One of the parts about this section that stood out for me the most was reading the article “Solarize-ing Native hip-hop”. Learning more about the intersection between native culture and Indigenous feminism(s) with hip-hop revealed how powerful messages about land and politics can be shared through hip-hop – the quote “‘Solarize’ prompts us to challenge the relationship between Native people and federal government, and to challenge the logics of settler colonialism and capitalism as they continue to serve the aims of Native domination and genocide” (113) exemplifies this. The challenge mentioned in this quote is a feminist challenge: one marked with the desire to raise awareness in order to remediate the struggle that Native people confront every day, through the expression of music. It’s interesting because most people do not associate hip-hop with Indigenous activism, and this is a potential point of conflict with feminism and hip-hop. I wonder if this is because of the aesthetic associated with hip-hop, and the materialistic part of all mainstream music culture that we cannot ignore? 

Or is it perhaps that the idealized version of a feminist is one that doesn’t participate in anything that has misogynistic tendencies that prevents the world from witnessing Hip Hop feminism(s) in action? I think this duality is where the intersection lies, showing the importance of linking feminism and hip-hop… from an outsider perspective, it’s easy for one to look at videos of Nicki Minaj and say that she is simply feeding into a toxic culture of objectification – yet, if one is to “disrupt the disciplinary boundaries enclosing feminism, hip-hop, and queer” (Pabon + Smalls, 3) then it’s very possible to see Minaj’s performances as feminist. Completely and radically different than “Solarize”, Minaj’s lyrics and message still embody a fundamental truth: that a woman’s body is her own, and she is allowed to do what she wants with it, which ultimately returns to the messages encoded in “Solarize” about the feminine essence of “Mother Earth”. Hip Hop feminism is a form of expression that cannot be policed or put into a box with neatly labeled as “feminist”, yet it is so. One of hip hop’s primary motivations is to break through the boundaries of what music should be, of what is “acceptable” to speak about (ex: a woman’s sexual desire!) – and it is the necessity of this expression, the interweaving of political, ecological, and social perspectives that hip-hop lends itself to feminism.