Aja Brandt
WOM324
Each One Teach One Project
12/13/19
Most of what I’ve learned from this course is what it means to be a feminist in a patriarchal, male-dominated society especially in relation to the male-dominated culture of hip hop music. Artists such as those included in my playlist have fought and continue to fight and persevere past the limits and labels that face women in hip hop. These limits and labels of course consist of misogyny and sexism towards women, but it’s artists like these that use such discriminatory factors as resistant musical inspiration. Their messages are vast and various that speak to an audience of women and other identifying individuals that enjoy the genre of hip hop but not the usual remarks about “bitches”,”hos”, or “gettin’ pussy”. Each song I chose to include expresses positive messages of femininity and it’s encompassing qualities of equality and empowerment. As expected most of these artists are female, with the exception of one or two men daring enough to express female positivity in their music.
As I became more interested in feminist hip hop, I searched for a playlist to listen too but I was at a loss as there were none to be found. I personally enjoy creating playlists for myself as well as friends, so I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to combine our Each One Teach One project with my playlist-making skills to create a hip hop feminist playlist for the public to access with ease. The playlist consists of a total of fourteen songs and plays for the length of fifty five minutes in its entirety. I shared the collection of songs on Apple Music and Spotify, both of which have thousands of listeners to access it. Users can engage with the playlist obviously by listening but also through downloading, streaming, and sharing it. I hope to help listeners access a collection of hip hop songs that they enjoy and can connect with that otherwise didn’t exist before.
The first song I chose for this playlist is U.N.I.T.Y. by Queen Latifah for its fundamentally feminist and anti-sexist lyricism. She touches on issues that many women deal with such as cat-calling, domestic abuse, and misogyny. The beginning of the song opens with Latifah’s frustration towards men calling her, and women in general, a bitch or ho. The song’s recurring hook echos Latifah angrily asking “Who you callin’ a bitch?”, which reinforces the spunky feminist basis of the song’s message against misogyny. Missy Elliot’s song “She’s a Bitch” also made the list, but it’s use of the word bitch is directed towards women taking back the discriminatory curse and using it as a powerful and badass identity. I also included female-empowering and self confident songs such as “Truth Hurts” and “Good As Hell” by Lizzo as well as “Feeling Myself” by Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé. “Truth Hurts” is an empowering song where Lizzo essentially preaches about what some guy could’ve had and endlessly radiates with security and self confidence. Its complimentary track “Good As Hell”, sends a similar message in which she repeatedly sings the song’s title and encouraging words for women to carry on after a breakup with positivity and optimism. Nicki Minaj and Beyoncé’s track “Feeling Myself” speaks for itself. Similar to “Good As Hell”, Beyoncé repeats the title of the song as the hook, reiterating the boasting self-confidence the song emanates.
Of all the artists on this playlist, two are male. Tupac’s song “Keep Ya Head Up” is entirely supportive of women, and encourages his listeners to stay positive through hard times. In one of his lines, Tupac even goes on to say “Time to heal our women, be real to our women”. The song’s lyricism is refreshingly respectful and, though it shouldn’t, such words almost sound odd coming from a man or maybe it’s just me. The song’s rare feminist views coming from a man is why I included this song. It shouldn’t be surprising to me but it is, and the whole point of feminism is to fight for equality to men and I think Tupac’s song took a step in the right direction.
The other male hip hop song I included is J. Cole’s “Crooked Smile”. Though it doesn’t outright speak out for women like “Keep Ya Head Up”, the song speaks about how beautiful both women and men’s flaws are and how we should love ourselves for who we are. J. Cole begins by talking about his own crooked smile and how he appreciates his flaws because it shows he’s real and goes on to speak the same about a woman’s crooked smile and other flaws that make her who she is. Its honestly just as refreshing, if not more, as Tupac’s song because not many women or men for that matter are used to hearing hip hop music that appreciates them for who they are, flaws and all. In our society today so many women have body and self confidence issues because of this “ideal figure” or certain way of looking that everyone is supposed to just miraculously fit into. I think this song reminds us that accepting ourselves and bodies included and what makes us different as individuals is important and men and women alike don’t hear it enough.
Each song I selected has a different message and purpose in liberating hip hop feminism. I think we all need to remember to love our flaws, actively practice self confidence and body positivity, as well as take power in being female by not allowing discriminatory words and actions define who we are. This playlist addresses such feminist activism and then some through some pretty amazing music. I can only hope through publicly sharing this playlist that these messages get through to its listeners or simply just act as a base for others to add to. With everything I’ve learned in this course, one thing that took hold most is just how many odds are stacked against women in this male-dominated society of ours, especially in reference to women in hip hop. The artists we’ve listened to and the artists I’ve included in this playlist have spoken a lot of truth and inspire me everyday with their perseverance and undeniably badass feminism and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Apple Music Playlist Link: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/feminist-hip-hop/pl.u-38oWWxyuqVmz6R
Spotify Link:
