GWSS Blog post #2

Arjun Sen


One of the more compelling reads from this week's articles was the evolution of Seattle's hip hop and rap scene. Apart from the duly noted Macklemore, I was unaware of any rap or hip hop artists from Seattle making it big in the industry often dominated by west coast and New York rappers. I was particularly interested in the dominance of Sir Mix-A-Lot, an underground producer and artist in the Seattle scene who was at its forefront in one of hip hop's golden eras. His lack of representation in the industry at large was unfortunate, and only serves to emphasize Seattle's lack of big-break hip hop stars. Though Seattle's hip hop is undoubtedly rich, I don't believe that the culture has contributed to the mainstream scene to the extent that areas of LA and New York have. In a similar vein, female hip hop artists have also historically struggled to find acceptance and to make their mark in a genre that traditionally has been against women empowerment. Feminist activism in hip hop has always been a delicate subject, with artists owning their sexualization being called sellouts, and artists who express their desire for feminine equality in other ways described as not committed to the cause in the "right ways". Artists such as Beyonce, who were once praised as leaders of the feminist movement, have recently begun to be called out, with the primary criticism being "twerking is not feminism". To me, there seems to be a delicate balance between what is seen as feminism and pandering in the community.