Women in Hip Hop

Women In Hip-hop: The Rise and In Hip-hop: The Rise and Fall of the Queen Fall of the Queenthe

“I don’t even listen to hip-hop anymore, my collection ends about 10 years ago” That’s what a female classmate said about hip-hop music Well, actually this would be around 20 years ago now, I wonder what she would say about the state of female representation in hip-hop today. This article is going to focus on the female MC and discuss some very controversial opinions and viewpoints, but this piece is not to be taken as disrespectful or critical of today’s female MC. I am simply trying to point out the change in the way female rappers are discovered, packaged, shipped, and displayed today as opposed to how we viewed them in the golden days of hip-hop. Don’t let the subtitle fool you, I am not saying the women in hip-hop today are not “Queens” or lesser than their predecessors. I am strictly saying that the image of the female rapper has gone from regal, to ummm; something else Like I said, don’t get it twisted, I love what the women in hip-hop are doing today There is power in their expression of sexuality, and freedom to do and say what they feel as beautiful badasses. With that said, I do come from an era of Hip-hop music where their power was displayed as intelligence, self-respect, and security and was not strictly about the power of their “P”

I believe that the record industry has done a nefarious job of switching the queen image to the stripper image. Much the same as they have taken the strong, intelligent, culturally aware image away from men in hip-hop and gave us the drug-using, drugdealing, hyper-sexual, nonmessage-delivering rapper. The image of the female MC has been manipulated and twisted by the music industry from a powerful equal in the rap game to the hyper-sexualized negative representation of a woman

In hip-hop’s infancy, women were absolutely a presence on the mic and treated as an important part of the crew that was rocking the party. When we think of early female MCs we think of Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa Ms. Melody,Roxanne Shante,etc. the golden era of the female rapper. But they were not the first to bless the mic with their skills, in the early days we had dope MC’s such as MC Sha-Rock, known as the “Mother of the Mic,” s“According to MC Sha-Rock, in the early days of hip-hop, there was less of a focus on a woman’s looks and more a focus on her skills as an emcee.”

(MC SHA-ROCK) rappers such as MC LYTE and Roxanne Shante made hit records in male-driven testosterone dripping hip-hop, but their hits such as MC LYTE’s “Paper Thin” and Roxanne Shante’s “Roxanne’s Revenge” would have topics that focused on cheating, chauvinistic men. To stand out initially female rappers had to embrace stereotypical topics for women such as infidelity and womanizing. In 1986, the year before these two amazing MCs emerged, she is highly regarded as the first female emcee of hip-hop in the 1970s when her skills and bars earned her a spot as a member of The Funky 4+1.

Your(courtesy-of-Michael-Putland)

Salt-N-Pepa would set the bar for female MCs with their debut album, “Hot, Cool & Vicious” and album that would combine songs boosting mic skills,“My Mic Sounds Nice”and tracks that would inspire future female MC’s to copy the format of success such as “Tramp”, which focused on the “womanizing” subject matter that Roxanne Shante and MC LYTE would later use.

Salt-N-Pepa’s debut album would produce a track that in my opinion changed the direction of what record labels would consider a successful female MC record. The song “Push It” off Salt-N-Pepa’s first album, would explode on the scene with a driving beat and loud party synthesizer keyboards that created a style and sound that inspired a new level of female MC; the sex symbol. The song, “Push It” had extremely sexualized lyrics that shocked the Hip-hop and music world with its big and bold unapologetic lyrics Of course, there were female artists that embraced their sexuality in songs and lyrics, Pat Benatar, Blondie, Joan Jett in the rock world to name a few, and Diana Ross, Donna Summers, and Evelyn Champagne King in the disco R&B world. The reason that ‘Push it’ pushed it over the top is because for one it was Hip-hop, strong urban ghetto music and two, it was powerful black women that were urban and ghetto and were in your face, bold and beautiful. Hip-hop was fast becoming a powerful force in the music industry in the late 1980s. This loud ghetto music was taking over the streets and the streets are where all cultural trends begin and end. Many small independent record labels were scrambling and trying to find the next big thing in hip-hop and began to sign lots of incredibly talented young MCs both male and female Two of them became the voices of the young black female empowerment movement, Monie Luv and the hip-hop icon Queen Latifah. Queen Latifah when she was only 19 released her debut album All Hail the Queen in 1989 featuring the hit single "Ladies First".

