Essay 194

To contrast all the recent debates about sexism in the advertising business, here’s an article that appeared in The Chicago Tribune…

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Female rappers missing from mainstream

By Kyra Kyles
Special to the Tribune
October 23, 2005

If you take a long look at rap music today, you’d think the only women in the industry were video vixens and backup singers. Talk of booties and the b-word abounds in videos and on the radio. Strip club anthems such as “Get Down Hit the Floor,” “The Whisper Song” and “Shake” rule the clubs.

In the late 1980s things were different, and women spoke up for themselves. Queen Latifah commanded respect in “Ladies First.” A decade later, MC Lyte made the fellas feel “Paper Thin,” followed by Lauryn Hill finding the “Lost Ones” in ‘98.

In 2005, hip-hop is flourishing, but successful female rap stars are a fuzzy memory.

Lil’ Kim’s plastic surgeries and current jail stint have reduced her to a tabloid headline.

Foxy Brown is now known for feuding with nail techs and doing cameos for second-tier R&B artists.

Trina’s main claim to fame seems to be the dimensions of her derriere.

Other female rappers appear to have given up the game altogether.

Former Ruff Ryder Eve is focused on her UPN sitcom.

Queen Latifah went Hollywood and is belting out jazz tunes.

That leaves Missy Elliott, whose infectious beats and mind-bending party lyrics earn her the torch almost by default. But one female artist, no matter how talented, is not enough to make an impact on the rap industry. With male MCs telling female listeners to “get their eagle on,” “drop it like it’s hot” and “get low,” mainstream hip-hop is being misled into misogyny.

This is an industry in need of a few good women.

Out of the mainstream

“We have a responsibility to improve this music because we love hip-hop as much as men do,” said local producer Phathom DJ, a.k.a. Danyell Abston. “I’m sick of hearing nothing but 50 Cent talking about the ‘Candy Shop’ all day on the radio. There are records from female artists that are so good, but nobody else hears them because they’re not mainstream.”

Can female rappers win back their place on the mainstream map?

I posed this question to Victor “Dizz” Blackful, a staple on the Chicago radio and hip-hop scene since ‘92, when he debuted on now-defunct WJPC.

Back then, WJPC played women rappers in heavy rotation, including Boss, Salt-N-Pepa and MC Lyte. The station’s hunger for hip-hop 24 hours a day made it easier to be diverse, according to Blackful, who is currently half of the Bad Boys team at WGCI-FM 107.5. Blackful says there are only a handful of female rappers on the station’s playlist and in the industry at large, a freeze-out traceable to the boom of gangsta rap in the late ‘80s.

“Women really couldn’t add a lot to all that talk about killing and drug-dealing and womanizing,” Dizz said.

Ten years later, the next wave of so-called successful females looked and sounded a lot different than their ‘80s counterparts.

“It seemed like the female artists were mentored by male MCs to look and sound a different way,” said Mimi Valdes, editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine. “Biggie developed Lil’ Kim, and Jay-Z was working with Foxy Brown. I think they were strong women, but they took advantage of America’s obsession with sex.”

The ploy worked.

Big sales

Both Lil’ Kim and and Foxy Brown generated platinum record sales in 1997, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

But their success also created a new, seemingly unshakeable mold for female MCs, according to Valdes.

“But that’s something you could also say about male MCs,” said Valdes, citing the popularity of the “gangsta” style from NWA up to 50 Cent. “It’s like the industry gets stuck on certain things. For women, they’re stuck on sex.”

Chicago’s female rappers are also falling victim to those trends, making the local scene a microcosm of the national one.

Ang 13, a female rapper/producer who lives in Rogers Park, says the “sex sells” mentality has forced most lady lyricists underground.

“A lot of us want to have complete control and not be told how to sound or look,” said Ang, a.k.a. Angela Zone. “We don’t want a label to overhaul our images.”

Three years ago, local rapper Miss Criss, a.k.a. Christina Nance, would have disagreed. Back then, Miss Criss was signed to Cash Money/Universal Records and excited about her upcoming solo debut. Now Criss, who got out of her contract after three years in label limbo, is back in the underground working with a local production house, Clubhouse Entertainment.

“To make it as a female MC, your body has to be tight, I mean phenomenal,” said Miss Criss. “They want you to be a Beyoncé or a Mya.”

Sex sells

Criss also says she was encouraged to talk dirty in her lyrics and avoid any hard-hitting topics, something she was not willing to do.

“I have gone through a lot of things in my life and I want to talk about them,” Criss said. “Sex is not the only thing I can talk about.”

“We want to make music we can be proud of,” Ang 13 said. “I won’t lie about it, I would like to be signed, but I can make it on my own as well.”

Teefa, a.k.a. Lateefa Harland, says the future of females in hip-hop isn’t as bleak as many would think. Fresh out of high school, she and former partner-in-rhyme Shawnna were signed to Relativity Records. The duo, called Infamous Syndicate, released “Changing the Game” in 1999. As a result of that industry exposure, Teefa doesn’t have much sympathy for women MCs, saying that professional laziness, not sexual discrimination, is to blame.

“These men do what they have to do to get a deal,” said Teefa, who deejays on WGCI and balances that with a solo recording career. “They hustle, and if they have to, they might get money from people in the street life, and they’ll sell their records out of their car trunks to get signed. They get it done.”

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Where are they now?

Some of hip-hop’s formerly prominent, dominant female rappers are still around, and making music, including:

MC Lyte: Old-school rap legend recently performed in Chicago during the African Festival of the Arts. She also has a recurring role on the UPN sitcom “Half & Half,” playing (ironically) the president of a record label.

Yo Yo: Known as the “Bonnie” to Ice Cube’s “Clyde” in the ‘90s, she mixed feminine wiles and saucy lyrics in tracks such as “You Can’t Play With My Yo Yo,” and “Black Pearl.”

Now a deejay for Los Angeles’ KDAY-FM 93.5, she is set to independently release a new solo album, “Fearless” by January, according to a KDAY spokeswoman. She also was recently featured on the “Roll Bounce” soundtrack.

Da Brat: The Chicago native appeared in last season’s “Surreal Life” cast, but seems to be getting back to the reality of rap. She cameos on a remix of Dem Franchize Boyz’ popular single “I Think They Like Me,” and appears in the video with her signature braids and baggy clothes intact. Though the appearance is brief, it gives fans hope she’ll be back in the rap ring soon with another solo stunner.

Lauryn Hill: Shortly after the 1998 release of “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” the vocalist who helped define the Fugees’ style dropped out of the rap scene.

According to a 2001 MTV interview, she was overwhelmed by the industry and sought a sabbatical.

Now, Hill returns to her Fugees roots alongside former partners Pras and Wyclef Jean. Currently, you can hear Hill spit rapid-fire rhymes in the group’s first single, “Take It Easy.” The full Fugees’ album is set for release in early 2006, according to the group’s Web site on sonymusic.com.

Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune