In the reading “The Real Hip Hop” Battling for knowledge, Power, and Respect in the LA Underground by Marcyliena Morgan, one quote in particular really struck me as powerful. On page 137, Morgan states “The knowledge held by underground female MCS regarding the multi-layered black woman’s experience does not occur magically.” This quote struck me as powerful because it’s a fact that women have to work almost, if not more than, twice as hard to get recognition or high status positions that males receive in the music/ hip-hop industry. In the reading, Morgan explains that in the hip-hop industry, male MCS and rappers are showered with money for insulting people (especially women), or just being straight up disrespectful. Now if this was a woman, ESPECIALLY a woman of color MC not giving a damn what people think and insulting others on a hip-hop track, she would probably be labeled as trashy and vulgar. Women are expected to look a certain way and have a certain style- be sexy, but not promiscuous, rap hard lyrics but don’t appear to be too masculine, and if you don’t fit those characteristics as a woman then it can be very hard to make a name for yourself. Men however, can portray themselves to be promiscuous and flex their “masculinity” by having naked women everywhere in their music videos, and that is the style that seems to be idealized in hip-hop for them. It’s frustrating to see that men can run this industry however they choose to, yet if a female does this men would be the ones preventing them from making their way up in the industry. We watched a music video by Kemo in class, and the woman was portrayed to be this poisonous snake for being a promiscuous heartbreaker. She was completely sexualized, her breasts being the main focus, and she was just simply existing there in the music video. The man in the video was not portrayed to be this poisonous heartbreaker; he flaunted his wedding ring, showing that he feels proud to be involved with women other than his wife.