Since rising in popularity in the 1980s, hip-hop has risen to become one of the most popular genres of music there is, and is rightfully credited for being responsible for the many trends that we’ve seen come and go in recent years. While this genre of music has been a male dominated space (and still is), the rise of female rap in recent years has shown that women in hip hop are a force to be reckoned with.
With rappers such as Lil’ Kim and Nicki “Queen Of Rap“ Minaj being credited for opening the door for mainstream female rap, there’s been drastic increase in female rappers in the last decade. However, with the rise in popularity comes two things: the rise in criticism, and the rise in the elephant in the room.
The Elephant in The Room: Now, first things first, no one can escape criticism. If you’re a celebrity, someone somewhere will have things to say about you. However, when it comes to the hip-hip industry, it takes a very strong amount of ignorance and denial to pretend as though there aren’t huge double standards in place that works against female rappers.
In this post, I’ll be diving into some of these double standards, and of course, give my thoughts and commentary on them, beginning with:
1. MALE MEDIOCRITY:
Image via HipHop Lately
I don’t even need to get into this because the name speaks for itself, but let’s get into it.
I don’t know what it is with society rewarding not just male rappers but male artists as a whole for being mid-core. I can truthfully say that there were days when most male rappers were giving us something, but those days are far behind us. When I look at the mainstream male rappers that we have and go online and google their performances… I snore.
Exhibit A:
Video by Rolling Loud via Youtube
This performance shows low effort but I’m not surprised because when we‘ve been doing cartwheels and giving trophies to people for doing the bare minimum, can we really get mad when that’s the only thing they give us?
A lot of these male rappers get on stage with a mic full of autotune, and do nothing but jump and walk around on stage with fire and smoke machines in the backgrounds, and we eat it up, calling it stage presence.
On the other hand, female rappers don’t get to do that, and Nicki Minaj said it best with this tweet:
Tweet by Nicki Minaj via Twitter
Unlike male rappers, female rappers have to put in their full effort in their performances, or else they won’t be taken seriously, and even when they do put in effort, they’re STILL not taken seriously. They have to go above and beyond just to get bread crumbs.
Let’s take an actual look at some examples of the difference between female rappers performing vs male rappers performing:
Rapper Blueface:
Video by BETNetworks via YouTube
Cardi B:
Video by BETNetwork via YouTube
Lil Baby
Video by Street Fame Forever via Youtube
Megan Thee Stallion:
Video by Megan Thee Stallion via YouTube
Roddy Rich:
Video by Apple Music via YouTube
Doja Cat:
Video by Doha Cat via YouTube
Now, don’t take this the wrong way, there are some male rappers out there that I absolutely LOVE (Kendrick Lamar being one of my favorites), and some that DO in fact put on great shows (Tyler, The Creator and Kanye West are great examples), but those are the exceptions.
Female rappers don’t get a pass for going to award shows and doing nothing but walking around on stage, but the men do.
And so I ask, why do we as a society reward male mediocrity so much?
2. VULGARNESS:
Image by babymonkee via Sporcle
Moving on to what I believe is the most prominent display of double standards in hip hop that recently, we’ve seen more and more, is vulgarness.
Now, let’s get one thing out of the way: this is HIP HOP we’re talking about. RAP music. It’s the home of vulgarness. Cuss words, half naked models in music videos, and explicit everything. This is what people associate rap music with: vulgarness.
That being said, what confuses me is when people act shocked, surprised and borderline angry, when female rappers show just that.
There doesn’t seem to ever be a problem with male rappers being vulgar in their music, but when female rappers do the same, that’s when the world loses its mind?
Let’s be honest with ourselves for a minute here. How many times have you heard of male rappers being dragged and shamed all over the press for being vulgar in their music? Now, how many times have you heard of female rappers being dragged and shamed all over the press for doing the same thing?
Hardly ever when it comes to the men, but CONSTANTLY when it comes to the women, and the most recent example of this being the rise of new female rappers like Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, and City Girls.
