During Tuesday’s class this week we watched a video about women in hip hop in which several African American female hip hop artists got to say their piece on the topic. I found the video to be really interesting since I knew hardly anything about hip hop from previous decades. The video explains that when females first began taking part in the genre the women were fierce and empowering. It was all about the music for them. They would perform anywhere, anytime in the clothes they had on. They themselves and people who enjoyed their music weren’t focused on their appearance and it was instead all about their talent. Many of their songs expressed their struggles and the adversity they faced in their life that they were able to overcome. The music during this time was much more authentic and real. Artist weren’t worried about the character they should build for themselves and making music people want to hear like artists today. I like that these women expressed what they were thinking and feeling rather than worrying about pleasing their labels or their fans. I think that music is much more meaningful when artists are able to do this.
The mid 1900s, particularly from 1995-1996, was the Golden Age for women. The number of female artists in the industry had bloomed to up to forty. Although many had made it big, a lot did so through collaboration with other male artists. The female artists who spoke in the video explained that is what they had to do and was just the way it was. For me, this was a little hard to hear. I think women and their talents should be recognized and respected on their own. They should not need the help or assistance of men to take their careers to the next level. As hip hop became more modern, female artists also felt pressure to make themselves seem sexier and portray themselves that way through their songs and appearance. This became the formula for all female rappers. The way they dressed, danced, and most importantly their music became about marketing and there was no individualism. Today artists have to wear lots of makeup, dress bizarre, and rap about meaningless things. It seems like being yourself isn’t good enough anymore which I think is horrible and sends a bad message.
I agree that it is crazy that women have to portray themselves differently in order to make a name for themselves. They want artists to be original and different but yet they try to glam up every women who is trying to become an artist.
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