In our Golden Girl Rap Era

The rap game this year is full of unexpected bingo moves, Eminem came out of retirement, Drake and Kendrick beef but most of all women have taken over 2024. This should be considered the golden year for women rappers, so much so that Spotify has created “The Golden Standard” art exhibit highlighting powerful women rappers.

This year alone women have given us some of the greatest hits from Sexxy Red’s “Get it Sexy” to Doja Cat’s “ Agora Hill”. The girls have been girling. It doesn’t stop there. These women have been taking over the music charts like Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday 2” which topped the Billboard 200 and sold a whopping 228,000 units in the first week. The rap industry has been taken by storm. 

It’s inspiring to see an industry that is dominated by men being revolutionized by women, women who are often faced with sexist bitebacks. According to Stastista.com, “While female artists released roughly 33 percent of the highest-charting pop songs during that period, they only accounted for 13.4 percent of top songs in the hip-hop/rap genre”. Women alone only make up less than a third of the male-dominated industry, which can be frustrating to many because of the lack of representation. 

It isn’t new to many that when it comes to hip-hop and rap, women are consistently under stricter scrutiny than their male counterparts. Most are discredited with claims of “sleeping to the top” or the classic “ if you don’t write your lyrics you’re not a rapper”. Nicki Minaj and many others have spoken up about their mistreatment in the industry.

In an interview with T Magazine she stated that, “No matter how many times I get on a track with everyone’s favorite M.C. and hold my own, the culture never seems to want to give me my props as an M.C., as a lyricist, as a writer. I got to prove myself a hundred times, whereas the guys that came in around the same time as I did, they were given the titles so much quicker without anybody second-guessing […]”

What does this say about the music industry as a whole? Well for one, woman no matter how much they do to succeed, there is always a voice trying to undermine their success or pass their success onto others. The spotlight on these women’s careers is never on their careers, but what they do outside of it. Whether this be their bodies, looks, attitude, tone of voice, and even how they eat.

However, we can’t discredit the women who have stepped up and paved the way for a more inclusive industry. Many of these women have set the bar for other “up-and-coming rappers” and the newer generation of aspiring creators.

Spotify recently innovatively celebrated Women-led Hip-Hop, hosting an art gallery in New York, where the portraits of many trail-blazing women were displayed. Artist Manon Biernacki created renaissance-themed pieces of these women showcasing their talent and contribution to the industry. The exhibit highlighted many spearheads who are cultivating the music industry right now, including stars like Latto, Cardi B, Glorilla, JT, and many more.  Along with these icon display, Spotify has crafted a “Feeling Myself” playlist to go along with the gallery. 

It is obvious that the girls are killing it this year, maybe it’s time for the men in the industry to take a step back and take a couple of notes for the women. More so less beef and more fun…like “We get it Drake called you a liar, I’m not tryna hear 13 verses of you dissing his mom! I want a song about going out with my friends and getting lit at 7pm on a Friday night.”

References

Adrian.Covert@groupsjr.com. “Spotify Celebrates Hip-Hop’s Women-Led Renaissance with ‘The Gold Standard’ Art Exhibit.” Spotify, 6 Aug. 2024, newsroom.spotify.com/2024-08-06/the-gold-standard-women-rap-hip-hop-art-portraits/. 

“By the Numbers: The Recent Rise of Female Rappers.” Genius, genius.com/a/by-the-numbers-the-recent-rise-of-female-rappers. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024. 

Espinoza, Joshua. “Nicki Minaj Addresses Sexism in the Industry and Says She Deserves More Respect.” Complex, Complex, 25 Oct. 2017, www.complex.com/music/a/cmplxjoshua-espinoza/nicki-minaj-wants-tweets-about-respecting-women-for-hard-work. 

Gay, Roxane. “Nicki Minaj, Always in Control.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/t-magazine/nicki-minaj.html#:~:text=“I%20had%20so%20much%20going,a%20lyricist%2C%20as%20a%20writer. 

Germain, Tabie. “Hip Hop Awards 2024: Female Rappers Lead in the ‘song of the Year’ Category.” BET, www.bet.com/article/nf6fc5/hip-hop-awards-2024-femalenominees-for-song-of-the-year. Accessed 30 Sept. 2024. 

Lamarre, Carl, et al. “The 10 Hottest Female Rappers Right Now.” Billboard, Billboard, 6 June 2024, www.billboard.com/lists/female-rappers-best-hip-hop/10-jt/. 

Orr, Niela. “The Future of Rap Is Female.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Aug. 2023, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/09/magazine/female-rappers.html. Published by                                    Statista Research Department, and May 29. “Gender Distribution of Popular Songs by Genre U.S. 2022.” Statista, 29 May 2024, www.statista.com/statistics/801266/gender-distribution-popular-songs-genre/#:~:text=While%20female%20artists%20released%20roughly,hip%2Dhop%2Frap%20genre.

• #women empowerment
• entertainment
• music
• women in music