This is a Man’s World?

“This is a man’s world, but it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl” – James Brown

Indeed this is still a “man’s world” that we live in. Governed by a man and predominantly run by men, however, women are not taking a backseat and that includes the music scene.

On the heels of Mother’s Day, I started thinking about all the female artists throughout hip hop history (There is a Mother’s Day, but there isn’t a National Women’s Day;(( google that))…ok so there is and it is March 8th, but nobody in America really recognizes it so I digress. My thoughts saddened me, not because women are not talented, but because I know for a FACT there were more making waves in music than just the handful that were recognized. Trouble is, it is harder for female emcees to gain notoriety.

Although back then, we only had a few, we at least had more than the couple on the tv and radio these days. These days we got slim pickens!

To this day I still know every single lyric to “Funkdafied” by Da Brat and I’m pretty sure every song by Salt N’ Pepa. I was an empowered young female and I’m sure my mom loved me walking around singing, “ahhhhh…..ssssssssss….push it…p-p-p-ush it reeeeal goooooood”…but you know what? I ROCKED that karaoke a month ago at the bar and that’s from those good ol’ days with the hairbrush in the mirror pretending I had that dope hair-do (I was Pepa if anyone cares). All jokes aside, my childhood was drastically altered by these women and when they said “lets talk about sex”, I listened. But who will my daughter stand in the mirror emulating?

Now addressing just the South, we have an even bigger problem. The only females rapping back in the day that come to mind are Gangsta Boo and Trina. Now I repeat….Gangsta Boo and Trina. Again, I love me some GB and Trina, (Trina was on that one back in the day with Trick Daddy) but there is a time and place for that.

No worries. We have some promising females coming out of Cashville.

Although, Aphropik, originally hails from Chicago and currently lives in Minneapolis and is “technically” not from here or currently here, I’m marking her Cashville. She put in the work here and made quite a mark. We only lost her about a week ago so I think that’s fair. Peep “For a Girl” featuring another favorite Robyn Raynelle on the hook! This couldn’t be more perfect for this article.

How inspiring is this track for a young girl wanting to excel in a male dominated world? She’s dope for an EMCEE; not just for a girl and Robyn’s voice is nutty.

Robyn has popped up on more hooks and most recently was included in the tribute to one of our favorite local radio personalities/deejays, the late great Donald “Scooby” Dumars which included local heavyweights, Young Buck, Stix Izza, Starlito, Quanie Cash and Fate Eastwood on the beat.

In my opinion, and actually Aphropik herself has said it, the next to hold this torch is Squikee. Man this girl is too much. Quick flow, dope lyrics and the “squikee” voice all culminate into a female artist to keep your eye on. As she says though, don’t let the Squikee voice fool you, I’d put her in a battle with almost any cat and her stage presence is commanding. And did I mention she is gorgeous? This track, “Play Em Off” also features another hip hop fixture in Nashville, Mr. Ahmad Rashad (please say the mister lol) 9_play_em_off_1220.mp3

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Last, self proclaimed “Mrs 615” aka “The Hottest B**ch Alive”aka The Black Diamond. I was introduced to Black Diamond at the Urban Music Challenge https://www.facebook.com/#!/urbanmusicchallenge  (shout out to my folks over at LaFa Music), I think about 2 years ago. She was the only female if I remember correctly in the competition. This didn’t phase her one bit and before the end of the night I was going around singing “I live a superstar lifestyle, Im super star paaaaaaaaaaaid”. Always on point with her gear and her performance is of a professional caliber.

The Black Diamond-Super Star Life.mp3

Dont forget about us southern females when speaking on the state of hip-hop down here…we are more than just twerk! Check their links below!

http://aphropik.bandcamp.com/

http://www.reverbnation.com/#!/squikee

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-offical-blackdiamond/122035737852252?v=info