I went to see Lady Sovereign in concert on Wednesday, and all I can say is that this woman is off the hook! The rapper (and a self-proclaimed feminist, I might add) from the UK is gritty, enthralling and powerful and I loved every minute of her performance. (Especially when she started jump-roping with her microphone cord. Another favorite moment was when a nearly 7-foot tall guy somersaulted from the stage to body surf only to land back-down on the floor - and pop right back up with glee. True story.)
As a hip hop lover, I have to say that it's so refreshing to experience a great female hip hop artist again. After decades past of strong rappers like MC Lyte, Queen Latifah and Lauryn Hill, I felt like the last 10 years hasn't had much new talent to offer to the genre - well, with the exception of Missy Elliot of course. (Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown made it big too, but I was personally never a huge fan.)
In short, I'm glad that it seems lately that more talented female rhymers like Lady Sovereign and M.I.A. are getting the props they deserve. Any other female rappers out there who inspire you? Or simply get your blood pumping and booty on the dance floor?
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Wait, where did you hear that she's lesbian? As far as I'm concerned, I NEVER heard of her coming out as a lesbian.
I was just going to say the same thing.
Completely my mistake - I thought she was out. Post changed.
Kid Sister
Also JJ Fad are going on an anniversary tour this year and rereleasing Supersonic. AWWWWWESOME.
This is great news.
I love Santigold! (formerly Santogold)
Jean Grae is great by any measure. I loved Mystic (Cuts for Luck Scars for Freedom) but I haven't heard from her in a minute.
YES Jeanie! Love her SO SO SO much. Haven't felt this way about anyone since Lauryn Hill
I have to agree on a sheer talent/delivery/artistic/lyricist level it is Jean and Lauryn. I'm saddened when thinking how far Lauyrn could have gone, she could have been legendary.
agreed, 100%
Warrior Queen. She's a dancehall artist. She's fucking amazing, and a bigger woman to boot. Her most famous work is on The Bug, with Poison Dart. You find several songs featuring her on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aW7NFSGklM
She is good sometimes Wick'd ((Island Music) on BET J plays her videos also.
I'd love to find a CD. I adore her voice.
Thanks for the post. I'm definitely going to check out Lady Sovereign.
Please, please, please check out Invincible. She totally has my heart right now. Her lyrics are political and just fucking awesome. She writes with genuine intelligence and insight about so many issues, from injustices in Palestine to the digital divide to rape and the problems with commercialization. I love her. http://www.myspace.com/invincilana
Will definitely check her out!
Check out female rappers EyeASage and Hopie Spitshard and others on my blog:
http://wheremyladiesatwomeninhiphop.blogspot.com/
I'm absolutely head-over-heels in LOVE with Dessa. She's a rapper on the Minneapolis underground hip-hop scene, and is the only female rapper on the Doomtree crew, which also includes P.O.S., the increasingly known male artist. She doesn't have a single bad spit, but my favorite is "Mineshaft". You can check her out on MySpace, and I believe you can also buy her stuff on iTunes.
Dessa, of the Doomtree crew, out of Minneapolis:
http://www.doomtree.net/crew-dessa.htm
Love her.
Something doesn't entirely sit right with me about this post. You could have been experiencing great female hip-hop artists all along if you'd sought out the music that Lady Sovereign is heavily influenced by... music made by people of color, and more specifically Black people.
This isn't to say that no one should like Lady Sovereign (I find her music quite enjoyable, in fact) or that she shouldn't be making the music she's making (though appropriation is a really important topic, particularly as it relates to white people in hip-hop). But it's always unsettling, at best, to hear white hip-hop fans talk about how "refreshed" they are by white artists who are getting as much attention as they are largely *because* they are white, and who aren't necessarily doing anything that's particularly novel except for its popularity.
I think as white fans we have a responsibility to seek out Black artists and artists of color and to look at white artists through a critical lens - not to shun them, but to ask, "This sounds new to me; but I wonder if that's really the case or if this artist is stepping into the limelight over Black artists who have been doing this for a long time?" Because that's often the case.
A big strong Amen to this one.
The concept of appropriation should not be forgotten, no, but there weren't many women at all in the British grime scene when she got going, which yes gave her enormous novelty, plus grime is not just the progeny of hip hop.