“WAP”:
Image by Cardi B via YouTube
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve most likely heard of the song “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. When this song dropped on August 7, 2020, the world was in SHAMBLES.
People were literally losing their minds over the lyrics as well as the music video, and both Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion were victims of so much media scrutiny.
All the way throughout social media, televisions, magazines, etc. Let's take a look at some of the reactions the song received:
@MonaNI2NY via Twitter
@Zen_firee via Twitter
Article by BlabberMouth.net
@kennaschott via Twitter
Flashback to about a month before the release of “WAP,” on July 24, 2020, male rapper Dababy, released the song “Throat Baby” and let’s take a look at some reactions:
Gif by imgbuddy.com via Giphy
YEP! That’s right… CRICKETS! And isn’t that funny? Isn’t it funny how whenever male rappers drop songs with explicit lyrics and music videos, no one bats an eye, but when female rappers do the same, they get criticized?
Suddenly they’re ”bad influences“ to kids for rapping about sex, but male rappers aren’t for rapping about the same thing as well as murder, drugs, and weapons.
How is “WAP” a problem but “Throat Baby” isn’t?
How are Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, City Girls, etc., all problems and “bad influences” but all these male rappers aren’t?
How is “WAP” a problem but “Lollipop” by Lil Wayne isn’t?
How is “WAP” a problem but “She Won’t Let Me F*ck” by Afroman isn’t?
How is “WAP” a problem but “Murda Talk” by NLE Choppa isn’t?
Are people as concerned about little boys looking up to these male rappers as they are about little girls looking up to these female rapers, or is the real answer simply that society has no problem with men talking about women’s bodies, but draw the line with WOMEN talking about our OWN bodies?
Are y’all really concerned about kids listening to this type of music or are y’all mad that women are now profiting off of their own bodies, because a lot of people don’t seem to care as much that MEN have been profiting off of WOMEN’S bodies for centuries, and continue to do so.
The truth is simple: the profit of the sexualization of women is only okay when MEN are the ones profiting off of it. Not women.
3. “FEMALE RAPPERS RAP ABOUT THE SAME THING“:
Image via Worldwide Entertainment TV
Continuing on with the topic of explicitness, one of the biggest complaints that I here on the internet surrounding female rappers is that they only rap about one thing: SEX.
Now, first of all, that’s not true and I suggest to those who feel this way to explore female rap beyond a mainstream level.
Second of all, rather than complaining about how all female rappers rap about is sex, ask yourself why we as a society seem to only like those types of music.
There’s clearly a reason why those types of songs are the ones that are the most successful. Obviously someone’s listening to them. Supply and demand, right?
While there are PLENTY of songs by female rappers that are not centered around sex, those aren’t the songs that are on the Billboard Top 10 or Top 100. Why’s that? Sounds like this is something that needs to be discussed with the consumers rather than the supplier.
And third, are you as mad at male rappers for doing the same?
Again, hip hop is a male dominated industry, and men have been in it far longer than women have. If most hip hop songs are centered around sex, then…let’s do the math,… (add the 2, carry the 6, subtract the 8…) the men seem to be the biggest suppliers.
How can people get upset and complain about how female rappers talk about nothing but sex, but don’t say the same when it comes to male rappers who are FAR, FAR worst? A vast majority of these male rappers make rapping about sex, murder, violence, drugs, etc., their ENTIRE personality.
Why don’t we as a society criticize them for that as much as we do for female rappers?
THE LOGIC IS SIMPLY NOT THERE.
To close things up, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it takes a very strong amount of ignorance and denial to pretend as though there aren’t huge double standards in place that work against female rappers, while working in favor of male rappers.
Do I believe that these will magically disappear one day? Unfortunately, absolutely no because when it comes to society, women simply have to work much harder than men just to gain half the respect, and so I’m ending this post with one simple message:
LEAVE. FEMALE. RAPPERS. ALONE.
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