Producer 9th Wonder recently tweeted about how today’s rap fans are uninterested in female rappers with proper skills, and how an artist like his own Rapsody can struggle to break into the mainstream. As one of the most respected voices in hip-hop, pretty much everything that 9th Wonder says is spot on, and, somewhat sadly this time, he’s dead right once again.
When LL Cool J released the video for his 1996 hit Doin’ It, something wasn’t right. The usual over-cooked hallmarks of a Hype Williams visual were all there, but there was something funny about the appearance of LeShaun, who sings the hook. It didn’t look like her at all, and that was because it wasn’t.
It later transpired that she was pregnant when the video was shot, but rumors at the time had it that LeShaun had been replaced by a bunch of models because she wasn’t deemed hot enough to get busy with Uncle L in a Hype Williams joint.
Whether true or not, it’s this type of misogynistic bullshit that keeps truly talented female rappers out of the mainstream, and it always has. It seems as though at some point in the career of all female artists, a cruel decision hast to get made: Let their writing and rhyme skills be what gets them noticed, or use their femininity and sex appeal as the gimmick. Unfortunately there seems little scope to do both, and we all know which artists have chosen which path. Remember those early videos of Nicki Minaj spitting absolute fire in freestyle sessions on the streets of NYC? Didn’t think so. Not many people do.
https://twitter.com/9thWonderMusic/status/524222036429000704
For those that don’t take the route we’ll traveled by Nicki, Lil Kim and the others, there’s little in the way of longevity to be had. And that’s a damn shame. The true hip-hop fan doesn’t care if a good artist is a man, woman, straight, gay or anything else. As KRS-ONE once said, a dope emcee is a dope emcee. If they do happen to be a woman, it also makes no difference what they look like.
Sex sells in the real world though, and that’s why pretty much every skilful female rapper of the past twenty years has all but disappeared. If they are still around, their chances of new success seem to be fading fast. Bahamadia, Jean Grae, Apani B Fly, Lady of Rage. All of them chose to stay true to the art instead of selling their body, but have little to show for it today. For what its worth by the way, if we are going to be forced to judge them on looks too, every one of the women on the list in the sentence above are talented emcees AND beautiful.
It’s a depressing truth to face, but the artistry of women artists will never be judged as important as T&A by millions of teenage fans. It’s a problem not just in hip-hop of course, but it’s probably the one specific form of entertainment where it’s at its worst. In the meantime, quality artists like Rapsody and the next generation will continue to find it hard to breakthrough.