Written by: Jocelyn Rivera
Edited by: K Kelly
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| Pinterest |
For over 10 years the mainstream hip hop game has been missing
a certain kind of flavor, a sound that male rappers will never be able to match.
This flavor is the Flair that only female Rappers can provide. In a recent
interview with hot 97, the Hip Hop Mogul and entrepreneur Queen Latifah begins
to touch on this topic. Specifically how hip hop has been suffering from a lack
of ladies getting shine in the rap community. As various outside forces pit
women against each other in an attempt to crown only one “Queen Bee” unity
amongst female rappers has suffered. This discussion comes about after The
Queen was asked how she felt about Remy Ma’s decision to bring a handful of female
hip hop heavy weights onto the summer jam stage. She was asked if she felt like
people would think that all the women that were on stage were there because
they had some sort of problem with Nicki Minaj. Yes, the Nicki and Remy beef
was huge but why is there a need to choose weather they are #teamNicki or
#teamRemy? We never had to choose between Nas and Jay or N.W.A. and Ice Cube
not even Kim and Foxy, we just had to crown a winner.
Is there a conspiracy to condition us to feel like there can
only be one women on top at any given time? As much as we’d like to believe that women
have equal opportunities to make it in the hip hop industry, this reality is simply
not true. We are no longer in the late 80s and 90s when media outlets such as
the Source and Vibe magazine were unafraid to focus on the diversity and unity
of the female rap game, headlining tracks that featured multiple female hip hop
monsters such as Lil Kim, EVE, Remy Ma and a host of other Female all stars
controlled the airwaves. During this time being a female rapper was something
that young woman would aspire to be, not only because of the fame but because
these women had a voice and a platform to have their opinions heard and
respected. The diversity was amazing.
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| Vibe Magazine Feb 1998 |
It's clear that in recent years the music industry seems
confused on how to market female talent, rather than letting good music speak
for itself we are bombarded with over the top imagery and really only one
viewpoint. This ideology also suggests that having only “one Queen Bee” is the
only formula for fan acceptance. The current culture tends to pit female artists
against each other, in an effort to make you feel like you can only be a fan to
one and if you are a fan to both you are somehow not loyal. Nicki Minaj came on
the scene when there was basically no mainstream representation by women in hip
hop. In fact, in the awards world there have been very few female rappers that
have even won in the various rap categories, despite their dominance on the
charts.
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| Salt N Pepa on Pinterest |
We can’t help but notice as Nicki’s career evolved more and more
emphasis was put on her sexual image and pop like music despite her ability to
spit fire with the best of the best (check her verse on Monster and some of her
early mix tapes). You cannot deny the obvious influence Lil Kim had on her but
instead of the culture and media embracing it, it seemed to be twisted into a
discussion of Nicki biting off of Lil Kim. These kinds of toxic attitudes
towards female emcees discourage women who are making music to collaborate and
recreate that sense of unity that has been lost in the game.
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| Source Unknown/ Lil Kim Cover Art |
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It makes us wonder if female MC’s who are not over
sexualized will be accepted into the industry and recognized as great MC’s. A
prime example of this would be how Lauryn Hill was represented as a member of
the Fugees before beginning her solo career. While it was clear that her talent
was unmatched and she constantly challenged pressures of women's sexuality and pressures
of media conformity, during most of her interviews with the Fugees, she was
often belittled and was continuously asked superficial questions about fashion
and her appearance, while the men of the group were asked their opinions on
politics and the music industry.
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| Fugees Pinterest |
It was even taken to the point where when she
was asked more serious important questions, she was often edited down having
her main points ignored. Luckily enough Lauryn could express her feelings about
her under representation on her own album, which became a historical
masterpiece. But since then this type of diversity among the female rap
community has been pretty much shunned.
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| Vibe Magazine Nov 2007 |
However, the industry isn’t all-bad, a few years back Oxygen
changed the game by debuting a reality show that completely challenges
everything we've come to understand about women in the hip hop industry. The
television show entitled “Sisterhood of Hip Hop” shows viewers a much more
realistic representation of the female MC. It showcases the pure passion that
women have for the music. The cast members of the show are eager and willing to
empower one another, as well as collaborate on tracks to make chart-topping hits.
Also, 2017 seems to be the beginning of a turn, Missy released a remix to I’m
Better featuring Eve, Lil Kim and Trina and Remy Ma continues to lead the
charge collaborating and performing with newcomers and industry veterans. But have
to admit we are still waiting for those empowering lyrics that we were blessed
with on “U.N.I.T.Y” and
“Miseducation of
Lauryn Hill”.
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| 'Nature of a Sista' Cover Art |
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