I was at Barnes and Nobles the other day doing my bi-weekly research on "Whose Who" in hip hop and I quickly found myself flipping through dozens of the latest music magazines and stumbling across pages and pages of uncharted female hip hop acts...hmm peculiar I thought.
I found it interesting that since young money femcee Nicki Minaj has taken on the music industry by storm, being featured in almost every hip hop and pop song we can think of that's on the charts, there has been a rising surge in more female artist stepping out and up.
Lets see we have Baltimore native Keys known for her infamous diss track to Nicki, we have Trina who has been doing her thing but she has defiantly been off her hiatus since the Nicki era releasing a hot new album and delivering blazing features and 16 bar raps , and we got Lil Kim who hasn't had a new single in regular radio rotation for a minute but still holds the crown.
Most people would argue that Nicki further perpetuates the stereotypes and arch types of women in the hip hop industry...but how has this one women managed to have so much power?
Truth is we don't know or can judge what Nicki did to get to the position she is in, but we do know that the majority of the overlooked, overshadowed female artist feel like there is no time like the present to let their presence be known.
In my opinion in some weird way maybe we should thank Nicki ..wait hear me out... before Nicki there was a silence in the "commercial" music industry...there was a void...of course you got your underground rap stars your Jean Graes and Amanda Divas...although Nicki squeaky and experimental sounds can drive you nuts at time..I can help but say I get it.
We are living in a world today where as Erykah Badu would say "Its Like The WILD WILD WEST" anything goes there are no rules...the walls have been cracked as new doors and windows have been formed to let the next up in and the next one to follow as well.
What I think we as female artist need to do is take moments to self reflect and not look at what our peers are always doing and try to find everything there doing wrong...but what are they doing that's right?
Everyone at some point in their career wants a chance to shine, today may be Nicki's time but tomorrow can be yours
After all what works for one may not work for the other...there is room for everyone.
The video below is a clip of MIA's new SINGLE "XXXO" of her new album MAYA available everywhere
MIA is an example of an artist who has created her own lane
I found it interesting that since young money femcee Nicki Minaj has taken on the music industry by storm, being featured in almost every hip hop and pop song we can think of that's on the charts, there has been a rising surge in more female artist stepping out and up.
Lets see we have Baltimore native Keys known for her infamous diss track to Nicki, we have Trina who has been doing her thing but she has defiantly been off her hiatus since the Nicki era releasing a hot new album and delivering blazing features and 16 bar raps , and we got Lil Kim who hasn't had a new single in regular radio rotation for a minute but still holds the crown.
Most people would argue that Nicki further perpetuates the stereotypes and arch types of women in the hip hop industry...but how has this one women managed to have so much power?
Truth is we don't know or can judge what Nicki did to get to the position she is in, but we do know that the majority of the overlooked, overshadowed female artist feel like there is no time like the present to let their presence be known.
In my opinion in some weird way maybe we should thank Nicki ..wait hear me out... before Nicki there was a silence in the "commercial" music industry...there was a void...of course you got your underground rap stars your Jean Graes and Amanda Divas...although Nicki squeaky and experimental sounds can drive you nuts at time..I can help but say I get it.
We are living in a world today where as Erykah Badu would say "Its Like The WILD WILD WEST" anything goes there are no rules...the walls have been cracked as new doors and windows have been formed to let the next up in and the next one to follow as well.
What I think we as female artist need to do is take moments to self reflect and not look at what our peers are always doing and try to find everything there doing wrong...but what are they doing that's right?
Everyone at some point in their career wants a chance to shine, today may be Nicki's time but tomorrow can be yours
After all what works for one may not work for the other...there is room for everyone.
The video below is a clip of MIA's new SINGLE "XXXO" of her new album MAYA available everywhere
MIA is an example of an artist who has created her own lane