Lady Sovereign grew up on a London council estate, but regardless of whether you think the highest context here is culture or ethnicity, she is from a basically post-rave and hip hop merged urban music culture.
While I genuinely think that is interesting context, I'm not sure it negates or particularly mitigates anything I said.
First, I'm not ranking culture and ethnicity, and I do not believe they can be divorced. Eminem grew up in a poor family in Detroit; that doesn't change the dynamics there, either.
Analogies to American hip-hop aside, I wasn't really attempting to question Lady Sovereign's cred or her right to a place in her musical community. I thought I made that clear, but perhaps I should have elaborated - or maybe not. Because ultimately, my comment was about this post in the context of white hip hop fans in general, since that was the construction the author used - Vanessa identified herself as a hip-hop fan and Lady Sovereign as a "refreshing" hip-hop artist. The context you lend with your comment wasn't unintentionally missing from mine. It was missing from the original post, and so I set it aside too.
My issue, again, is with white hip-hop fans ALWAYS talking about how refreshed they are by white artists without seeming to bother to get the backstory. Lady Sovereign did not invent her sound by any means. She's not especially refreshing, though she is entertaining. A white American who finds Lady Sovereign refreshing, particularly if that American is going to write a post about how Lady Sovereign is redeeming hip-hop on a major feminist website with a huge white American readership, has the very basic responsibility - to her readers, to other artists, to herself as a fan of the music - to dig a little deeper.
Had Vanessa done that, maybe this post would have been about how Ms. Dynamite and Shystie can't break in the US or get major label backing because they are women of color who don't meet the beauty standard or non-threateningness standards of white American hipsters and yuppies, and what a shame that is.
This is spot on & super constructive. I think there's nothing wrong with highlighting an artist you like, but it was the whole "refreshing" line that caught me the wrong way, and "not much new talent" in hip hop female emcees that rubbed me the wrong way.
Thanks for elaborating (further) about the angle you were most bothered by, I think it was me who needed to elaborate more.
I think we're both seeing that Lady Sovereign's marketability was not just the result of her ethnicity. She also has the 'scary/cute' thing, looks very youthful and is super-British and raps about biscuits and is fairly a-political. And as you say, the beauty standards, and non-threatening dimensions are implicated.
The whole pitting-artists-progress-against-each-other thing as if they were like for like I find a little bizarre though. My essay about why Ms Dynamite (who lest we forget gave her money from winning the Mercury Music Prize to the NSPCC, what a lady) didn't crack the US first time (almost nobody does) would say that if this was her aim that she needed to keep cracking at it, and she needed to better use the myspace angle. Instead she took time off to have her baby boy and focus on motherhood "150%"- that's a valid choice, plus the community service thing. She's had a reality tv-stint, so a comeback is imminent, but personally I'm more excited by her indications that she would like to go into politics.
I can't tell if this is deliberate derailing or if we're just talking past each other. I have no interest in pitting artistst against each other. I brought up examples of artists that white hip-hop fans could be aware of if we dug into the matter before buying wholesale into the idea of Lady Sovereign (or any white artist, for that matter) necessarily doing something new or unique. I have been attempting throughout to have a discussion about the way that white fans consume and discuss white artists, but I feel that you are trying to pull the conversation into an area where you feel more equipped to "win" because you are well-versed in the subject. So just for clarification purposes, once again, I am really not concerned with or interested in Lady Sovereign's standing in her musical community. My very narrow-focus (though, again, maybe this wasn't clear) concern about the original post was the positioning of Lady Sovereign, a white artist, as "refreshing" to a self-identified white hip-hop fan, and I wanted to see if that could be interrogated/deconstructed a little.
I get that 'refreshing' vexed you and why. And it is good that you said it. Hopefully it will prompt an interesting follow-on post.
Perhaps the link wasn't transparent, but I was responding to your expectations about what (maybe) ought to have been written and dig that she had not fulfilled her responsibilities by 'digging deeper'.
"Had Vanessa done that, maybe this post would have been about how Ms. Dynamite and Shystie can't break in the US or get major label backing because they are women of color who don't meet the beauty standard or non-threateningness standards of white American hipsters and yuppies, and what a shame that is."
