The elephant in the room is that Hip Hop has always had an issue with women. Whether it’s marginalizing early artists like Sha-rock and Roxane Shante or the casual misogynoir that is rampant in rap lyrics to this day, there is a way in which being a fan of hip hop and being a Black woman is a complicated thing. Despite the fact that a Black woman co-founded Sugar Hill Records, a label that produced one of the earliest hip hop records (1979’s ‘Rapper’s Delight’), we are still fighting for equal visibility and recognition in the genre and the industry.
And it’s not just the record labels, the rappers, etc, but often the culture itself. People rap along to lyrics without thinking about what they say when they call a woman a ‘bitch’. They make lists and lists and lists with their ‘best ever’ rappers/verses/beats without naming a SINGLE woman; or if they do, they often define that artist solely by her gender. Women who rap are rarely considered by the cognoscenti as representative of the genre, of its possibilities, of its contributions to mass culture and art. The hip hop heads nod sagely when Monie Love or MC Lyte are mentioned, but their hipster gatekeeping generally implies that ‘real hip hop’, the thing they so performatively guard with their self-made metrics of authenticity, is made by (straight, cis) men.
But today is not about those who care more about that rare mixtape, that obscure rapper that had a feature on that one thing you’ve probably never heard of (said with just a *hint* of condescension) than they do about the brilliant complexity of the culture and its socio-political telos, it’s about who we value in listening to and thinking about hip hop culture.
It’s hero day.
And Queen Latifah is one of my heroes.
I could go and on about her, but I mostly want to give flowers to a Black woman who had the courage and the tenacity to create space for herself as an artist and MC in an era where this was nearly impossible. And not only that, she opened the door, willingly, purposefully, for so many other Black women rappers, encouraging them, inspiring them, and persisting as a multi-hyphenate talent.
Here’s an incredible feature on her to read when you have the time.
Let’s hear about your hip hop hero! Please give grace and thanks today to those sharing any experiences or music that means something personal.