Hip Hop and Women

Hip Hop these days does give one a negative  impression of women. An example of this would be the common video vixen who is half naked in front of the camera dancing like a stripper. There are female rappers, such as Nicki Minaj, who have the ability to build their own reputation to their fans. Nicki Minaj does, in a way,  build up females by influencing them using the term 'Barbie.' One could link the term in a positive and negative manner. Once could interpret the term to represent fakeness or beauty. It does not, however, interpret into 'bitch' or 'ho.' She does influence her female audience to embrace their sexuality and their uniqueness. She is  not the typical female rapper who has to degrade herself with sexually explicit lyrics like the rapper Lil Kim. Although I do enjoy her music, I think that some of her lyrics are a bit vulgar.
There are MANY male rappers who disrespect women by referring to them as 'bitches' and 'hoes.' They also refer explicit sexual acts to women, and women actually enjoy their music. REALLY? I don't understand why women enjoy listening to someone who descriptively describe what can be done with their mouths or bodies. I also find it interesting that men in hip hop have embraced the notion of a woman being independent because they prefer them over the gold diggers. Rappers, like Queen Latifah, have almost become obsolete. She was one who I remember promoted women having their own identities and demanding respect from men. Where has this idea gone to?-Michelle Green


I feel that hip hop owes a great deal to women, and is also highly influenced by them.  As we have discussed, and read Hip Hop was first brought to the masses by a woman, namely Sylvia Robinson.  Also, there were many female crews in early hip hop, and prominent females during hip hops adolescence; Queen Latifah is one rapper of note that continues to reap the rewards of the opportunities that hip hop provided her.
With that said hip hop has matured to be quite the chauvinist.  Females in rap today, often feel compelled to sell sex before skill, and their struggles to gain recognition and success can be easily related back to the discussion of white rappers and their struggle for authenticity.
It can be seen that female rappers often associate with a crew of male rappers, and often can be seen adopting the "baby girl", or "bad bitch" motif.
More recently, female rappers seem to be stretching out a bit, and behaving a lot like their RnB counterparts, perhaps it is a result of the blending of the two genres, but I think that it's interesting to see it happen, because females run the show on the RnB side while most often female rappers tend to go the way of their "male sponsors".  Unfortunately, depending on your view, it seems that Nikki Minaj is the most likely female rapper to be able to escape the shadow of her crew, and lil mama is a distant second.
I personally find that Nikki Lynette is one of the most interesting female rappers, because of her break from traditional rules and perceptions.-Donal Davis