THE HISTORY OF WOMEN IN HIP HOP

The evolution of women in hip-hop culture has been a challenging journey. Women who participate in the hip-hop movement have been steering the path for respecting the female gender. With the increased intensity, women are changing the culture of being illustrated as objects. They are using their involvement in the culture to uphold authentic feminism. The current revolution emphasizes the powers of women and the need for them to be respected as mothers, professionals, as well as people who want to be loved. Even though there still exist forces casting women as sex objects, they are increasingly resisting the manner in which their useful contributions to the society are shunned. Introducing a colorful soul to the hip-hop culture, women are majorly singing on their spiritual desires and want as opposed to their superficial beauty. They are no longer tolerating to be viewed as stupid and weak by men but aiming at defining themselves as equal people with significant roles as the feminine gender.[1] In this regard, women in hip-hop culture, including Lil’ Kim are progressively celebrating the meaning of being female, by embracing a feminine spirit.

Initially, the hip-hop culture described the female gender as objects. It considered women as people with no voice in the society, but rather wait for instructions from their male counterparts. Men rap artists sang on their victory in using women, while the latter focused on how the never required the former to survive. Such messages were a big challenge to the growth of the rap culture in regard to the state of relationships and female psyche. Women in hip-hop were showcased as prostitutes carrying out their business on the free market to anyone who was interested and willing to buy.[2] However, the culture has been changing with the entry of courageous female rappers such as MC Lyte and Lil’ Kim into the industry. For instance, MC Lyte highly enhanced the change of the cult in the late 1980s. During this period, she was the first female emcee to sell millions of albums.[3] The lyrics in her songs were helpful in evolving hip-hop from a party vibe to a form of social expression. Her music mainly involved essential topics such as sexism, racism, and the drug epidemic. She achieved great things in the hip-hop industry, including the first rapper to hold a performance at Carnegie Hall and first female rapper to be nominated for a Grammy. She revolutionized the industry by making many women realize their value in the society. The artist was helpful in creating an avenue for other interested women such as Lil’ Kim to join the rap game.

Lil’ Kim, by real names Kimberly Jones is a successful, talented, and influential female rapper in the world. With her four albums, including Hard Core, The Notorious K.I.M., La Bella Mafia, and The Naked Truth, she has changed the image of women in the culture. She started her career towards the mid-1990s, by encouraging many women to make a sexual turn in regard to their rap persona. Having been discovered by Biggie Smalls, she became part of the famous rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A.[4] Being the only female in the group, Lil’ Kim was determined to achieve her goals as a rapper. In 1995, she got her first opportunity to depict her persona. Through the Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s first single “Players Anthem” Lil’ Kim revolutionized the cult. In the song, she introduces herself as Big Momma, a boss who presides over Willies and criminals. In such an instance, the rapper passed a message that women have the ability to lead the society, thereby challenging the hip-hop culture that assumed they were objects to be used by men.

Kim’s songs are characterized by dirty language that in most cases serve feministic purposes. For instance, the title of the song “Suck my D-k” became one of the spiky feminist anthems that transmitted key message.[5] The song tends to put men in the shows of women by letting them imagine of what will take place if women were hitting on men as they did to them. Moreover, her song, “How Many Licks” also exposes the brutal as well as hardcore elements of her sexuality. Contrarily to the hip-hop culture trend that often involves a black man demeaning the female gender with explicit lyrics, the song entails a black woman expressing her feelings proudly. Kim’s lyrics perfectly suit the sexual diva persona in her, but with feminine power over the males. While in hip hop many male artists make women sexual instruments in most of their songs, Kim also does the same to men in her songs. Within the male-dominated industry, Kim defines her voice as well as utilizes her opportunity to make a change to the men’s notion of objectifying her alongside other women for a long period.

Moreover, she proceeds to showcase her proudness of being her own woman boss as opposed to depending on her late mentor. In her first album “Crush on You”, she notes that everyone should be aware that she is successful and despite her “crush” she never needs a man.[6] She continues to assert that she can have anything she wants, including clothing and luxurious cars without depending on anyone.[7] The song communicates critical information that Kim is okay, and she is in charge of her life. No matter where she was heading career-wise, Kim used the song to notify the world that she had power. The power grants her control over herself and ensures she is not regarded as an object of any man. Such a courageous move has been significant in the industry by enhancing equality between the two types of gender.

