Oneka LaBennett’s article, “Histories and "her stories" from the Bronx: excavating hidden hip hop narratives.”, discusses how female rappers made important contributions to the creation of hip hop, but they are not credited in historical accounts. Hip hop historical narratives focus on the male rappers, and the lyrics they wrote, often including misogynistic language. The women she interviewed were all rappers from the Bronx, who took routes towards becoming a rapper that were different from the mainstream, male rapper narrative. Labennett explains that all of the women were faced with “social norms [that] initially discouraged [them] from writing rhymes”, which is one of the reasons they were left out of written accounts about the origins of hip hop. This discussion of gender within hip hop relates to Kyle Fleck’s article, “The Rise of Seattle Hiphop”, which discusses important Seattle rappers of every decade that contributed to the hip hop community. This article is an example of the historical hip hop narratives LaBennett was analyzing. In Fleck’s article, only male rappers are mentioned until near the end, where up and coming female rappers were recognized. THEESatisfaction and DoNormaal were discussed in the article, as new female rappers on the scene, but there were no female rappers mentioned in the discussion of Seattle’s early hip hop origins. LaBennett’s oral history of hip hop explained that there were fewer female rappers in the beginning, because of the social norms that made women feel like they shouldn’t write or perform their rhymes. Fleck’s timeline of Seattle rappers shows promise for the future of hip hop as he discussed the success of female artists, such as THEESatisfaction who “leveraged their considerable local impact into a far-reaching and wildly successful series of "Black Weirdo" parties, stretching to Minnesota and New York”. While it takes a conscious effort to uncover the hidden narratives of female rappers in hip hop history, at least these social norms are starting to shift, as more female rappers are being recognized in mainstream media.
DJ Selections:
-I chose these songs because they are both by lesser known female rappers, who defy the social norms that keep females from being celebrated in the hip hop community. These female rappers are the new narrative in hip hop, of women who promote the themes of hip hop feminism.
Articles:
LaBennett, Oneka, “Histories and ‘Her Stories’ from the Bronx: Excavating Hidden Hip Hop Narratives” (Links to an external site.) Afro-Americans in New York Life and History. July 2009, Vol. 33, issue 2, p109
Fleck, Kyle, “The Rise of Seattle Hip Hop: An Incomplete Timeline of How Rap Replaced Rock as Seattle's Dominant Musical Force.” The Stranger, January 26, 2016 https://www.thestranger.com/music/feature/2016/01/27/23480690/the-rise-of-seattle-hiphop
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