As any music fan will know, and will appreciate, what interests you and what keeps getting replayed on your iPod can change very quickly. I recently found myself fascinated with the situation regarding female artists in the UK Urban scene, particularly in Hip Hop.
In terms of the male urban scene in the UK, very gradually we are seeing signs of progression that could eventually put us on a par with certain artists across the pond. In recent weeks, an example of this was the revelation that Puff Daddy is a fan of the UK grime scene, and in fact tweeted he wanted to work with an artist. Once again, the powers of social media and particularly Twitter were showcased as Puff Daddy was overloaded with suggestions that he should work with none other than Skepta. It seems likely therefore that at some point in the near future, something beautiful will be created. We live in hope. However, through a bit of slightly sad research on all the suggestions, not one female was suggested to Puff Daddy, resulting in my cluttered brain trying to work out why not.
At face value I assessed the current frontrunners in the female UK Urban scene. One of the prominent figures is Lady Sovereign, who despite doing brilliantly to be signed by Jay Z and some brief mainstream exposure thanks to Big Brother hasn't necessarily fulfilled what might have been expected of her, yet. Recently (and this is my big tip for the future) a new flag bearer of female rappers in the UK has been born - not literally, she's 23 - and she goes by the name of Envy. With tracks produced by former interviewee of Clutterances Akira The Don, she is one to look out for. Her music profile was raised through her involvement in numerous rap battles taking place in and around Manchester. Winning the acclaimed freestyle competition 'Battlescars' in March 2006 brought Envy both respect and publicity, and this led to an entry into the 'Scribblejam qualifiers' in association with the jump off with some of the best battlers in the UK, followed by an invite to open the MOBO awards 2006. Envy stormed a string of recent gigs in Germany, London and her hometown, supporting 50 Cent's G-Unit in November to promote 'Tongue Twister'. She has also supported Kano as part of his 'Home Sweet Home' tour performing in front of thousands. Envy is an educated, witty, culturally savvy and entertaining artist who is set to have an exciting few years ahead of her, however, I wanted to look at artists that are perhaps slightly lower down the ladder, and more importantly get their point of view on the situation.
In terms of trying to get in contact with, and learn about potential artists trying to make a name for themselves, I was put in contact with UK Hip Hop artist Genesis Elijah to get a starting point for this article. The man was kind enough to answer a few of my questions, as well as point me in the direction of some particularly interesting artists.
I simply asked if he could give an example of something he may have come across in his experience of the industry with regards to perceptions and attitudes towards females in the industry.
"The problem for female MC's is that Hip-Hop is male dominated. Not only in the way it's perceived but also the demographic of the people who buy and sell it. The music industry likes it's women to be feminine and sexy and with hip hop being such a masculine art form a lot of the women tend to try and compete with the men in the scene and loose that feminine side.
We like our women soft but we like are rappers hard so a female rapper is almost an oxymoron.
Another problem with female rappers in the UK is they still haven't found their UK identity. The male rappers have managed to find the right balance between an American art form and the British way of life. This is partly because the men have had MC role models since the late 80's where as the females for the most part have had to look to the US for inspiration.
The funny thing is the only female who has really exploited the Hip-Hop attitude while expressing her britishness successfully is Lilly Allen and she's not even a rapper."
I couldn't have wished for a better starting point from which to analyse. There is an element of social commentary with the statement that 'we like our women soft' and in a sense what this sheds light on is that the music industry is a microcosm for the bigger picture. Do we like our women soft? The press is always crying out for 'strong' women, and with the latest general election, there was a fair bit of talk about the lack of female candidates. Perhaps it is popular to state we want strong women, but when it comes to the breast of the issue (sorry) we still do indeed want a traditional feminine and 'soft' woman. Hip Hop certainly connotes passion and aggression as an artform, whilst still being creative and powerfully insightful as social commentary. Traditionally these are believed to be male characteristics, fight or flight, vs tend and befriend. Yet times have changed, supposedly.
Another aspect of Genesis' words was the idea of a role model. It is certainly true that individuals may need to look to the US for inspiration. One of the most successful female, US rappers is Missy Elliot. I saw an early quote from Missy where she said:
"I want kids of this generation to see that everything is cool, that there's some kind of unity in hip-hop. We all found something that's really important to us, and music is all we've really got."
A lovely message to have in many ways. Bringing to the front the idea of unity, and a love of music, particularly Hip-hop. However, I recently read her say this:
"Hip-hop is definitely not what it used to be, which was creative, original music."
So if this role model has criticised the way the industry has changed, who do females of this industry hold as their role models? All these doubts and questions bring to light the most constant factor in this argument: Identity. To state Lilly Allen (who keeps coming up when I write about music) as the only one to exploit the Hip-hop attitude is pretty bold, yet I find myself agreeing. She does sing about so-called non-mainstream things, and yet finds herself at times dominating the pop market.