Often, I see myself and other feminists applying the sorts of stock-analysis that we're comfortable with as feminists without doing much learning on what act we are discussing or who we are name dropping. We simultaneously berate non-feminists for doing the same thing. It's lazy, right? But we can't be expected to have encyclopedic knowledge of everything before we make a comment about an angle or a person.
But if you talk about or make assumptions about specific people or issues (or indicate that others shirk their responsibility by not doing so) and people respond by thinking 'Yeah! Let's talk about X!' then I wouldn't call that deliberate derailing. But apologies if that's how it felt.
Sigh. You're using a really common derailing tactic for conversations about white privilege, but I've honestly lost patience and energy for the back-and-forth, with you, and in general with people who substitute banter and oneups[wo]manship for introspection and deconstruction and intellectual honesty about privilege.
So have a cookie for your ability to use Google; my larger point stands. Go ahead and grab that last word.
Thanks for the constructive criticism Angela, and from all. This is definitely something to be discussed, and I think I'm going to write a more in-depth post about it. Stay tuned.
You're welcome, and thanks. I look forward to reading your post.
Yea, this is what I was saying not so articulately below.
One of the few rappers (not including hip hop artists) I love, male or female, is Missy Elliot. She is one of the few, in my opinion, to be strong melody-wise, and she's one of the most creative rappers ever. The only this is I wish she was more prolific.
Amanda Diva. I just recently discovered her, but she is awesome.
http://www.myspace.com/amandadiva
I'm going to second, third and fourth MC Invincible!
Beautiful husky voice with a great flow and powerful political messages! Detroit city rock!
Me too! I think I heard her track Sledgehammer on Jay Smooth's radio show. Awesome.
If you like Lady Sov you should check out some sweet photos from her show last weekend in Boston, along with a review of the show. Sounds like she's killing it on this tour!
http://www.melophobe.com/concert-reviews/lady-sovereign-paradise-rock-club-boston-ma/
I generally like her music, but I don't so much like the racist Gypsy references that have popped up in several of her songs.
I'm stoked to listen to all these great suggestions! I'm going to add Northern State to the list...they're a group of three women from Long Island and they are proudly feminist and their lyrics are so clever and political. I love the hell out of them and you guys should def. check them out.
http://www.myspace.com/northernstate
Gotta second this. We love Northern State.
I apologize for not leaving more constructive feedback, but this is one of the worst posts I've ever read on Feministing.
Are you applauding her because her white version of hip hop is more accessible to you? And if you are insisting on applauding a white MC, the recommendation of Invincible in the comments is a more appropriate example of a white woman in hip hop as she VEHEMENTLY REFUSES to take the offers of white record execs who desire to promote her (unlike Lady Sovereign, who stepped on their faces to get made). Invincible has said, out loud, that those offers belong to WOC who have been instrumental in creating the genre in the first place. I don't necessarily dig the whole martyr schtick, but the fact remains, Lady Sovereign is no shining beacon of hot modern hip hop.
I think she just saw a show she liked and got all enthusiastic and excited about it.
I'm looking forward to the more intensive post about all of the music being discussed here, but there might still be a little space for a person to see a show and give it a shout.
But this is a feminist and political space, not a personal blog. Not that the authors shouldn't share stuff they're excited about, but I am sure they expect (and should expect) there to be conversation, deconstruction, and critique. That's the point, no?
Well, I'm going to advocate for the middle here. I'd like to have more serious discussion, but I think there's plenty of room on a feminist blog for people to be excited about female artists whose shows they just attended.
Why does the "middle" in a discussion of racial privilege need you to defend it at all, much less on a feminist blog?
It is very silly to suggest that a person can't post about liking a female performer on their own feminist blog.
invincible.
I think that Estelle has proven her ability to switch from rapper to r&b vocalist as seamlessly as Lauryn Hill (my personal faves are '1980' and 'Just a Touch'). Also, the first time I heard Lil Mama open it up in the no music part of "Lip Gloss" (about the 2:30 mark here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCvXzjGRnKc ), I got chills.
