Photo: The Breakfast Club

For the past decade or so, hip-hop and rap fans have been questioning why new female artists haven't been popping on a mainstream level. Ten years ago in 2007, Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown, and Da Brat were locked up, Remy released The BX Files mixtape, however she would find herself on her way to prison the next year. Eve, Missy Elliott, and Trina were still releasing music, however they were no longer at the climaxes of their careers. Salt 'N Pepa, Queen Latifah, and MC Lyte were way past their primes and would be considered unrelatable with the youger generation. Lauryn Hill was M.I.A., probably pooched up in Jamaica sipping on rum punch, and I guess Khia was getting her neck and back licked (?). By that year, Nicki Minaj had just signed with Dirty Money Records, connected with Lil' Wayne and was on the road to stardom as an underground rapper turned Barbie pop star.

Sheesh, talk about having space and opportunity. With such a large gap of time where older femcees were slowing down, one would think that the years of 2005-the present would be the perfect opportunity for a cluster of new female rappers to come and kick rhymes in stilettos. Nope. For the past decade or so, Nicki Minaj has been the only mainstream female rapper, with the exception of Iggy Azalea and her very short lived rap career (which I think was just an experiment to see how the masses would react to a White female rapper). Semi-conscious mainstream male rappers like Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole have even been allowed to flourish within the genre.

Now folks may say, "But Dro, what about Cardi B, Tink, Azealea Banks, and Dreezy?" While these ladies have large fan bases, have been nominated for BET awards, and Cardi B even performed on the Wendy Williams Show this week, they're still underground artists. The keyword here is mainstream.

The reasons behind the drought for mainstream female rappers range from record labels not wanting to put in money behind artists to sexism. I think these two reasons in specific are more than valid. In general, artists in most popular music genres aren't getting signed like they were in the 1980's, 1990's, and early 2000's because of record label budgets. Good ol' American sexism plays a significant role too. In 2014, legendary New York emcee MC Lyte spoke with NPR about the lack of female rappers in the mainstream relating to the hyper-sexualization of women in the genre as well as the commercialization.

On The Breakfast Club radio show, ex-security guard turned pretend drug dealer and pear eater Rick Ross was asked about signing a female rapper to his label Maybach Music Group. The rapper replied that he'd "end up f*cking" her.

As disgusting as it would be to engage in anything sexual with Rick Ross, he said what many male rappers, record executives, and other industry folk say behind closed doors. Plus, hip-hop is blatantly misogynist and has been for decades. The misogyny even comes from some of the female rappers trying to prove their dominance in a majority male culture (the "oppressed" acting as the "oppressors"). I don't think we should expect anything different from a man who had a line about date rape. Plus, peep how he was asking to see Angela Yee's legs in the interview and how Charlamagne and DJ Envy left his pork and bean eating ass unchecked. Dude is a total predator and he's proud of it.

Traditionally in hip-hop many popular female rappers were brought into the public eye under male rappers, being the standout female rapper in male dominant hip-hop groups, or through male producers. Da Brat and Jermaine Dupri, Remy Ma and the late Big Pun/Terror Squad, Lauryn Hill and The Fugees, Missy Elliott and Timbaland, Eve and the Ruff Ryders, Trina and Trick Daddy. The idea of female rappers having to be "cosigned" and "brought out" by their male counterparts is deeply rooted in sexism and the ideology that women are unable to stand on their own. To a certain degree, I can see how this is helpful for female rappers in having a team for career building, but the double edged sword appears when accusations of male counterparts being ghostwriters for the women emcees occurs.

Photo: Complex

The "sexlationship" between male rappers and their female rapper protégés is also nothing new to hip-hop. Back in November of 1996, Lil' Kim released her debut Hardcore album after being under the late Notorious B.I.G.'s wing in his hip-hop group, Junior M.A.F.I.A.. (The raptress was also 16 /17 years old during when she was working on the album and even stated she and her camp lied about her age upon releasing the poster for her famous "squat pose") Although details state that Lil' Kim and Biggie Smalls had a relationship prior to her album release, I'm sure sex was also a perk in generating her career, even while he was married to r&b songstress Faith Evans. Lil' Kim was also physically abused by "Big Poppa".

Foxy Brown was 16 years old when she spat fire on the New York West Coast diss "I Shot Ya (Remix)" back in 1995. A year later, her own debut album Ill Na Na released around the same time of Lil' Kim's. Like her rival, she too was brought up under a male rapper, Jay-Z who allegedly was her ghost writer on her first album. It's also alleged that the two had a sexual relationship that Foxy briefly hinted at in a 2009 song "Let 'Em Know".

"The streets talkin', got the hood goin' crazy, Niggas heard I f*cked with Ross and had the nigga baby, Said I f*cked with Nas, and now they say it's Jay-Z, But on the low, the real nigga was Jay-Z."

During Nicki Minaj's underground career once she hooked up with Lil' Wayne, the duo referred to themselves as the "Mistress"/"Nicki Lewenski" and the "President" assuming a sexual relationship. Although this was a clear marketing ploy and the two never claimed to have any relationship outside of business and friendship, the fact that this was a tactic to sell Nicki to the public is troubling.

While these women listed have "been in control of their own sexuality" through their music (ironically there are ghostwriter rumors about all three), the common denominator and sparkled elephant in the room is a male rapper in the background who brought them to the forefront whether the two were in a sexual relationship or using rumors or hinting around to a sexual relationship in their music as a marketing ploy.

