Her Mic Sounds Nice – But Hip-Hop Won’t Give Her A Chance

Commentary by Wanda

I love rap music of yesterday and today (without the vulgarities, of course) but I avoid attending any concerts for fear of getting groped, hit with a chair, trampled, or killed with a stray bullet. Nevertheless, I take advantage of any opportunity to hear a live performance. About a month ago, BET held its first annual Hip-Hop awards in Atlanta, Georgia. The show went off without a hitch. As I viewed the category nominees and cheered for the winners, time after time men marched onto the stage. Even the categories took on male personas – Hustler of the Year, MVP, People’s Champ Award. Out of the 17 categories only one woman, Mary J. Blige, walked off as a winner on a collaborative live performance with Busta Rhymes. It immediately hit me…Hip Hop has been confiscated by men! Although it started as a male movement, there were large spans of time when women were important players in the industry. But since Gangsta rap and the insurgence of violent and sexist lyrics, the industry has limited the role of women in Hip-Hop.

This is not a clarion call for a return to the rap music of the 80’s. It is my attempt to honor the redeeming qualities of Hip Hop in our culture and question why it is exclusively male. Has Hip Hop become a way for black men to claim ground that they have lost in most other sectors of the business world? Maybe this is the way that men carve out a space for themselves that has not been given to them in other areas of their lives. I sympathize with black men; but, I don’t think that lost ground elsewhere gives them a license to dominate, discriminate, exploit or silence women. It appears now that women can only find their place in Hip Hop as the backdrop by singing a hook, dancing or modeling, with the exception of a few token female rappers like Missy Elliot. Nevertheless female rappers like Salt N Pepa, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Roxanne, Lauryn Hill, the late Lisa Left Eye Lopez, Da Brat, Eve are slowly becoming icons of the past. Unfortunately, our young female lyricists seem to only find their place in R&B songwriting or spoken word venues.

Today Hip Hop is only inspiring a future generation of men. It has transformed itself into a multi-millionaire dollar industry and why shouldn’t girls get a piece of the pie? Young men have role models like Puff Daddy, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and others who acquired multi-million dollar endorsements. These entrepreneurs and businessmen promote this type of ingenuity in their male fans, but young girls are not inspired to achieve a respectable level within the industry. I know that it is easy to place all the blame on men, but women in the industry, such as Debra Lee, CEO and Chairperson of BET, have a responsibility to the future of Hip-Hop. And it appears that most of the female rappers could care less about inspiring the next generation of lyricists, although Salt N Pepa and others were their inspiration. Hip-Hop is and will always be a social movement. It stands juxtaposed against mainstream and traditional black music. It should always have something different and relevant to say. It has always given a voice to the youth, and should always be one type of channel to engage their stories. But that collective story should include what it means for young women to grow up in the inner city. She has a story too, and it should be told and respected. The Hip-Hop community has a long way to go when it comes to gender equality and the elimination of misogynistic behavior. The perpetuation of patriarchy (embedded in the DNA of the black community) only legitimizes this type of discrimination.

Response by Cantice

I'll be brief, since Wanda wasn't. I am unqualified to speak about Hip Hop in any significant way. I stopped being a loyal fan years ago. Every now and again while substitute teaching or attending a youth conference, I'd catch an earful of lyrics that confirmed that my decision not to support mainstream Hip Hop was a good one. The last good Hip Hop I heard was by the Verbs (to the Knowda) at a church Hip Hop extravaganza in the summer of '05. The Verbs rocked da' party. I wanted to dance and scream and chant, but I was too old and the younguns wasn't feeling it like I was (what do they know?). Needless to say, I love good music and Hip Hop is no exception.

But, as with some other things, I am not an equal opportunity employer when it comes to Hip Hop. My heart is not really gripped by a lack of gendered affirmative action in the field. This vacancy of frontrunning women in the Hip Hop industry could be a result of women assessing the field and choosing not to be a part of the madness. Still, Wanda's commentary addresses an issue that is dear to me, the issue of mentorship. What may be true of women is that we are such an integral part of keeping our own families and churches running that we don't make time to nurture the hopes of those not related to us. Since some men don't play as large a role in the family and in church organization, they may have extra time to reach back to the would be industry moguls of tomorrow. All this is just speculation. I may be trying too hard to say something thoughtful about this phenomenon that gripped Wanda to the point of addressing it for you, the public, to ponder.

Overall, I still believe that those who want to rock da' mic' bad enough will make it happen for themselves. And those seeking mentors will make the connection. American Idol can’t be a better example of the fact that anybody can make it, if they have the heart. So I say, ladies, pump it up.