Notably, Kim uses two strong tools, namely her image as a self-made, powerful, successful, and wealthy woman, and men hypersexual, whereby she uses sex to get what she wants in her effort to fight sexism and negative impacts of hip-hop culture on women. The two identities and images are part of the current hip-hop feminism. The women are widely encouraged to show their strength by achieving great things on their own as a method of fighting sexism that permeates the music industry. Consequently, women are also determined in turning the sexism on men. In this regard, rappers such as Lil’ Kim showcase themselves as sexually liberated as well as tend to objectify men as sex instruments in their songs. The strategies are leading women towards the achievement of their common goals, as many of them have joined the industry and are tirelessly changing it.

Over the years, Kim’s image has slightly changed but largely remained a sexual persona, especially with the development of her Queen-Bee persona. She perfectly suits the video girls in the manner she dances and dresses, but the element of not depending on any man makes her different.[8] This is the major factor of her songs, whereby she is trying to encourage other women to become independent. In most cases, she is sexy, raunchy, and explicit about her sexuality, but she never allows any man to use her as an object; instead, men have always been her objects. Through her music, one can quickly note that Kim has all the powers, an aspect that describes her sexuality as well as her role as a female rapper artist. By developing such a personality, Kim is inspiring many women to come out and fight for their position in the hip-hop industry and society at large.

Although more women evolution is expected in the rap culture, the progressive platform has already been put in place. The future generation women are going to enjoy the change in the treatment of women in the culture. Such an achievement is attributed to few women such as MC Lety and Lil’ Kim who have gone through a rough way to fight sexism in the movement. Kim, alongside other woman rappers, have achieved a lot in terms of eradication of sexism, as illustrated by their music message. Currently, many people emphasize family life, gentle discourse, loving relationships, and monogamous sexuality, and these aspects are as a result of embracement of true womanhood in the rap culture. Resultantly, women are becoming increasingly confident in expressing their true wants and desires fear or shame. Consequently, women can now sing about themselves, life, and men with an intense love of individuals who are committed to attaining the best things in life and be respected for their feminine features.

Bibliography

Brown, Stacia. “It’s Time to Tell the Stories of Women in Hip-Hop”. The New Republic. 26 August 2015.

https://newrepublic.com/article/122611/its-time-tell-stories-women-hip-hop.

Durham, Aisha, Brittney C. Cooper, and Susana M. Morris. “The Stage Hip-Hop Feminism Built: A New Directions Essay.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 38, no. 3 (2013): 721-737.

Janae, Amber. “Lil’ Kim – How One Woman Influenced the Fashion Industry”. The Core Magazine. 24 August 2018.

Morris, Tyana. “The Evolution of Women in Hip-Hop”. Pine Needle News. 1 February 2018.

Smith, Da’Shan. “Lil’ Kim Did it First: The Multiple Personas Existing In Hip Hop’s Queen Bee”. Revolt TV. 12 July 2018.

https://revolt.tv/stories/2018/07/11/lil-kim-alter-egos-personalities-personas-07000a3092.

[1] Durham, Aisha, Brittney C. Cooper, and Susana M. Morris. “The Stage Hip-Hop Feminism Built: A New Directions Essay.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 38, no. 3 (2013): 721-737

[2] Ibid., 723.

[3] Brown, Stacia. “It’s Time to Tell the Stories of Women in Hip-Hop”. The New Republic. 26 August 2015.

https://newrepublic.com/article/122611/its-time-tell-stories-women-hip-hop.

[4] Morris, Tyana. “The Evolution of Women in Hip-Hop”. Pine Needle News. . 1 February 2018.

[5] Smith, Da’Shan. “Lil’ Kim Did it First: The Multiple Personas Existing In Hip Hop’s Queen Bee”. Revolt TV. 12 July 2018.

https://revolt.tv/stories/2018/07/11/lil-kim-alter-egos-personalities-personas-07000a3092.

[6] Smith, Da’Shan. “Lil’ Kim Did it First: The Multiple Personas Existing In Hip Hop’s Queen Bee”.

[7] Janae, Amber. “Lil’ Kim – How One Woman Influenced the Fashion Industry”. The Core Magazine. 24 August 2018.

[8] Morris, Tyana. “The Evolution of Women in Hip-Hop”. Pine Needle News.

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