Rasheeda Frost91裸聊视频檚 relationship with hip-hop started in 1981.
She was a kindergartener when her mother gave her a record player, and she would continuously spin it, not knowing what it was. Then her mom gave her a record from The Sugarhill Gang.
91裸聊视频淪he must91裸聊视频檝e just known hip-hop was embedded in me at such a young age,91裸聊视频� the MTV 91裸聊视频淟ove and Hip-Hop: Atlanta91裸聊视频� reality star said.
91裸聊视频淚 played that record until I tore it up.91裸聊视频�
Frost fell in love with hip-hop. Lyrics, music videos, and magazine covers display a genre that is male-centered and male-dominated. But Frost took her passion a step further and joined the ranks of female rappers and emcees who battled , sexism, and patriarchy to send hip-hop spinning in a different direction.
91裸聊视频淚 had to go out there and work triple as hard, make sure I91裸聊视频檓 respected, not get taken advantage of as a female, and really go hard for what I know and stand for something,91裸聊视频� Frost said.
From The Sequence releasing the first rap record by an all-female group in 1979, to MC Sha-Rock91裸聊视频檚 iconic performance on 91裸聊视频淪NL91裸聊视频� as a part of Funky 4+1, female rappers have always been a part of hip-hop.
Women have gone from donning a male-imitated aesthetic, to owning their sexuality in lyrics, to selling out stadiums. At hip-hop91裸聊视频檚 50th anniversary, female rappers are taking their moment to shine 91裸聊视频� while still demanding respect and facing challenges.
Msia Kibona Clark, an African culture and feminist studies professor at Howard University, said women were 91裸聊视频渓argely invisible91裸聊视频� in hip-hop during the 91裸聊视频�80s and early 91裸聊视频�90s.
91裸聊视频淓arly on the idea was to imitate men in terms of the aesthetics, and the idea was the hip-hop uniform 91裸聊视频� baggy clothes and sneakers and t-shirts,91裸聊视频� said Clark.
Clark said early female rappers had the challenge of navigating sexism and sexual harassment, as well as carving out a perspective that often wasn91裸聊视频檛 heard.
In an interview with The Associated Press, hip-hop icon Queen Latifah called it 91裸聊视频渢he dark ages of hip-hop because it just wasn91裸聊视频檛 enough women voices.91裸聊视频�
SiriusXM host Roxanne Shante started entering rap as a young teen in the 1980s. The hip-hop legend91裸聊视频檚 battle tracks solidified her as one of the earliest and fiercest emcees at the age of 14.
91裸聊视频淚 came in as little sis; even to the point of where sometimes they didn91裸聊视频檛 even want to let me participate, because sometimes the men felt that I was that good,91裸聊视频� Shante told the AP.
Entertainer and philanthropist Yo-Yo was known for rapping about female empowerment and demanding respect, but she still dealt with having to 91裸聊视频渟tay in a woman91裸聊视频檚 place.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淭hose were some of the challenges when the record labels only respected men,91裸聊视频� Yo-Yo said.
Female emcees found themselves having to defend the genre as well as prove themselves worthy of holding the mic.
91裸聊视频淲hen there was negativity or any kind of misogyny, it only pushed us even more,91裸聊视频� said DJ Spinderella, a member of the hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa. 91裸聊视频淥ur first goal was to shake our thing, but then the fact that we were inspiring women to become their better selves despite the negative was important.91裸聊视频�
By the late 91裸聊视频�90s and early 2000s, women were becoming more visible in hip-hop. Female artists offered a variety of sounds from Lauryn Hill to Missy Elliott.
But challenges persisted. As more women entered, some were uniting on hit records such as 91裸聊视频淟adies Night,91裸聊视频� while others were pitted against each other. The hypersexualization of women was also ramping up.
Although female rappers have pushed sex positive lyrics since the 91裸聊视频�80s, the mid-to-late 91裸聊视频�90s saw the advent of artists such as Lil91裸聊视频� Kim and Foxy Brown more overtly displaying and owning their sexuality. This drew controversy 91裸聊视频� and hypocrisy.
91裸聊视频淲hen I came out with songs like 91裸聊视频楳ake It Vibrate91裸聊视频� and songs like 91裸聊视频楪eorgia Peach91裸聊视频�, I got a lot of resistance from radio because they said it was too sexy,91裸聊视频� said Frost, who released her first album 91裸聊视频淒irty South91裸聊视频� in 2001. 91裸聊视频淚t was a battle every single day just to be heard, to be respected.91裸聊视频�
As rap continued to evolve, rappers such as Remy Ma and Trina continued to hold down the booth. Nicki Minaj91裸聊视频檚 impact on the genre was explosive in the 2010s 91裸聊视频� as reflected by her winning the BET Awards best female hip hop artist from 2010 through 2016.
The late 2010s saw a change in technology. Internet access gave rise to a new era of artists using social media as a way to gain traction. Hip-hop became bigger in pop culture and hip-hop artists became the faces of popular brands and fashion labels.
The shifting pop culture landscape, along with the tenacious work of female rap pioneers, helped pave the way for an explosion of female rappers and artists.
91裸聊视频淚 love it. I think that we have our own table. We just don91裸聊视频檛 have to get in to fit in. I think women are making powerful moves,91裸聊视频� said Yo-Yo.
The theme of female empowerment remains but the message has changed 91裸聊视频� with artists such as Megan Thee Stallion and the City Girls rapping about sexual liberation and hypergamous values, as well as women having their own money.
The pervasiveness of misogyny and patriarchal violence still threatens the existence of female rappers. Some experts think that female rap is more hyper-sexualized than ever before.
There91裸聊视频檚 also a push for more femme-presenting queer and non-binary artists to have a platform in a genre that has been largely homophobic and heteronormative since its inception.
91裸聊视频淢y hopes for the future of hip-hop is to definitely see more queer people in the mainstream,91裸聊视频� said Itz(asterisk)Nobi, a femme-presenting non-binary rapper. 91裸聊视频淲e definitely have such an interesting angle to share as far as just humanity and being a person.91裸聊视频�
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