Review: "My Mic Sounds Nice" Addresses the Decline In Women Rappers
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 12:30PM in EntertainmentSnob, He Said/She Said, MusicSnob, PopCulturalist, PostRacialist What happened to the female MC? Documentary filmmaker and producer Ava DuVernay and BET go on a quest to mark the rise and decline of the woman rapper.
My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women And Hip Hop (BET, tonight, Aug. 30 at 10 p.m. EST)
Somehow I've managed to make it this long without hearing a full Nicki Minaj song. It's not that I'm not aware of her existence, but for whatever reason she hasn't captured my attention. Not like other artists in the past have. Not like Queen or Lyte or Jean Grae or Lauryn. She's "OK." She's trying really hard. And apparently she's it when it comes to women in Hip Hop who have a record label behind them.
In Ava DuVernay's documentary, "My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women and Hip Hop," she interviews many female rappers, from Roxanne Shante to Missy to Eve to Yo Yo, about the 90s feast and the 2000s famine for female rap acts.
DuVernay directed and produced the piece which, at times, is both inspiring and a bit depressing. To watch clips of classic MC Lyte and Queen Latifah, then see flickers of rappers I haven't seen in years, like Monnie Love, JJ Fad, Boss and Charlie Baltimore leaves you gasping "What happened?" Yet we know what happened. The trajectory of success and failure of women signed to rap record deals has mirrored what has happened to the music industry as a whole.
Throughout the documentary, the women interviewed make the point that labels believe women rappers can't sell and are novelty acts -- which sounds crazy considering the great success of Missy Elliott and Lauryn Hill, as well as veterans like Latifah, Lyte, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown and others. But this isn't shocking when you consider how just as women rappers were becoming commonplace the record industry was dying.
What happened in the 2000s was the buying out and shuttering of major labels and the push towards styles of hip hop that would sell without much risk. Everything is now a different variation of the once untouchable "gangster" rap. (Which seems ironic that just a few years ago labels like Time Warner and Interscope were desperate to defuse controversy involving troublesome rappers.) This is why the 90s rap scene seemed so diverse -- everything from conscious rap to head-bangers and booty-shakers getting major radio airplay -- compared to now where many major acts seem to be reinventions of past successful artists. A sea of copies of a copy of Tupac, stripped of any complexities down to the base components of shirtless, tatted up, aggressive (both physically and sexually) and profane.
Because of this, there isn't much room for women rappers. Women continue to watch their careers live and die by whatever man is behind them (in Minaj's case, that's the imprisoned Lil Wayne). This means that female rappers have gone from dressing for themselves to dressing to sell their sexuality. In the documentary rappers Salt and Pepa laugh and gasp at the aggressive push to make women rappers more sexually provocative and how their asymmetrical haircuts and stretch pants are a huge departure from the near-naked looks promoted today.
The fashion aspect of the documentary was very fascinating to me. Especially since sexuality is so aggressively pushed now for both women rappers and musical artists. Earlier artists simply wore what they felt best reflected them, from MC Lyte's sophisticated urban chic to Queen Latifah's African inspired garb to TLC's colorful baggy pants and T-shirts. The documentary shows that the success of Lil Kim and Foxy Brown changed everything, as labels aggressively pushed female rap acts to be more sexually suggestive. (Who can forget that make over they gave Da Brat in the late 90s? From baggy leather pants to rapping in a bra top.) What was always depressing for me was how this look was pushed on all women rappers across the board despite the fact that rappers like Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott, the two most successful female hip hop acts of the 90s, managed to rap and sing dressed the way they felt comfortable. Elliott, after all, was overweight and known for dressing outlandishly, not provocatively. Hill dressed as a trendy, Earthy, round-a-way girl.
Yet now, rap for women is pushed as "clothing optional."
What's also stark is how the women in the documentary discuss singer-rapper-songwriter Lauryn Hill. Hill did not participate in the documentary, but her presence is felt heavily as nearly every woman interviewed expresses a love for her style and aches at the loss of her from the music scene. It was like they were talking about something that died. (Even though Hill is very much alive and is now on the Rock the Bells hip hop tour. But even while on tour, Hill has been reluctant to re-enter the limelight.) The women interviewed all seemed to rejoice in Hill's success, but pained in her absence.
The documentary runs under an hour without commercials and is both funny and refreshing. Seeing Eve, for instance, and how lovely she is today, explaining how the game changed her life or hearing from Trina, a rapper I've never been a fan of, but can respect for her longevity, speaking on her inspiration was moving.
