The High Bar for Women in Rap Part 2: Going Above and Beyond

by Lily Hartenstein

Not only are women rising in the hip-hop charts today, but they’re breaking the boundaries put in place as to who can be a female rap star. While there are still certain aesthetics upheld as the ideal for a woman in rap- aesthetics that revolve around sexual appeal towards men- many women have enough raw talent and skill to push past those and still maintain a following. The New Yorker argues, “Gone are the days of constricting personas—the hypersexual siren or the straight-edge lyricist—to adhere to narrow views of what could make a black woman marketable.” While I don’t wholeheartedly agree, as there are still narrow views touted throughout much of the industry, women are certainly creating spaces for themselves to exist beyond those views. 

Rico Nasty mixes punk and rap, letting herself be as weird as she wants. Her hair, makeup, and outfits are certainly ostentatious, but not in the traditional sense that appeals to the male gaze. Her shows feature female-only pits and she often speaks about the importance of female rage in her work. Noname, on the other hand, has a laid-back aesthetic free of any dramatic costuming or makeup. She uses her poetry background to craft brilliant lyrics delivered in an entrancing, endearing voice that has earned plenty of critical acclaim. Then there’s Young M.A., a butch lesbian who outwardly rejects the male gaze as she makes music about her queer sexuality but refuses to be put into a box of any kind, whether it be hypersexualization or identity-based acclaim. This strategy is certainly empowering, but then there are also rappers like Megan Thee Stallion, who embraces the male gaze by taking power over it. Megan fits the traditional sense of the female rapper dosed in sex-appeal, spitting lyrics about her pussy, but this role was not forced onto her by anyone. Instead, she owns her sexuality, confidently twerking in front of crowds and bragging about her power over men. Rapper Cupcakke has a similar effect, making body and sex-positivity the primary focus of her verses. Women like Megan Thee Stallion and Cupcakke show that hypersexuality is not inherently sexist, but when chosen by women for themselves can be just as empowering as Noname’s relaxed demeanor or Young M.A.'s masculinity.

I could list examples of powerful women in rap for days. The point is, more and more women are pushing the boundaries of what women in rap can be, and they’re succeeding wildly. The environment for them in the industry is still incredibly hostile, and this  explains why the charts are still largely dominated by men. Because of the barriers placed on women in hip-hop, I don’t see that changing today, but I like to think it is a possibility in the future thanks to the women working hard in the industry right now. Still, widespread popularity is not the only marker of success. Female rappers are making some of the best hip-hop content today, whether or not it’s getting recognized as such. Blindness to their phenomenal talent is certainly due to the deeply embedded sexism in the industry, but this blindness does not negate the content that is present and available today. 

Somehow, despite the so-high-it’s-almost-impossible-to-reach bar placed on women in rap, female artists are thriving. They may not be thriving as much as men in the charts, or in monetary gain, which they certainly deserve. But they are absolutely dominating the industry when it comes to creativity. Burdened with unbearable expectations, women have met and exceeded them. So many men in the industry, on the other hand, have become complacent in their privilege, and are producing sub-par work. As a result, most of the groundbreaking work in hip-hop today is coming from women. 

The industry-wide refusal to fully appreciate female rappers is a detriment to the growth of hip-hop. Rap has recently experienced a boom in popularity in America. It accounted for almost a quarter of all music consumed in the U.S. in 2018, and that number has only been growing in 2019, according to the 2019 Mid-Year Report by Nielson. However, outside of hip-hop, women are dominating men on the charts, and often by taking elements from rap into their own genres. Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish were two of the three most listened to artists in the United States, and both have utilized aspects of hip-hop in making their biggest hits. If only hip-hop itself let it’s women thrive, it’s growth would only become more explosive. As it stands now, hip-hop doesn’t have a lot of space to continue it’s impressive rise on the charts, as more and more of the chart-topping artists of the genre sound more and more like each other. Discussions of hip-hop becoming “boring”, or “getting worse” seem to be popping up more and more on music forums and in Reddit threads. Rap isn’t getting boring, but the men who dominate the industry are a little stuck. The formula can only hold for so long, and rap needs to evolve in order to stay relevant. Obviously there are many talented men in rap right now, but women are pushing boundaries in so many ways that aren’t even being recognized. Women are currently at the forefront of new, interesting forms of hip-hop. They are exactly what the industry needs in order to continue it’s impressive growth. Those who continue to negate the power of women in rap will eventually get left behind.