music July 22, 2019
Female rappers are running the rap game.
The music industry has always been male-led, especially when it comes to rap and hip/hop. It has always been difficult for female rappers to find footing in the industry. Female rappers have continually been diminished and have not received the credibility they deserve for their talent.
The female legends of rap and hip/hop such as Trina, Lil Kim, Missy Elliott, Remy Ma among others, have opened doors and paved the way for women today to redefine what it means to be a female in the rap industry.
The female rap game has a history of causing a lot of beef in choosing “the” female rapper. The genre had been set on only having one star. Today, the women of rap and hip hop have a better understanding of what “The Future Is Female” really means.
Uniting, standing together, and really lifting each other up: we have seen many collaborations between artists like; Doja Cat and Rico Nasty with their hit single, Tia Tamera. We have also seen many female artists taking the stage together on tour and at festivals. We recently saw Cardi B, Saweetie and Megan Thee Stallion performing at Summer Jam, a hip-hop festival held in New Jersey.
The collaborations, the support and the talent are turning points in female rap music. There isn’t just a couple of women changing the game. Several women are getting in the booth and grabbing the industry by the microphone.
Here are the 10 female rappers who are absolutely changing the future of rap music for the better:
The Detroit-born Houston-Native singer/rapper Lizzo reminds all women that they are that bitch with her debut album, “Cuz I Love You.” Her hit song, “Truth Hurts,” was featured in the Netflix Original, Someone Great. It peaked at number six on the billboard hot 100 list during its release.
Lizzo told Rolling Stone “Cuz I Love You,” was inspired by her vulnerability and her experiences going to therapy. She spoke about needing to learn how to love herself unconditionally, even when she wasn’t at her best.
Lizzo said that vulnerability was the catalyst needed to record this album. It resulted in producing her most honest work yet. Full of self-esteem boosting anthems, this album helps her listeners understand that high self-esteem is more than how others perceive you.
“When I have to make decisions, I always choose honesty and I always stay true to myself, because I know at the end of the day that is what’s going to remain,” Lizzo said during an interview with Rolling Stone. “That is what’s going to be the legend: That I was true to myself and that I honored every person by staying truthful to them.”
Lizzo is a powerhouse artist; singing, rapping, dancing—all while being a master of the flute. She is the definition of an authentic, strong woman in the industry. By doing that, she is changing the game.
When all we knew was Nicki Minaj, Cardi B came in and added some fuel to the fire that is the female rap industry. Cardi B’s breakthrough debut in the late 2010s was with her hit single Bodak Yellow, which made her the first female rapper in nearly two decades to top the Billboard Hot 100.
Grammy nominated, “Invasion of Privacy,” Cardi’s debut album, reached number one. She became the first solo female rapper to win a Grammy for Best Rap Album.
Cardi B has always been authentic and real when it comes to talking about her past and history being a stripper, and as well as staring on VH1’s TV show Love & Hip-Hop: New York. Cardi B posted on her personal website, “It really saved me from a lot of things. When I started stripping I went back to school.” Saving her from going down a much different path.
She continues to talk about how stripping was a way out for her, and a way to earn enough money to escape her unhealthy relationships and situations.
Cardi has worked with many big-name artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, 21 Savage and Migos. Cardi has broken records and set the bar very high for women in hip-hop. Yet she leaves plenty of room for other women to make names for themselves. She shows that they can overcome anything with passion, drive, and grit.
The unconventional, free-spirit, Doja Cat, is opening the door to a new wave of rap music. Doja’s first EP, “Purrr,” was released in August 2014. Her debut album, “Amala”, was released four years later in March 2018.
Colorful and candy-coated, her songs are rapped and sung with claws out and with no remorse. She gained a lot of traction after her YouTube single, “Mooo!” released in August of 2018 went viral.
“I’m not perfect, but I always land on my feet. The music speaks to that.” Doja Cat tells RCA Records. “It’s so many different things. It’s trappy-go-lucky with a touch of punk… it’s exactly who I am.”
Doja Cat represents what it means to assert feline-esque dominance in a man-made world. Her unapologetic charisma and confidence make her a stand-out artist and an inspiration in the female rap world.
Style icon, rapper, songwriter and the queen of the Sugar Trap—it’s Rico Nasty. Her sound is a little edgy, with vocals that come off coarse with anger or hostility, but she is authentically and unapologetically herself.
In 2017, Rico Nasty dropped her single “Poppin,” which was used in the HBO original, “Insecure.” Rico is one of the younger women in the rap game, beginning her career while she was a junior in high school. Now at the age of 22, she is seven projects deep and signed to Atlantic Records. She recently released her album, “Anger Management,” produced by Kenny Beats.
Rico Nasty brings together women who celebrate individuality, and inspires a different angle of creativity in the rap and hip/hop world.
Periodtttttt. Rap duo Yung Miami and JT—the two women who make up the City Girls—released their first album, “Period”, in May 2018. Two months after the release, the City Girls gained exposure through songwriting and vocal contributions to Drake’s, “In My Feelings,” a number one hit around the world.
The rap duo’s second full-length album, Girl Code, dropped in November, entering the Billboard 200 at number 63. The duo has had to overcome quite a bit of adversity. Rolling Stone mentions that member JT unfortunately has spent most of her time of fame in jail. Yung Miami is holding the City Girls down. Staying true to their brand and supporting JT.
These two women represent hustle and grind—being able to see the bigger picture, and not stopping or settling until you get there.
JT told, XXL Magazine in an interview, “Yeah, we don’t wanna be small, we wanna do everything. Have stuff named after us.”
