Female Emcees – Can We Get Some Love?

You do not have to dig deep when doing a Google Search for the current top female emcees. Along with the search, there are even fewer selections listed on the Billboard Charts, let alone receiving radio play. Where are our female lyricists hiding? With the exception of Lil Kim who has an album due to be released later in the spring, and McLyte, who still perform in venues world-wide, Foxy Brown, Remi Martin, and other potential female rap vixens are held back by unsettled legal matters. Other past reigning female artist such as Eve and Queen Latifah promote projects that are dear to their hearts as well as becoming entrepreneurs leading them away from their original craft. What are we left with? We are left with an over-sized vault of local female emcees who perform vigorously to crowds that will receive them on any given open-mic night. The venues that hold these weekly if not daily club nights are generally for the male dominated emcee. Artists like Boston born Observa www.myspace.com/observa , Empress www.myspace.com/emperessmusic , or Jerkahonis www.myspace.com/tiffdajerk aka Jerko Flow attend these events in the hopes that they can be “put on” without prejudice. Sometimes the female rapper has to appear “hard”, or “down”, to even get an invitation. Do not let this be the reason the hip-hop world is lacking the female emcee. These women can move the crowd just as good as their male counterparts, but what is really lacking is the support from the brothers. I smell a new “Movement” coming on. Toney Smith of Vintage Vibez http://www.myspace.com/jamesetonee , along with a handful of other promoters in the Washington, DC area, hosts weekly events in the Downtown, U Street area. These events are geared towards open mic nights featuring male and female emcees.

Few promoters or event hosts go the extra mile and host two separate open mic nights leaving one for the male emcee, and the other for the female emcee. The problem with this marriage was made clear to me one Saturday night as I pardoned an open mic night. When the stage is lit for the male performers, the turn-out is packed. Female emcees come out to support their male counterparts in their climb to be the hottest emcee. The following night was not so supportive. Our female emcees are not receiving the same love that they give in return. On any given night, the ladies use any time given to express their lyrical flow to only a handful of peers that come out to support. This unfortunate reoccurring factor does little for the promoter as well, and limits their ability to continue to provide a forum for the female rappers.This lack of love for female emcees not only hurts our need for an obvious void in hip-hop, but it limits the people who try their best to get the voice of a female rapper heard in such a male dominated field. I have seen first-hand the talent of our local female emcees. The only missing treat was the support of the brothers, the brothers they supported the previous open mic night. Again, where is the love?

Let us go over the underwritten formula for a female emcee to break out into mainstream. You either have to join an all male click, or make it on a top 40 chart with a “breakthrough” song. Just ask Lil Kim, Remy Martin, Eve, Sole, and many others, some we do not remember. Biggie, Big Pun, and the Lox played a key role in the success of these female artists and the industry will not let us forget it. Artists like Salt-n-Pepa, MC Lyte, and Queen Latifah held it down for years dominating the charts with the respect they deserved. No one did them any favors by coming to their shows. The love was there, but sometimes the best female artists had to get a little help from their homies to be heard. Just ask Yo-Yo and lady of Rage to stamp that one. The solution to this void would be the obvious. If you see a flyer promoting an open mic night for both male and female emcee, please support the females with as much love as you give the males. We are all peers in this hip-hop “Movement”. Show the female emcee that there is a need for them to be heard. You do not know what you are missing.

InTheMixWithTre’