“Ladies First” featuring another young amazing rapper named Monie Love was the first big hit of Latifah’s career and would not be her last. “Ladies First” powerfully created a lane for female MCs to stand up against misogyny and still get the respect of their male peers Latifah blazed this path with lines such as,

“Cause they see a woman standing up on her own two/ Sloppy slouching is something I won't do / Some think that we can't flow (can't flow) / Stereotypes, they got to go (got to go) I'm a mess around and flip the scene into reverse / (With what?) With a little touch of "Ladies First"

(Queen Latifah “Ladies First”) Queen Latifah's first album was an underground hip-hop success, but it was her third album, Black Reign (1993), which became the first album by a solo female rapper to sell half a million records (Gold Status) and gave us the single "U.N.I.T.Y.", which was influential in raising awareness of violence against women and the objectification of Black female sexuality. The song would go on to become an anthem for women’s rights of all races, colors, creeds, and religions and is still a powerful song in the fight rapping about the sexual topic of what a man would like. Queen Latifah and MC Lyte would struggle to continue their reign at the top Their records would enjoy moderate success but ultimately the industry was full steam ahead on the new sexy, fleshy, exotic female MC that was not only showing the goods but spitting rhymes about it as well Foxy Brown was another highly charged female MC that was not shy about her sexuality and promiscuity.

Your against misogyny and the disrespect and abuse of women. What is ironic, and extremely sad, is the music industry did not hear this cry for equality and embraced a Harvey Weinstein approach to the female hip-hop artist of today, either take it off or no record deal. The 1990s and 2000s were an interesting time for hip-hop.

The east coast and west coast were in a full-on war, hip-hop music was at its most commercially successful to date, and the rise of the hyper-sexual female MC was born Recording artists such as LiL Kim, Foxy Brown, and Eve lead the charge in the change of the guard of Queen MCs The hip-hop landscape was changing and the older female MCs had to quickly adapt in order to survive. Queen Latifah and MC Lyte although still outspoken advocates for the woman’s rights quickly switched their subject matter in songs to more sexually centered lyrics. Da Brat, another Female MC who was extremely popular in the ’90s, also started off with a tomboy, baggy clothes, smooth non-sexualized flow eventually drop off the music scene and reemerged in a bikini.

Both would change the rap game forever in terms of how the music industry packaged female MCs, it seemed that the only thing they cared about was, whether you spit bars and be half naked at the same time. Do not get it twisted, both Foxy Brown and LiL Kim were excellent rappers with major talent, which makes it even more disappointing that they were obliged to have the world stickily focus on their bodies and not their bars.

Today, in regard to the female MC, it seems the only thing that is important to the music industry is the image of the stripper on stage. These new female MCs today should be paying homage to Lil Kim and Foxy Brown as they exposed the controversial lane that is now creating vasts amount of fame and wealth for these new female rap artists. Artists such as Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.

Hip-hop has always been a strong voice for the urban community, all races and colors, and over the last 30 years, it has been completely stripped of its dynamic, positive, uplifting image and voice. Just recently, I had a few conversations with some female MCs that are currently in the game and they had some interesting points regarding their thoughts on the subject of hyper-sexualization of the female MC. When talking with female rapper Thugshells,

She is definitely a “Bubbly Gangsta”. In my music camp, we work with an amazing new artist by the name of Nanibae have enjoyed success using a blueprint that was created by earlier female MCs like Lil Kim and Foxy Brown but what is important to point out is this is what young aspiring girls think is how they get put on in the rap game. I am not at all dissing or downplaying Cardi B or Megan The Stallion, I love these rappers. I am, however, pointing my finger at the music industry and the fact that they do not care about the integrity of a culture or the respect of an art form.

