page_title: Black women in the music industry
section_title: Hip-Hop Feminism
hierarchical_section_title: Black women in the music industry / R&B and its descendants / Hip-Hop Feminism
caption_attribution_description: English: Queen Latifah, crop
context_page_description: Black American women in the music industry have made significant contributions over the years. Music has historically been a medium of expression for the African American community. The community's traditional music was carried to the United States via the slave trade and adapted while they worked on plantations, eventually developing into various genres such as the blues, rock, gospel music, jazz, bluegrass, and many other popular genres.
  This legacy starts in the 1870s with the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who performed many different genres of black music including traditional spirituals, blues, classic jazz and rhythm and blues, also commonly referred to as R&B. The Fisk Jubilee Singers became popular throughout the world for singing traditional spirituals during their tours in both the United States and England. Sexist attitudes during the early 20th century made it difficult for African-American women to have a strong presence in mainstream music. Despite this, women were still extremely influential in the genres of blues, jazz, and R&B.
context_section_description: “Hip-Hop Feminism” has its roots in attempts to reclaim the positive position of black women in the music industry. It is concerned with how the conservative backlash of the 1980s and 1990s deindustrialization, the slashing of the welfare state, and the attendant gutting of social programs and affirmative action along with the increasing racial wealth gap, have affected the lived worlds and world views of the hip-hop generation.
  Hip-hop feminism also aimed at reclaiming the sexualization of black women as pleasurable and consensual. An example of hip-hop feminism that rose to fame through YouTube is the “Boss Ass Bitch” Rap, written by P.T.A.F. The message of “Boss Ass Bitch” is dynamic in its demonstration of the girls’ commitment to ingenuity. The rappers Kandi, K'Duce, and Alizé claim that by rapping they are redeeming the title of “bitch” and their sexuality. “Jillian and Anya did not aim to uphold Minaj and P.T.A.F. as the standard bearers of girl/woman of colour feminism, but as examples of practiced feminism, among many others, that should be engaged with complexity because they produce forms of pleasure that are so often vilified.” 
  Hip-hop feminism has had a political impact with regards to the rights of women, African Americans, and the LGBT community. Because of this, hip-hop feminism has been largely shaped by a sociopolitical agenda. This has created a second and third wave of black American feminist artists, both of whom share a different argument through their songs. However, there are theoretical and practical linkages between the generations and their music.
  One aspect of hip-hop feminism is its use of “the politics of respectability”, a term coined by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, which describes several strategies for progressive black female artists to more effectively promote a message of racial uplift and women's rights to a bigger audience. These methods largely regard notions of self-respect, honour, piety, and propriety. Respectability politics has been a useful way for improving conditions for African-Americans, by providing black female artists with a platform to talk about the de jure and de facto racist and misogynistic practices they experience.
  More recently there has been an emergence of queer feminists of color in hip-hop. One example of this is Me’Shell Ndegeocello, who made her debut in 1993. In her lyrics, Ndegeocello brings to the forefront the realities that the black community faces, such as abortion, low-income housing, and unfair US beauty standards. She begins by talking about her own black, queer experiences in her song, “Leviticus Faggot”, where she targets homophobia in her lyrics by directing the audience's attention to the misogynist and sexist violence that black men are subject to because of their sexual identity. You see this especially in the lyrics, “Cause the man kicked the faggot out the house at 16, Amen mother let it be, Before long he was crowned queen for all the world to see.” Ndegeocello's lyrics further explore her queer identity in desires in songs like “Mary Magdalene” and “Pocketbook”.
  Angie Stone’s song “My People” sought to express that African Americans can be and are successful in American society. Not only is Angie Stone highlighting the potentially political nature of soul music, she also defies the most common notion of soul female singers adhering to lyrics regarding men and past relationships. Hip Hop soul allowed women to create an aesthetic that represented and engaged politics of sexuality and gender in working-class black communities. By allowing women in hip-hop soul to offer narratives that highlighted their multidimensional nature, they offered other black women experiences to relate to. Hip-hop soul initially limited the black female voice to that of relationships with men and what that impact has on them. The shift from male-dominated hip-hop to women-centered as well as women-told hip-hop soul highlights the shift in previous perceptions of women within hip-hop culture.
  Rapper and actress Queen Latifah made history when she won a Grammy for 
caption: Queen Latifah is one of hip hop's most notable MCs. Her music is known for her pro-black & pro-feminist themes.
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