Women Dominating Rap and Hip Hop

Over the last five years, the popularity of women in rap and hip-hop has surged dramatically. Artists such as Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Flo Mili, Nicki Minaj, Latto, Cardi B, Saweetie, and Rico Nasty have made huge strides in changing the music industry’s perception of women in hip hop. Throughout the history of rap music, men have largely dominated the charts. Artists  like 50 Cent, Eminem, Tupac and others have made lasting contributions to rap music, but women in this genre have been largely underrepresented. Pioneers like Missy Elliot, Lauryn Hill, and Lil Kim were among the first women to achieve mainstream success in the rap genre. 

Despite their relative success, men still largely controlled the music industry, specifically the rap industry. In the early 2010s’, Nicki Minaj broke onto the scene with a strong personality and a specific brand that separated her persona from any other artist at the time. Prior to Nicki, popular female rappers like Missy Elliot or Lauryn Hill had more masculine presentations. When Nicki began gaining traction after an iconic verse on Kanye West’s “Monster,” she turned heads as her visuals and personality were strikingly more feminine than women of the past. As Nicki began to maintain longevity, her impact has remained. Nicki’s willingness to bring hyperfemininity to the rap game allows the women in rap today to do what they do. 

In recent years, rap has transcended from a secondary music genre to the most popular genre in America. This charge was led by women, who have revolutionized the rap game. One of the reasons I believe rap has risen to prominence in music is largely because women have added new stylistic and visual elements that were not present in the rap scene before. A perfect example of this is Doja Cat, whose experimental music, breathtaking live performance and enticing visuals have pop culture in a chokehold. While not all male rappers are this way, many still lack the same star qualities that artists like Doja possess. 

Artists like Megan Thee Stallion, who has garnered countless #1 hits over the last few years, have been marked by their overtly raunchy, sex positive music. Women in rap have been scrutinized for having sexually suggestive content in their music, but it’s really one of the primary reasons they’re succeeding. Men in rap have been making sexually explicit music forever, but it seems to only be a problem when it’s women di.;

scussing their pleasure. This misogynistic double standard has ignited lots of conversations about inequalities in music. As political tension has skyrocketed in recent years, conservative outrage against raunchy rap by women has only elevated its popularity. I find this similar to how rock music’s rise in popularity in the 50s was largely due to the pushback the genre received. 

This is not to say that men haven’t helped in aiding the popularity of rap and hip hop, but women have brought a specific inventiveness and charisma that has introduced entirely new audiences to rap and helped the genre reach new heights. 

By Sawyer Sugarman