Women In Hip-Hop

Good afternoon, blog. We spent class-time on Tuesday watching a documentary about women’s influence in the music industry and how women had to be as aggressive as men were to be recognized for their talent. Interviewers sat down with a group of women, some of them being Queen Latifah and Foxy Brown, to talk to them about what their experiences in the industry were like during their come ups. There were various women being interviewed who wrote their rhymes at the ages of ten, fourteen and twelve. The thing about hip-hop was that it was designed to inspire. It was taken to the streets. A hip-hop group of four was one of the first to shock the system, one of its members under the name Lady B. A few other groups whom were also a sensation at the time were “Funky Four Plus One More” which was made up of four men and one woman and “UTFO”, a group out of Brooklyn, New York.  

Women in the music industry became a natural occurrence over time. At the end of the day, it did not matter how fashionable your clothes were or if your hair was done. It was about talent and the ability to battle other MC’s in the business. A woman by the name of Roxanne was a star in this regard, she was willing to battle any MC she came across or that approached her. As similarly mentioned before, women had to rap like men to have a chance of becoming a somebody. An aspiring artist by the name of MC Lite was an amazing lyricist and had the style/flow she needed to make something of herself. Queen Latifah on the other hand, made an entrance to the scene like no other had. She cared more about pride and honor. Photographs of her wearing a head wrap that resembled the crown of a queen’s can be seen online. Latifah was a woman who made her presence known and solidified a spot for herself in music. There were hundreds of young musicians who had tried and given up, but not her. 

The era of the Golden Age fell between the late eighties and early nineties. The nineties became a time for women to shine and their presence in music exploded. Artists such as Mecca, Foxy Brown, Lauryn Hill and Lil’ Kim blew up during this period. It was established that women did not need men to prove their talent, but you were in the game if you walked with a man to a record label. The thought process changed from women wanting to own the business and not wanting men to be a part of their fame to women appreciating having a man over their shoulder. As many of us know, hip-hop is known to be masculine but women were unique in all aspects of their presence. Foxy Brown’s perspective on interactions with men in the industry was that “You can ride with me but I’m getting paid the same.” There was also plenty of sexual rap introduced later on. Lauryn Hill stood out tremendously and represented everything great about hip-hop, sexual tendencies being one of them. She was also considered a gem and a spiritual icon. Lauryn’s career took a turn though when the upcoming release of her album, “Miss Education Part 2”, was not released under her original label, Sony. Because of a difference in production, fans started to slowly pay less attention to her music. Along with this, Hill got married and had kids which became a lot to juggle with her music career. The absence of Lauryn’s presence on the scene became difficult for everyone as musical activity fell silent. Trying to find another Lauryn Hill was like trying to find another Jay Z, impossible.  

Although much more documentation was captured in the film, I will end here by saying that women revolutionized music in a way that was unthinkable.