I feel that it’s safe to say that female rappers/emcees don’t get the respect we deserve. We are still treated like novelties and viewed only as sex objects…and while I can comfortably point my finger at men as the oppressors in this scenario all day long, I won’t.
Instead I will turn my finger all the way around to a most uncomfortable position and blame myself, along with every other female in this industry, who is not doing like Canibus said and ‘taking it by force.’ (The respect we deserve.)
I can’t count how many times I’ve been told, “You’re dope – for a girl.” Or heard dudes say, “Can you believe he got crushed – by a girl? Bwahahaha,” without even thinking twice.
I do understand that women have yet to be viewed equally in society, (we still take on a man’s last names after marriage henceforth becoming property), but that doesn’t make for a good excuse for sexism in Hip-Hop.
If you think about it, none of the melanin-enriched men that dominate in this culture are viewed equally in society either. With Hip-Hop being founded and pioneered by groups of oppressed individuals, then you’d think that this group would be able to understand the perils and the plights of others who are oppressed but this is not so. After all, blatant homophobia still runs rampant in this scene.
When trying to find solutions to this problem (lack of respect) its very easy to jump on pseudo-feminist bandwagons and scream, “MEN SUCK- LET’S KILL THEM!!” or similar rhetoric, but blame can never free anyone. Passion and ACTION can.
Females DO deserve respect in this industry, OF COURSE. But since respect hasn’t automatically been handed to us we need to build ourselves a foundation of respect.
Currently, sexuality dominates in the lyrics of the handful of female rappers readily available to the general public. Now, I am all for aggressive female sexuality but we still have yet to prove that we are dope lyricists. We haven’t yet proven that we can write our own lyrics without the help of Jay-Z. Instead, we have proven that we can look good in tight outfits and buy Burberry gloves. Who really cares about that, male or female? If I want to see a chick with a fat ass I can go to the strip club, if I want to be pounded in the head with name brands I can go shopping, if I want to hear ill metaphors and hardcore delivery I shouldn’t have to seek out a male voice.
I’m not saying that male rappers aren’t overly sexual and materialistic as well, because they are. However, if I want to, I can think of at least 10 dope ass male emcees at any given moment, yet cant do the same when it comes to females. Maybe I could if we all weren’t so dead set on only allowing one female emcee in our lives at a time. Basically, we need more support within ourselves. We need more big ass crews of just females, crews with MORE than 1 female. Fuck this “Only female in my crew” bullshit. We are NOT pitbulls we are HUMAN WOMEN and there’s no reason to piss all over everyone who comes into our territory.
I’ve heard diss songs directed towards other females, why is it never a diss song directed towards a male? At least when we diss we could diss one of the millions of male rappers out there. To me that’s like being one of 2 black people in a racist all-white neighborhood and fighting the other black person on a daily basis. Am I making sense here?
I’ll admit that i have fallen victim to this wack train of thought in the past. I can remember groaning whenever another female hit the scene thinking “Uuugh….now I’ll NEVER get signed!!!”, until one day I finally WOKE THE FUCK UP and realized there’s TONS of male rappers, why cant there be TONS of females?
Unity will gain us respect, not division. For the New Year, let’s get it together and build strong, ya’ll.
by kkarma fashala
Originally published in VERBALISMS Magazine December 2002
{ 10 comments }
i have to say, that you are very bold about your statements which is good but the thing is, some girls of maybe i should say, women dont feel that its of important to state or retaliate based on being empowered by males.
i feel that we earn respect as give and take, but if one girl doesn’t, then theres something she aint doin right. but what about the ones who do, we dont need to preach nothing.
and the female rappers who do send out positive vibes and messages are always the ones who aren’t making the rent. i think you should do an article on why its obvious girls dont make it without selling sex and how girls who dont sell sex and are still very successful (ex. lauryn hill etc) can maintain that flava?
btw, this verbalisms website is off tha hook.
i have truly enjoyed this site. i think you all are doing a tremendous job and give a lot of insight to areas possibly not even thought of. keep doin’ what cha doin’.
Honestly, I dont think we earn as much respect compare to men.I dun mean to sound pessimistic about this whole ish but then I believe that we should be treated equally in hip-hop.There are lot of ass kickin femmes out there with pure talents who could have been big, but they didnt even give em a chance to show everyone what they have!
Thanks for that article, I realized that we should not be kept silent, let us tell them what we have in mind and what our opinions about women in hip-hop.
**This site is rad!Kudos to those who made this project/site possibLe.
WOW!!! I am glad that I have found such a dope site. Keep on, Keeping on! We (woman) need this! Love + light+ balance!
m.
this seems to me as not just an issue in hiphop, but a general one. Female emancipation has only come so far in the last century, but thing are getting better, although prejudice will always exist females will be replaced with the next thing. But patriarchy is definitely coming to an end, and articles like this one will help to speed up the process…keep up the good work!
btw…maybe if there were more female mc’s, this problem wouldn’t even exist. But that’s a part of the problem, it’s also an emancipation issue. I think it’s hard for females to start up a rapping career because most don’t see things this way. They think hiphop is a male thing and that they should rather concentrate on r&b or related styles. The record industry pushes them in this direction, because it is, like most industries, also a male dominated subculture. I think it’s the belief that females don’t like to listen to hiphop as much as males(which, statistically, is true) has become a self fullfilling prophecy, as in there is not enough hiphop out there by females to identify with for their own gender, that makes it seem that it can;t be done. It’s not just about the mc’s, it’s about the companies and the public as well.
wait a sec, it aint got nothing to do with the lack of female artists out there. im thinking you just contradicted yourself because i think the sites trying to support so that more can get out there.
what has nothing to do with lack of female artists? i was referring to the mainstream. how is it a contradiction to say that we need to prove ourselves as more than sex objects in a public arena?
This article had some good insight. I feel the same way. There will always be a “first lady” in an all male crew, but when will there ever be an all female crew that won’t have to sell sex along with her rhymes. Nobody wants to see a real dope female emcee unless she is wearing something skin tight in this male dominated time. Female emcees need to step up and come hard, not just make men hard with raunchy rhymes (Lil’ Kim Foxy Brown). I have been thirsty for a raw female emcee, someone needs to step up and take up where Latifah, Lyte, and Love left off. Fa real.
i’m a female emcee tryin’ 2 do my thing in this shady industry- I have passed up several deals because of certain things that I refuse to do and I know that my time will come but whatever the situation is it will have to be 100% all me when I do this. check us out at
http://naturalhabitz.homestead.com
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