(undergroundsound) a dope MC from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada she explained that her brand was wholesome and she labels her sound “bubbly gangster” When doing a song called, “Money” she put out a video for the song that showed a lot of skin and had a more Rated R tone to it than her previous videos When releasing the video, she got some backlash from fans because they were more into the wholesome vibe than the raunchy images that she had in her video. Thugshells admits that she did stray from her normal wholesome image but is still very proud of video She says that, “she’s been lucky in her career to not have to lean on her sexuality” (Thugshells 2023) to promote her brand. When viewing Thugshells other videos on her youtube channel I definitely respect her hustle and the fact that she really does successfully push a brand that is wholesome.

(Nanibae) who just dropped a bomb recently with her smash hit single, “Ain’t One” produced by my partner in music and rhyme Slapp Turner. I spoke to Nanibae and asked her about her thoughts on the state of female hip-hop at this present moment. She shared that she believes that “there is a lot of pressure in hip-hop, especially with social media, to give the people what they want. But, the pressure that the camera adds 10 pounds and I’m already thick, and what if my makeup is not on point I have a gap in my tooth, so I don’t have the perfect smile, the game brings out insecurities”, she gave a dope quote that, “female artist apply their own pressure to the pressure that’s applied to us” (Nanibae 2023). It is my belief that the industry has created a hyper-sexualized image that these artists feel who just dropped a bomb recently with her smash hit single, “Ain’t One” produced by my partner in music and rhyme Slapp Turner I spoke to Nanibae and asked her about her thoughts on the state of female hip-hop at this present moment. She shared that she believes that “there is a lot of pressure in hip-hop, especially with social media, to give the people what they want. But, the pressure that the camera adds 10 pounds and I’m already thick, and what if my makeup is not on point. I have a gap in my tooth, so I don’t have the perfect smile, the game brings out insecurities”, she gave a dope quote that, “female artist apply their own pressure to the pressure that’s applied to us” (Nanibae 2023). It is my belief that the industry has created a hypersexualized image that these artists feelthey have to conform to, to get the label recognition and push that they need to succeed I also had the pleasure of interviewing one of the baddest female MCs I’ve ever had the pleasure of working, Envee The Queen. you’re not putting out what the want or expect”

Envee is a 17-year vet in the New Mexico music scene is has been grinding hard to carve out her spot in the game. When asked about the state of hip-hop she mentioned, “The turn in hip-hop has been crazy and extreme, I would like to see the lyrics come back it seems that its (sex) is all radio wants to hear and see, it’s tough when you aren’t getting recognized because

Your I agree with Envee that lyrics should still be a focal point of not only female MCs but male MCs as well. Real Lyricism and poetry is disappearing from hip-hop music and it’s becoming increasingly hard to stay excited about any new rap artist. This article was extremely hard to write because I was worried about dissing the new female MCs and not giving them flowers for their amazing accomplishments. This article was not about dissing anyone, it was more about shining a light on the music industry and exposing the obvious shallowness of the executives that are finding, signing, and releasing women in hip-hop under the agreement that they strip and do a lap dance for the audience Hip-hop culture in its beginning stood out as a voice for the voiceless and a vehicle for young urban kids to express themselves in a time when they had no microphone. As it progressed it became a beacon of hope and prosperity with the real possibility of upward mobility through music. The early MCs used hiphop to tell stories about their surroundings and brag about their swag as young adults love to do. But the most important aspect of hip-hop music to me was the messages that the artist was giving and what they were saying. I grew up on hip-hop and it taught me valuable life lessons that I wasn’t getting from my parents, it also taught me some negative things as well What seemed to happened to female hip-hop is the music industry decided that the positivity was not as profitable as the negative and with that, all of our empowering female voices in hip-hop are gone, or at least not being promoted commercially On the bright side, there are many female MCs that spit bars and have empowering messages, such as Rhapsody, who has amazing flow, intricate deep empowering lyrics, and does not feel the need to take her clothes off to have a career in the music industry. I respect everyone’s freedom of sexuality and their freedom to express themselves in any way that is safe. I just have an issue when it seems that is all we get in today’s hip-hop music. My hope is that we as consumers start to take back a little of the choice we have as to what the music industry packages for us to consume. Until then we will just have WAP,and not, U.N.I.T.Y.