your Mouth” (1996)

Notable lines:

Akinyele: I’m all about mouth-f**kin’ / only if you down for dick suckin’

Kia Jeffries: I’m always sprung once I feel your tongue in the crack of my ass

What do ya choose to lick? Pussy or dicks?

Big Pun(isher) - “Not a Player” (1998)

Notable lines:

No booty but I eat pussy

I been eating cunts since pimps pushing pink caddies with the fish tank pumps

I ain’t a player I just f*ck a lot

Ludacris - “What’s Your Fantasy?” (1999)

Notable lines:

I wanna li-li-lick you from you head to your toes

Whipped cream with cherries and strawberries on top, lick it don’t stop

By the time the new millennium rolled around cunnilingus, and oral sex in general, seemed to have lost most of its stigma - although to be fair, some artists still weren’t having it. The ones who were, though, were letting it be known with great gusto.

Trina - “Tongue Song” (2000)

Notable lines:

Put ya face up in my cho-cha

Gimme that tongue, tongue, tongue

Put a feelin’ in my pussy while you smoke a blunt 

Field Mob - “Cheating on We” (2000)

Notable lines:

We have threesomes both like clit and dick in they mouth

She been licking me up / licking my dick and my butt

I call her Gargamale / she gargle male balls in her mouth

Ying Yang Twins featuring Methrone - “Tongue Bath” (2001)

Notable lines:

In the tongue bath world we livin’ it up

Let me open up my legs show me what you got

Khia - “My Neck, My Back” (2002)

Notable lines:

Suck it all ‘til I shake and cum…make sure I keep busting nuts…all over your face and stuff

Lick my pussy and my crack

You might have G’s but fuck that n!**a, get on your knees

Trick Daddy - “Sugar” (2004)

Notable lines:

Orally I speak the truth / ‘cuz the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice

When they nice and ripe they best for eatin’

I’m about to go coo-coo to taste your cocoa puffs

Lil' Wayne - "Fireman" (2005)

She need her candlelit and I'm a wax that /  I rekindle the flame / she remember the name

I'm hot but the car cool / she wet that's a carpool / been in that water since a youngin'

Come on mama let The Carter make ya / Toss ya like a fruit salad, strawberry crepe ya

As the 2000s progressed, hip-hop’s oral fixation only seemed to grow; Lil’ Wayne in particular soon gained a reputation for his love of both giving and receiving oral sex. Additionally, more and more allusions to annilingus began creeping into lyrics.

Lil’ Wayne featuring Static Major - “Lollipop” (2008)

Notable lines:

That pussy in my mouth had me lost for words

The middle of the bed, giving getting head

Lil’ Wayne - “Pussy Monster” (2008)

Notable lines:

Hi, I’m the pussy monster and you gotta feed me pussy

Baby, can I be the worm in your apple butt?

I hope she makes me eat my words ‘cause my words is pussy

Big Sean featuring Nicki Minaj - “Dance (Ass) Remix” (2011)

Notable lines:

Nicki Minaj: Somebody point me to the best ass-eater

Nicki Minaj: Kiss my ass and my anus ‘cause I’m finally famous

Action Bronson and Static Selektah - "Time for Some" (2011)

Notable lines:

You probably see me with an actress / getting my ass licked, while she driving...

Son at the flicks getting sucked in the back row

Lil B - “Ima Eat Her Ass” (2012)

Notable lines:

Ass on my face today, I look like Mooney

Strap the hoe up to the wall and eat her ass

Kevin Gates - “Strokin’” (2013)

Notable lines:

Eat the dick with a lot of spit

Get your booty licked while you make it clap

Azealia Banks featuring Lazy Jay - "212" (2014)

Notable lines:

Now she wanna lick my plum in the evenin' / and fit that ton-tongue d-deep in / I guess that c*nt getting eaten

Cock-a-lickin' in the water by the blue bayou / caught the warm goo...

Plus your b!*ch might lick it

Nicki Minaj - "Anaconda" (2015)

Notable lines:

Let him eat it with his grills and he tellin' me to chill

Pussy put his ass to sleep, now he calling me NyQuil

He toss my salad like his name Romaine

Fabolous - "Quiet Storm Freestyle" (2015)

Notable lines:

Shorty mouth crazy disrespectful on the low / she like to spit on it disrespectful little hoe

Fridge ain't got no grub b!tch but it's eat the booty like it's Publix?

Nicki Minaj featuring Drake, Lil' Wayne and Chris Brown - "Only" (2015)

If I did, I did a menage with 'em and let 'em eat my ass like a cupcake

Drake: I like my girls BBW, yeah / type to wanna suck you dry and then eat lunch wit' you

The general attitude towards oral sex, and cunnilingus in particular, seemingly no longer holds even the smallest taboo. So much so, annilingus has perhaps become the newest topic that raises eyebrows and sparks discussion.  Aside from that, the openness in which both male and female artists are able to discuss their various sexual preferences could actually be a signal that our attitude as a culture is shifting. For female artists to be able to declare their demands in the same manner as their male counterparts, and for it to be an accepted part of the hip-hop's larger dialogue, could be indicative that on a larger cultural scale we are moving towards greater gender parity.

To be fair, the music industry may not be the best place to find evidence of this shift. It has many times been the subject of scrutiny for the perception that it often objectifies women. However, for artists like Khia, Nicki Minaj or Lil' Kim, who not only boldly declare that they are sexual beings, but who also declare that they are very much in control of their sexual interactions, a certain amount of subversion takes place. Rather than merely becoming objects of the male gaze, they are agents of their own image. And though their lyrics are sometimes perceived as "raunchy" or "unladylike" --as is the label often given to women who choose to eschew the projecting of a demure image that some still believe makes them respectable -- they suceed in making it clear that their sexuality is theirs alone. This kind of raw subversion of gender expectations could only happen in a genre as gritty as hip-hop, and over the past two decades it has slowly changed the way sex and intimacy is projected.