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Female Rappers Can't Beat 'Boys Club'

For women in rap, carving out an identity is no easy feat

By Amelia Atlas, Newser User

Posted Nov 7, 2008 5:17 AM CST

(Newser) – Queen Latifah is about to release her first rap album since 1998, but female rappers are still no better represented on the hip-hop charts now than they were 30 years ago, laments Jonah Weiner in Slate. No female artists received BET nominations this year, and they face an uphill struggle with "self-definition in a genre whose deeper voices have already done much to define them" in "narrow and frequently noxious terms," writes Weiner.

Earlier female rappers fell too readily into two camps—"independents" and "hos"—as the brash defiance of early acts like Salt-N-Pepa gave way to the hyper-sexualized compliance of '90s stars. But there is hope yet, Weiner believes. Rising stars like MIA and Kid Sister are "parlaying hipster popularity into mainstream-rap incursions," he noted.

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Queen Latifah arrives at the 20th Annual Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles last year. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Kid Sister arrives at the the BET awards last summer in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

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Women are either 'independent'—they pay their own bills and, conveniently, ask men for nothing—or they are hos. Lil' Kim made the case for the independent ho. - Jonah Weiner

At one point, rappers rolled out protégées the way they roll out energy drinks today. These days, rappers have learned they can appeal to women by hiring an R&B singer for a chorus—ladies' jam? Check!—then return to their normal business. -

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Female Rappers Can't Beat 'Boys Club'