Bossed Up
Women in hip hop have to be twice as good as their male counter parts just to be noticed. Female rappers have an even harder time proving their talent since rap is so heavily dominated by masculinity. The lacking presence of female rappers is not because females aren’t artistically drawn to the genre it is how slim their chances of really making an impact and gaining the recognition they deserve are. There are many females in the industry today but they are struggling to prove their talent against all odds. Even so, there have been and still are strong, talented, and hard working women that have made it in the industry.
Nicki Minaj is one of the most relevant rappers in the current hip hop world. When she appeared on The Queen Latifah Show in 2013 Queen Latifah said to her “you’re carrying the torch for us (female rappers) right now. There are not a whole lot of us.” Queen Latifah began her very successful rap career in 1988 but even more than 20 years later the lack of females in the industry hasn’t changed.
Even so, Nicki is working immensely hard carrying that torch for herself, her fans, and to prove anyone that doesn’t take her seriously wrong. Queen Latifah also noted about the rapper, “You’re not just ahead of the pack for female rappers. You are ahead of entertainment period. You are one of the top 5 in the business period.” Nicki’s huge accomplishments are breaking down barriers within the hip hop industry and she still hasn’t won a Grammy although she has been nominated 10 times.
Nicki has also been caught on camera speaking about the issues she faces being a women in hip hop. In the video The rapper is getting ready with a hot pink beehive wig on speaking about the importance of respect and not accepting anything less than she deserves. She compares herself to Lil Wayne, whose record label she is signed to, saying that when Wayne appears at the studio and is demanding people to get out of his face and everyone shut up he is cool but if she stands up for herself she is called difficult and people won’t want to work with her. She phrases it simply, “When I am assertive I’m a bitch. When a man is assertive he’s a boss. No negative connotation behind bossed up but lots of negative connotation behind being a bitch.” This is so hugely important to rap because so much of rap music is aggressive. Rap music itself is often made of heavy, powerful beats matched with aggressive language.
The art matches the artists that are in this industry. Females of the industry have had to juggle being assertive without being too assertive for far too long. A double standard that is present in so many aspects of the working world. Nick also says in the same video, “When you’re a girl you have to be like everything. You have to be dope at what you do but you have to be supper sweet and you have to be sexy and you have to be this and you have to be that and you have to be nice and its like I can’t be all of those things at once.” She speaks for all females here. We have such high standards set for us about how we should act and who we should be but it is impossible to meet all those standards. Women have every right to be more demanding and assertive. Fuck anyone that tries to tell us differently.
