Females in Hip Hop

So after Trace posted that Kreayshawn track ("Gucci Gucci, Louis Louis, Fendi Fendi, Prada!") I did a little research, apparently she is from is good friends with Lil' B, no comment, but I was reading an article by the Village Voice on the next internet Phenom and I thought I should do a post about females in hip hop. I'd like to compile a list for the future. I don't really see many female MC's mainstream besides Nicki Minaj and if you want, Ke$ha.

Lately I've been trying to figure out what's been missing from their side. Feminists may love me for this one but I'm just speaking on how I see it. Women have pretty much always taken a backseat role when it has come to entertainment value, if you look at a rap or rock video from the last decade, I guarantee you will find at least one scantily clad woman to provoke some crazy fantasy and thats about it. I was watching London Boulevard the other day and one of the main characters, a struggling actress, comments to her lover that in movies the female is almost always there to make the man look good. I still see it today but I cant speak for women because I'm not one. So to sum up my point I'll let one of my favorite artists talk about it.

‘And I’ve been known to talk about women on a track or two / I talk to women / I just can’t talk for women, that’s for you / we need women for that / more women in rap’.

- ShadK - Keep Shining

Listen below:
Keep Shining -TSOL -Shad K


He was interviewed by Canadian Interviews where he addressed the issue:

CI: A couple little questions about ‘Keep Shining’: that’s a song that gets highlighted a lot in articles, I’ve noticed, just because it’s rare to hear someone in hip-hop talk about the lack of women in rap music. Out of curiosity, what is it that you feel is missing in rap that more women in the game would help to address – what specifically?

SK: For me it’s like this. If you have dudes in a room talking, if you put a girl in that room, guys will just be maybe a little bit more cautious about what they say. Do you know what I mean? Just open up whatever the conversation is, and have it not be such a ‘dude’ thing. That’s sort of how I see it, just in that sense of opening up a dialogue.

CI: A lot of the time when you do hear women in rap it’s almost a contest of who can sound most like the guys in rap. It would be interesting to hear it come from a totally different perspective. Is there anybody that comes to mind that is doing that at all, or is it just mostly absent?

SK: There are definitely some female MCs just killing it right now. The kind of style that they bring can vary. It can be anything from a harder sort of swagger to something that’s very stereotypically feminine in style and in voice. There’s a cool range, and some people can do both at the same time. I saw Eternia up on stage in a dress, looking fly, and also rapping as hard as anyone. That was a really cool style and swagger to see on stage.

I feel the biggest thing when it comes to rap is that its expected that females have to go hard, be the baddest bitch etc etc, and that is a tough hype to live up to, not that theres anything wrong with that (like the video below) but it doesn't leave room for any other topics.

Lil Cali Feat. Na'tee - Hustle Hard


I was reading a few articles written by Bryan Sims, professor and a hip-hop purveyor with a level head, the way he broke down kim vs nicki had me nodding my head about 'Artist Cloning', the industry and the concept of beef, and an open letter to Tarica June a DC talent had me inspired (whose work you can check out here) Her mix-tape 'The Moonlight Revolution' is a excellent odyssey through the female perspective.

Now getting back to Kreayshawn whose video we posted a few days back, is she the next big female rapper or is it all hype? You decide. I just hope she'll keep true to her roots its always a tragedy and downfall of a rapper when they forget their roots, so I hope she doesn't get lost in the hype that is about to come.