We need more women in Hip Hop!! After watching “My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women And Hip Hop” I garnished a better understanding of the history and “the come up” as well as the decline of female hip hop artists over the years. The presence of female artists in the late 80’s makes me feel extremely envious of the time period. Artists such as Roxanne Shante,  Salt n Pepa, MC Lyte, and Queen Latifah were essential kick starters and pioneers for Hip hop today for both men and women. These artists brought a brand of authenticity that spoke volumes to the culture. This was a time where the focus is on the skills and rhymes and how many bars you got.

I feel hip hop was at it best before it was monetized. Not to say many artists did not flourish or impact the world of Hip Hop after it became such a profitable industry, however it is obvious the main focus in Hip Hop was to make money which took away immensely from the art form. It is no news to anyone that sex appeal sells to a male audience. In an already male dominated society where women are hypersexulaized in a multitude of spaces, here comes a new space in which artists previously were expressing themselves in ways they see fit. But because recording labels are looking to exploit and sell records women in the 90’s were sexualized to a higher degree. There were a few artists that took ownership of this brand some being Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown. Nevertheless other women were continuously pressured to show me skin and be more sexual in order to sell records. This took away from the culture in many aspects in my opinion, the culture of the late 80’s really put an emphasis on the art form itself, whereas in the years following including the modern state of Hip Hop it is evident how the culture takes a back seat to making money.