Earlier this week, TMZ released the now infamous elevator video of Solange going HAM on Jay Z. The responses have been swift and the memes have been hilarious. I’m a let y’all finish but, there are a few things missing from the conversation. First of all, Solange was dead wrong. Now don’t get me wrong, […]
Tag: hip hop
Five Ways Talib Kweli Can Become a Better Ally to Women in Hip Hop
After this latest week of utter shamtastery in Hip Hop, the words of the late great Aaliyah resonate now more than ever: We need a resolution; there is so much confusion. Rick Ross thinks that drugging a woman and raping her isn’t rape, but rather a case of misunderstanding. FOH Talib Kweli thinks that […]
(Un)Clutching My Mother’s Pearls, or Ratchetness and the Residue of Respectability
The recent news that ATL rapper Shawty Lo (of Laffy Taffy fame) may be the potential star of a new reality show featuring him, his 11 children, and his 10 baby mamas had this feminist searching for somebody’s pearls to clutch, seeing as how even the First Lady’s love of pearls has not inspired me […]
A (Not So) Guilty Pleasure: Love & Hip Hop Atlanta
By now, many of you have experienced the delightful ratchet theater that is Love & Hip Hop Atlanta. One word: Ratchetstilksin Love and Hip Hop Atlanta is the brain-child of producer, Mona Scott-Young, who also unleashed upon the world created the first Love and Hip Hop series. LAHHA follows, as you might have guessed, the […]
The Evolution of a Down Ass Chick, Part II (or Why Miss Independent Is Probably Single)
NOTE: This blog continues the conversation about the implications of hip hop masculinity on heterosexual love relationships between black men and women (see The Evolution of a Down Ass Chick). Independent Woman: A woman who pays her own bills, buys her own things, and DOES NOT allow a man to affect her stability or self-confidence. […]
On Ashley Judd and the Politics of Citation
A couple of folks were asking for a crunk response to Ashley Judd’s memoir passages and the resulting controversy. Judd is being called to task for singling out rap music as the “contemporary soundtrack of misogyny.” You can read her words here. There are lots of responses that you can check out but I want […]
Ten Crunk Commandments for Re-Invigorating Hip Hop Feminist Studies
This past weekend, the CFC attended the important Black and Brown Feminisms in Hip Hop Media Conference at UT San Antonio. We had a great time and were reminded of all the wonderful possibilities in the field of Hip Hop (and) Feminist Studies, and we thought we would share a summary of our presentation and […]
Holloween, The Mourning-After Poem
At a Halloween house party where I was one of two African American college students, I came to represent available, accessible sex. I was transformed from a sexual subject to object by the rap music and by the anonymous white guy who groped me. The rap music was so loud that I could not hear […]
Sticks, Stones & Microphones
I can still hear a whisper (song). Arms oval. Neck curled. Hips sway to the familiar southern bass from a black (male) speaker rapping to me the dance floor. Before I could face the voice coaxing me to move, he drops his hook—a line about a violent sexual fantasy, a common come-on echoed in hip […]
Nicki’s World
As BET gets set to air its documentary about women and hip hop Monday, I am finding my 30-plus, old school feminist-self working hard to gear up to get down with the over-the-top, lyrically layered, brand savvy rapper that is Nicki Minaj. The self-described Barbie is inescapable. She works every rap and R&B hook, and […]