But I definitely need to give it up to the original "mistress of the mic" Roxanne Shante, who stood up to rap misogyny at the age of fourteen with 'Roxanne's Revenge.' Definitely check out 'Have A Nice Day', where she slams out one of my favorite lines: "a lot of new mcs know how to please/but I gave birth to most of them mcs/so when it rolls around to the month of may/send me your royalty checks for mother's day". A little Roxanne trivia: she holds a doctorate in psychology from Cornell, because in her original music contract she demanded that the label pay for any higher education.
Sorry, her doctorate is actually from Marymount Manhattan.
Psalm One, an underground rapper from Chicago. Her rhymes are smart, lean, effortless, honest and hilarious -- she often reminds me of Lauryn Hill, early Nas and early Kanye West -- and her songs have a subdued feel with 60s'-sounding R&B brass and psychedelic guitar licks. She's awesome, although I don't know what she's up to in the last few years.
Likewise, I don't know what's going on now with Diam's, a French-Cypriot rapper who had a big hit with "La Boulette" a few years ago. I'm not fluent, but she has some great songs if you can ignore the sometimes-cloying pop production.
I liked her older stuff better. The new CD isn't as good, in my opinion, though I don't dislike it.
How timely, as I have recently been wondering where all the female MCs went and trying to find some great women rappers.
I recommend checking out Rye Rye, an amazingly talented young woman from Baltimore; Yo Majesty, a female duo with a really interesting story; and Blackkoldmedina, the woman featured in HBO's Katrina documentary "Trouble the Water."
Mélange Lavonne is someone I happened across recently. She is a open black lesbian, very political her voice reminds me a tad of MC Lyte and she is good, good voice and flow. If someone put one of her videos I'm sure it would be enjoyed, they are on youtube.
Word to Invincible - heard her on Finale's "A Pipe Dream and a Promise" album and was blown away. Jean Grae is dope, too and puts on a sick live show. Roxanne Shante, of course. MC Lyte. Warrior Queen has done some tracks with drum & bass producer DJ Zinc. I've got love for her.
How about DJs and producers? DJ Shortee is sick on the decks and makes really good drum & bass and electro records.
Outside of hip-hop, Grouper put out one of the best albums of 2008 (IMO), "Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill". Great ambient record.
I DJ and am trying to put together a mixtape of all female-empowering songs so if it ever comes together I'll drop it here.
Oh, how could I forget Charlie Baltimore? Really good lyricist. On a similar vibe, check for a track by Sonja Blade called "Look For Tha Name". One of the best DJ Premier beats and incredible verses. Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/sonjablade1
Sonja thanks all the femcees who came before her for inspiring her.
On a drum & bass tip, check MC Deeizm. Another DJ/producer from Toronto who was just signed to Shy FX's Digital Soundboy label is B. Traits. Really good DJ and producer.
Her lyrical content may not be for everyone but Lady of Rage is sick IMO. "Afro Puffs" is a classic.
Also, gotta big up DJ Jazzy Joyce. Great turntablist.
Last one, sorry... can't believe no one has mentioned SARAH JONES. Her track with DJ Vadim, "Your Revolution" is one of my all-time favorites. This track turned me on to feminism in a big way.
WOW...add to the "can't believe" list the brilliant Rah Digga:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kki7UzizpZk
...far as I know, the first (only?) female MC to actually identify as feminist in rhyme (the above song, in fact)! Unfortunately, her supposedly amazing sophomore album got shelved due to contract disputes...but I am SO anxiously anticipating her next move. -Dirty Harriet- is seriously in my top ten hip-hop albums EVAH.
No-one's suggesting that she's not allowed to like a female artist on a feminist blog - clearly you didn't just miss the point, you shot the strawperson at the other end of the field.
People are just saying that if you like hip-hop or rap, you don't have to go too fucking far to find some awesome female artists. They just aren't mostly, y'know, white. And the fact that Lady Sov is white probably has something to do with the fact that she is the only female hip-hop artist that this author has found 'refreshing' in the last DECADE. I mean, come on. How about Yo' Majesty? God-des and She? Hanifah Walida? FELONI, for crying out loud?! Melange Lavonne? Ms Dynamite?
Look, I like Lady Sov. But seriously, your white privilege and appropriation? It blinds.
Whoops, that was supposed to be a reply to Eileen.