WTF is up with DJ Dimplez’ rapey cover art?

By
Shaazia Ebrahim
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Twitter was split this week in a discussion on the sinister cover art of DJ Dimplez’ new single, What A Night. The cover art is meant to depict an epic night out.

Last week, the South African hip hop DJ released cover art for the single, with the hashtag #WhatANight. The cover art depicts Dimplez carrying a drunk girl who had passed out in an alleyway outside what appears to be a club.

Twitter folk immediately called DJ Dimplez out for perpetuating rape culture in a country where women and children face sexual violence daily.

But many saw nothing wrong with the cover art, saying it merely showed the DJ helping a drunk girl home.

YouTube vlogger Sibu Mpanza, called DJ Dimplez out for the date rape implying cover art.

His comments sparked even more debate. Several people told Mpanza he was being overly sensitive and looking for things that weren’t there.

Mpanza told The Daily Vox he tweeted about the artwork because it was a clearcut example of what rape culture looks like in South Africa.

Mpanza said people, including content creators, have a responsibility to understand the context we live in and to create work that doesn’t trigger people unnecessarily.

“At the end of the day that picture could’ve been a trigger for many women who have been inebriated and taken advantage of in clubs by men,” he said.

Mpanza said that women generally agreed with him, saying the cover art perpetuated rape culture. “People were grossed out, they couldn’t believe the art had gone through so many channels and everybody had agreed to it,” he said.

But many others couldn’t see anything wrong with the picture and kept responding to his tweet with alternative scenarios for the situation the cover art represented.

“I had to explain over and over to grown men that context is key and in a South African context, it looks like a man walking out of a club in a dark alleyway with a woman,” he said.

DJ Dimplez has since apologised saying he realised the cover art “calls to mind rapists’ stereotypes”. He said it was never his intention to promote senseless rape culture or taking advantage of women. He has since removed the cover art from the singles listing.

But even after he apologised, people kept coming forward saying nothing was wrong.

Some asked how people could still defend the cover after Dimplez himself called himself to order.

The unwillingness to acknowledge how problematic the cover art was shows how deeply entrenched rape culture is in South Africa. It’s important to recognise rape culture and to challenge it in all its forms, so good on Mpanza for calling it out and on DJ Dimplez for responding to the criticism.

Featured image via @DJDimplez on Twitter

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