Photo: DatPiff

The fact that women must be subjected to casting couch treatment from their male counterparts is another reason amongst a smorgasbord of them why there has only been two mainstream female rapper for the past almost a decade (In 2020, it will be 10 years since Nicki Minaj's official claim to commercialism through her debut album Pink Friday). Rick Ross is a gatekeeper who uses his misogyny and power to manipulate and indirectly contribute in the marginalization and absence of women within the culture. Instead of signing a female rapper to his label solely based off of talent, sex and objectification is a core factor, hence why that is the first comment he made whilst having the conversation. Unless you're into the Illuminati thing, male rappers aren't required to have sex in order to be signed.

Unfortunately the "bitch" and "ho", objectification has been too ingrained within the culture and mainstream hip-hop and rap has gone to shit for the collective mentality to transform among fans and people in the industry. Many female rappers of today need to take notes from Queen Latifah and "Ladies First", Lil' Kim and "Ladies Night", amplify that shit and stop trying to go the Nicki Minaj route by being the "only bad bitch in the room". I can't help but to notice many female rappers will collaborate with the wackest of male rappers, but will never do songs with fellow female rappers, perhaps trying to "prove" they're able to "stomp with the big dogs". Perhaps even due to internalized misogyny. Fans and stans should stop pinning women emcees against one another looking for a Brooke Valentine ass "girl fight". Being a double minority in the industry and being automatically pit against other women has created a closeted climate of hostility between female rappers.

Even if Rick Ross was "joking" about his statement, the comment shouldn't be taken lightly and proves how ample sexism is against women in the entertainment industry. Maybe not to the same degree as Ross' comment, but this mentality is also affluent in other fields as well. The fact that the statement was even put out into the universe where it could be consumed by millions shows how normalized this mentality is.

This is why it's important for female rappers inside and outside of the mainstream industry to collaborate and network. This is why it's important that veteran emcees like Lil' Kim and Missy Elliott are bringing their protégés Tiffany Foxx and Sharaya J. This is why supporting unsigned underground women emcees is important for the preservation and vocalization of the feminine energy within the culture of hip-hop. We can't keep continuing to depend on male rappers (who rarely even collab with female rappers in general) to bring female rappers into the culture just as much as we can't depend on record labels to do the same thing.

All I'm missing in this look is my lace parasol. This look right here, y'all. I think it's one of my favorites like ever. I got this Johnathan Martin vintage 1980's dress in late May and fell in love. It originally was layered with another skirt but I cut it off. I mean I love an old fashioned look but I don't want to look Grandma Suzanne old fashioned. Now it was on the short side, but I love how it looks. Showing all type of toned legs.

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.


I created a fascinator hat for my "Gatsby Meets the 1980's" look back in January and I thought a floral themed one would look fabulous with this look and totally set it off. Grabbed some faux flowers from Michael's and went to work! I always wanted a pair of white vintage cat eye sunglasses and I found the perfect pair on an Etsy shop called FrameNFortune. These have been rocked all summer long.





Of course accessories helped tremendously in setting this look off. Vintage 80's swirl gold plated earrings, pearl necklace, white lace fingerless gloves, Cole Haan hot pink purse, and a pair of corkscrew Soft Styles by Hush Puppies kitten heels.


I am so in love with this look! From head to toe, I love how it came together. A touch of 1980's, 1950's elements, and plenty of color and class. Like, how am I not the Hip-Hop Mary Poppins? How, sis?!

A post shared by dro(skie) don dada (@kendro___) on Jul 15, 2017 at 5:42pm PDT

1. Bugs...Bugs, Everywhere

"They're more afraid of you than you are of them."
Yeah, okay. Tell that to the wasp that stung me.


2. Harsh Tan Lines

Now don't get me effed up. I love a good suntan on my skin. Sounds silly, but I feel "accomplished" when I get one, haha. However, when it comes to wearing different sandals in specific, those damn tan lines are ridiculous and have my feet looking foolish like Ashanti!


3. Underboob Sweat

I'm a member of the "medium titty committee" but that doesn't mean I don't get underboob sweat. I can't stand when I'm rocking a fye halter top, looking fly, skin glistening in the sun, and then I notice a wet spot on my shirt because of chi-chi sweat.


4. Super Shrinkage

If you're a naturalista like me, you already know the shrinkage struggle. Put that on top of the heat and I go from Angela Davis to Michael from "Good Times" real quick.


5. Thigh Rubbing

It's "sundress season" and I'll be in perfect attendance. I just can't deal with this thigh-rubbing nonsense though. Does powder help with this?


6. Thirsty Mens (Yes, "Mens". With an "s" at the end)

I know I'm fione, but damn, can a sista breathe? I hear it's "choosing season" so the thirst levels has risen as much as the temperature. Y'all best to tell y'alls brothers, uncles, fathers, grandfathers, and cousins I'm not about to play with them this summer, next summer, nann summer. Okay?



7. Firecracker Noise

The 4th is over. Retire the 1am firecrackers.



8. A Hot Ass Kitchen

I'm not in the mood for cooking at. all. It's hot outside, now my kitchen is going to be hot from cooking? Nah, I'll past. And barbequing in the heat is no better.