Identity is certainly a dominant factor in why there isn't more successful female urban artists. I decided to explore the idea further, and found myself talking to Leddie from Leddie & Smoggy. Leddie and Smoggy are a Female/Male UK Hip Hop Duo from Middlesbrough in the North of England. Part of the well respected 'Peoples Army' the fact that they are a two-gender act makes Leddie particularly interesting to talk to. I asked her why there weren’t many successful female artists in the UK urban scene, and she revealed the following:
"I, personally, dont understand why there arent many successful UK artists. But at the same time, nowadays mainstream music works on gimmick and fads, which are pretty much over and done with, as soon as they have begun. Whether that is a number one record, or one album, a particular style or fashion which hasnt really been seen much, and can be used to an advantage quickly before there are 'cliches' or immitations in competition with one another.
Im not really biased in who i listen to, whether they are male or female, as long as their lyrical content is good. I think people are more wary and judgemental of females in Hip Hop (Which i guess is the same in most professions) as opposed to men, because they expect generic material that has been done plenty of times before, in exactly the same way because I feel, thats what usually happens.
In my opinion, these days, you have to be able to grab the attention of a specific target audience, unless females promote themselves as sex 'symbols', It seems impossible for us to be given the opportunity to start climbing the ladder in order to be successful.
Years ago, artists (whether they were singers or rappers, male or female) were judged on their talents and capabilities. Now were judged on the package were being forced to create in order to be heard by 'powerful' people, which has eventually became more of a science as opposed to an art."
Here i found myself realising that people in the industry are aware and perhaps frustrated as much as the fans are about the rapidly changing nature of Hip-hop in the UK. As a genre it is changing, it is becoming much more 'packaged' as Leddie suggests. I for one am disappointed with this. A good example of this is Plan B. As an artist he used to be insightful, aggressive, funny, and controversial. With his latest album, he has gone the mainstream, generic pop route. Now, I don't necessarily blame him, money talks at the end of the day. However what annoys me is that he continues to perform under the bravado of Hip-hop, and this is fooling new listeners, miseducating them in many ways. There is certainly some angst in Leddie's words towards the 'powerful' people, something that Akira the Don mirrors in my earlier article "Making noise about Social Media and music". Is it the industry big wigs that block female artists more than public expectation? In my opinion it probably is. The industry seems afraid to take so-called risks. Whether this be with particularly controversial performers such as Akira, or females as a whole. In many ways, from a business standpoint, risks may not be worth it financially. However, this brings light to the age old argument of music to entertain, or music to generate money. In my investigation I finally contacted UK rapper Pariz-1. She went on to say this:
"Basically females do have a hard time as rappers in the music industry because we are seen as the lesser talented ones than the males. I have been told many times that girls can't rap, then I open my mouth and spit and those opinions suddenly are taken back. Not many females have made a big impact because they aren't talking about sex or shoes and bags etc, or they aren't dressed in next to nothing all the time, those who talk about real things, such as teaching our children self respect and respect for others, or those that talk about hood stories but from a female perspective etc don't get love. Men think that we are beneath them but I know a lot of female rappers that can stand tall next to any man and spit and hold their own such as Myself, Nolay, Lioness, Jai, Baby Blue, Shystie, Lady Leshurr, Cmone, Tempa, there's a lot of us about the place but we don't get the respect we deserve because males try to keep us out, maybe it's a fear they have of being outshone by a woman!? Who knows, all I know is put me next to ANY male in the UK and I will hold it down! My album 'The Bakery Sessions' is out in June, real music for real people!"
She carries with her an obvious sense of pride in Hip-hop as an artform. She is certainly confident in her own ability, and so she should be. She is the first person also to really make a point of it being "Men" who think women are lesser, not "the industry". The industry is still a patriarchal place, and this does seem to be hindering female chances of breaking through. As i said earlier, it seems that the UK Urban scene is certainly a microcosm for the wider world, lots is being said about being focussed on equality, but seemingly not much is being done.
If "Hip-hop is supposed to uplift and create, to educate people on a larger level and to make a change" (Doug E. Fresh) and that "Hip-hop is a vehicle" (Talib Kweli) why is it not allowing females to be part of this change and education? Why are women being restricted from this vehicle. "The thing about hip-hop today is it's smart, it's insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable" (Barack Obama) and yet the message between the lines in the UK is that unless your male, you seemingly offer no insight. This is something I certainly disagree with, UK female performers are just as insightful, intelligent, and entertaining as the men, but are not getting the respect they deserve.
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