The Jay-Z allegation once again reveals a culture of impunity in hip-hop | Tayo Bero

Jay-Z and Diddy are accused of raping a 13-year-old girl at a VMAs afterparty in 2000 .

The rapper's response to this lawsuit and the blowback from his supporters is a stunning display of the culture of silence and complicity in hip-hop which continues to harm women and girls.

Some Black men on social media dusted off the Bill Cosby defence playbook, gleeful to be able to call the allegations “proof of a conspiracy to bring down one of their own”.

It’s eerie, thinking about just how much that violence is mirrored by the further trauma that victims endure while seeking justice for themselves publicly, violated in front of a captive audience who cares little about their humanity. And while it’ll probably be some time before this specific case is worked out in the courts, it is important for victims to know that there are remedies to the codes of silence, misogyny and harm that thrive in hip-hop and keep victims trapped in cycles of abuse. - Tayo Bero is a Guardian US columnist.