Cdot The Catalyst is a dope lyricist who I’ve been chatting with on Twitter and iChat since last year. She’s cool, uber smart, talented, and well, definitely under exposed. We’ve had so many great talks and I love her irreverence and snark so much that I wanted her to submit this piece explaining her identity as a “femcee.” (I was supposed to post this months ago as part of a project that I never really got off the ground but that’s another story). Check out C Dot The Catalyst as she breaks down her disdain for the “f word” (femcee) and why Nicki Minaj gives her hope…
Apparently the tweets is watchin’ and reading my mind because I noticed a trending topic that read #becauseofnickiminaj…now aside from reading the obvious comments about chipmunk voices, Barbie personas and butt pads, I had my own response. “because of Nicki Minaj…I might have a chance.” My name is Charity Clay and I’m a woman and an emcee. I have difficulties with the term femcee because it implies that the term emcee is normalized to be a guy and I don’t think mic skills have a gender. I consider myself to be a lyricist and only measure myself by who I consider to be the best, but I digress. I was talking about how the popularity of Nicki Minaj is a good thing for us women in hip-hop who consider ourselves to be emcees. Now one would assume that my claim to be a lyricist would indicate some desire to reject the Nicki Minajes of the world because of the belief that they are destroying the purity of hip-hop but I have a different perspective on the situation. Read the rest of this entry »
BET premiered My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women in Hip-Hop last night and it was good, really good. I was actually surprised at how good it was. The filmmakers did a superb job conveying the tremendous impact of those of the xx variety on the culture. I didn’t learn anything new but it was informative enough for people who may have needed that lesson.
However, there wasn’t much of a solution presented. They tried at the end but most of the people they interviewed had a very industry way of thinking ie, shallow and narrow-minded.
“For me to try to find another Lauryn Hill is like for me to try to find another Jay-Z. That’s not happening. It’s like you don’t find those things those things find us,” said Kevin Liles.
She looked really nice and I loved the Samurai theme. I chuckled at the melodramatic ending but Michael Jai White was definitely a nice touch.
What people don’t realize is that Nicki Minaj is a true thespian. That’s why I don’t mind the dramatics in her wardrobe and the videos and the crazy voices (sans the Barbie talk). I get it because I grew up a theater kid too. Her music is still hit or miss for me but I know from personal experience that she’s very talented. She’s going to go far.
Likwuid is a super talented emcee who I’ve known for a couple of years but didn’t really get to interact with her until last year. She is celebrating the release of her third album, Gummy Bears & Champagne, tomorrow night at Broolyn’s Wealthy Ho$tage. For more info on that you can check her out at www.Likwuid.com, but before you head over there, check out this piece she submitted based on questions I emailed her in relation to her identity as a female emcee (next time I’m going to talk to her in the flesh!):
The million dollar question seems to be where are the women in hip-hop, but they’re hiding in plain site. Get to know Bless Roxwell, an MC and entrepreneur, and Cynical Smith a filmmaker, Duck Down affiliate and an entrepreneur. These women created their own lanes when the typical paths wouldn’t open. They talk about why women aren’t getting mainstream love and how we can start getting respect in hip-hop again.
Hip-hop is a culture. There’s so much more out there to see and discover than what people confine themselves to and that’s why I asked them to do this video. I appreciate them for submitting this and simply being dope creative beings.
Women like them inspire me. And I will continue to recognize not just them, but anyone who is passionate about their art. Rock on ladies!
I want y’all to start meeting some of the female rappers out there since the million dollar question is, “Where are all the female rappers?” They’re everywhere, just pay attention!
Constantly getting thrown against lockers during middle school years is enough to make some people scarred and bitter as adults but not Brittany Street. She was picked on because of her small stature but dealt with her teen angst by writing rhymes. By the time she was in high school, the petite self-proclaimed martian (listen to her mixtape for an explanation for that reference) became a force to be reckoned with by fighting back lyrically and becoming so good that people began to try to battle her with little success.
Now at 24, she has already gotten the chance to work with some of her industry idols like Large Professor and J Dilla and appeared on a Le Da Soul,a mixtape tribute celebrating 20 years of De La Soul by Mick Boogie, Terry Urban, Lemar and Dauley and De La themselves. Her latest mixtape, Confessions of a Martian, released in partnership with illroots.com last year solidified Street’s place as a potential dominant force in the music industry. It showcased that the Indianapolis, Indiana native might be small, but her aggressive flow, lyrical prowess, writing skills, and nimble ability to switch back and forth between rapping and singing are why the budding super nova will continue to make a big impression on new listeners. GangStarrGirl.com caught up with her to talk about her songwriting camp Good comPENy, her father’s unique jazz history lessons and what’s next on her musical agenda.
GangStarrGirl: You bio reads: “Some say the ‘Street’ connotation has expressions with multiple meanings which can either be dictated by; living on the street, being gangster or whichever meaning may relate to you. There has been much talk around town about a new metaphor of street.”
What’s the story behind your rap name with regards to “a new metaphor of street?”
After years of label and legal drama, Jacki-O is focused on shifting negative stereotypes about female MCs by becoming the change she hopes to see.
The Miami rapper has been keeping busy with her music career, with her street mixtape, Griselda Blanco, dropping on the Web in two weeks. But when it comes to other women rappers in the game, she still thinks there’s a lot of work to do.
“Congrats to Nicki Minaj for doing her thing but a lot of things are still the same,” Jacki-O told VIBE. “Men need to start recognizing the talent that females have and let us eat a little bit [but] at the same time, we just have to continue to work as hard as they do, if not harder, and continue to grind.”
Jacki-O is currently gearing up to release her second book, Relentless (Jack Move Entertainment) CLICK HERE for more.