It’s a hot girl summer y’all, and Megan Thee Stallion is driving the boat.
Houston native and proud of it, at the young age of 16, Megan began writing raps after being inspired by her mother. Meg’s EP, “Trina Show,” was released in November 2018. She signed to 300 Entertainment in November 2018, which made her the first female rapper on their label.
In between Megan’s EP and her next project, she was caught dropping fire freestyles during different interviews that really emphasized her lyrical talent. Her first full length project, “Fever,” was released on May 17th, 2019 with her record, “Cash Shit”. It featured DaBaby entering the Billboard Hot 100 at number 98.
Megan is not only an unbelievably talented rapper, she is also a triple threat. Musically-inclined, educated, and woke. Megan is actively studying for her Health Administration degree at Texas Southern University. She is promoting environmental awareness by organizing different beach clean-ups in Santa Monica, CA as well as encouraging her followers on Instagram and twitter to use reusable water bottles to eliminate waste. Lastly, Megan is a passionate anime lover, sporting different looks from her favorite anime characters.
It is for this reason, that Megan Thee Stallion is changing the rap game. She is introducing the acceptance of being more than just a rapper, she is a jack of all trades.
The incredibly intelligent, yet soft-spoken Chicago rapper, Noname is indeed making a name for herself.
Noname started to gain attention when she appeared on Chance The Rapper’s 2013 mixtape, Acid Rap. Seeing success, she released her 2016 mixtape, Telefone. This gave her the funds to record her debut studio album in 2018. Room 25 is a beautiful project that swims deep into the issues of race, identity, sex, and politics.
Noname began her artistry through poetry and other creative mediums. This allowed her to step into the music world. Her voice became an important staple in the rap game, as she continues to produce music as an independent artist.
Noname told NPR that the feeling of ownership in regards to maintaining her integrity as well as how she feels as a women of color, are important to her. “I just don’t want my art to be owned by a white man.”
She also enjoys her role as an entrepreneur and a business owner of her own work. As a strong voice in the rap world, Noname believes that female rappers are heading in the right direction. She told NPR, “There is this very communal spirit between everyone. At least of the women that I’ve met or talked to through social media, everyone is very supportive of everyone and it’s really beautiful.”
Noname is changing the rap game by being the voice we need—representing what it means to be a voice to the voiceless. Speaking to hard, controversial topics and promoting the idea that your voice can change the world.
Icy girl straight out of The Bay, Saweetie took-off by posting videos online of herself freestyling over old-school rap beats in her car. Starting at the age of 14, she began writing her own song, inspired by her love of poetry.
Her hit single, “ICY GIRL,” went viral in October 2017, and since has seen over 20 million views. Saweetie dropped her debut EP “High Maintenance,” in March 2018. Saweetie is another artist that is accomplishing more than just rap music.
Receiving her degree from Southern California in communications and a focus in business, Saweetie represents what it means to do the things in life that are important to you—no matter what the haters say. Saweetie moves in a way that emphasizes that she doesn’t really care what others have to say about her. She wants to get things done, and worrying about what others think would hold her back from her hustle.
“I encountered producers who wanted to hang out after we worked,” she said, “and when I refused, they wouldn’t let me come back and work again. … I would’ve have way more opportunities if I had succumbed. But it never felt right. I always felt like I was going to be successful, and I didn’t want to compromise my morals. I’m glad I didn’t take any shortcuts.”
Saweetie told Rolling Stone that she has quite a few connections, and throughout the beginning of her career people were always telling her to use her connections. She never wanted anything that wasn’t fully hers.
As a female rapper, Saweetie represents what it means to work hard and refrain from cutting corners.
The 26 year old New York rapper, formerly known as Wavy Spice, got her foot in the door by relating her music to a multitude of diverse fans.
In the beginning of her rap career, her rhyming skills weren’t very strong, but different groups of people saw themselves in her music—women, queer folks, kids, drag queens, ravers, punks. Over time, she was able to perfect her rapping craft, turning her records into anthems. Princess Nokia didn’t grow up listening to hip-hop and wasn’t a hip-hop head. However, she said that hip-hop lives in her soul in a very personal way.
Princess Nokia is a representation of a self-made artist. She received no handouts, and literally started from the bottom – now she’s here. She is very proud to have made her career in a DIY format. Women having that type of power is often unheard of.
Princess Nokia cares about her fans and their experience with her music and performances. As a female rapper, she wants to give women a place to feel safe at a hip-hop concert—a usually male-focused setting. She wanted to see women on the front fence moshing together for once, so she created a space for that.
Princess Nokia is changing the rap game by representing what it means to be unified. No matter what color, shape or preference.
The Philadelphia native Whack World phenomenon, Tierra Whack is making essential changes to the rap game.
Her latest album, Whack World, is a cohesive project that comes from mixing the sounds of hip-hop, rap, pop, and country. It gives her fans a well-rounded expression of who she is as a person.
This album is particularly special. Each song sits perfectly at one minute, and the visuals for each perfectly display her vision. A vivid ride of emotion carries you through her album. You feel Teirra’s joy, goofieness, grief, and self-love, all wrapped into a masterpiece.
She began with poetry and moved on to playing with beats. Tierra found herself first rapping about things that got her “street cred”. She quickly realized that it is more important to write about what she feels is authentically her. Her pen is wild and Tierra Whack is changing the rap game by being another woman who represents standing out and embracing what it means to be you.
In this crazy world of social media and people portraying fake personas, our culture needs female rappers like Tierra Whack.
These ten women stand together as a collective group. These ten women stand together to create and mold the future of rap music. The future is female and female rappers are taking it over by storm.