Female rappers are often propped up as the bits of flavor to spice up a male-dominated record label. People forget that these are women with dreams and talents and goals of their own. Hearing Lady of Rage describe how her rap debut was destroyed by Death Row Records collapse after Tupac's death, Dre's departure and Suge Knight's imprisonment is like hearing someone describe the death of their dreams. To come so close to the spotlight to only find that you didn't show up at the right time had to be heart-breaking.
To see the field diminish to Minaj and not much else is depressing. When Minaj shouted that she was holding it down for all women rappers at this year's BET Awards many women hip hop heads I knew bristled, taking issue with Minaj's style and packaging. But considering the media environment she wasn't lying. She's pretty much it for a woman rapper with major label backing and airplay. For more diversity today you have to go underground.
DuVernay's documentary is a great introduction for those who always wanted to hear from female rappers as individuals and not just as eye-candy or a commodity. I can only hope more filmmakers will continue to broach this subject and delve even deeper.
Check it out "My Mic Sounds Nice" today and on repeat airings this month on BET.
Ava DuVernay, BET, black women, documentary, film, gender issues, hip hop, media, music, rappers 
Reader Comments (10)
Female rappers today, as in the past, try too hard to fit in. For some reason women just can't spit lyrics over tight beats and become successful. They have to be masculine, completelywhoreish or both. In the case of Nikki Minaj, just looney to make money. I suppose the thought of a normal woman rapper is never going to happen. I'd like to see a woman with skill just go out and be herself. But they don't market women like that. I guess women as a whole, Black women in particular, still have a lot more work to do. Pity.
Here's a wacky idea. Why not have the elder sisters start up a label and bring up the young ones? Don't talk about it if you can't be about it. Umm, did that language exude enough "ride or die chick"?
And there you go, even that term is so misogynic. Lil Wayne even jokes about it in a Drake song. The line is something about women getting themselves off while memorizing his lyrics (which is either before or after sucking the brown off of his, err, member ::eye roll::)
Why are we memorizing Lil Wayne lyrics, ladies? Just why?!
It seems we're satisfied with the current state of affairs: booty shorts, fawning, fake everything and paying our own bills (like that's something special).
Minaj? Meh. But then again, I'm not her demographic. At 30+ years old, I'd just like to hear some more variety from the ladies in hip hop.
BTW, if it was a conscious decision to have the lesbian-focused Zoosk ad in your upper right hand corner, then YEAH! Some diversity would've been nice though.
Mind you if it's contextual, then BOO because Google assumes a discussion of female rappers must be of major interest to lesbians.
There are good female MC's out there, but they have the same problem as male MC's: great lyrics and positivity don't get marketed properly. Invincible out of detroit is an incredible MC. Surprised no one mentioned Jean Grey. Bahamadia. And there are probably a hundred other great female emcees that no one has ever heard of. You will never find great hiphop on MTV or the radio, much less great female hiphop.
I have yet to be truly impressed by any of the material I have heard from Nicki Minaj, granted, I haven't really been looking for it. Seema to me folks seem to confuse her big ass for big talent.
Lauryn seems poised to come back in a big way though, With all of them kids, she better get her butt out there and put that talent to work....
Maybe her return and success will light a fire under the labels, we all know when they see successs they all try to copy it. This may be the time for female MC's to get on.
The big problem in the industry is the mysogyny that is birthed from wealth and power. Women become seen with narrower lenses and if you are not eye candy, forget about it. A lot of the more talented female rappers are dyking hardcore and not only does that not fit into the lense, its a bit hard to sell, it makes both men and women uncomfortable. Unless they are willing to pull a Missy or a Latifa, or an MC lyte, they will have a hard road ahead of them.
I have to agree with Novanova here. Even though Invincible and Bahamadia are incredible MC's, there is that sense of "manliness" about them that is hard for mainstream audiences to accept. If it was all about lyrics, these women would have made it big a long time ago. As nova said, they would have to pull a Latifah in order to "soften" their image. Only problem with that is with a feminine "look" comes expectations of a "typical" feminine voice, and "typical" feminine subject matter. Then you are back at square one.
If you want great lyrics, positivity, and kick-ass femininity, check out Pittsburgh rapper, Kellee Maize! I was recently introduced to her music and I am impressed. No "hardcore dyking" to be found. Just great lyrics set to hot Bmore club beats. I think you can download her music for free on Amazon or on her personal website. She is worth checking out!
I'm still pissed they didn't mention L'Trimm
@ Sloan
I just looked up Kellee Maize. I made this comment in another post about My Mic Sounds Nice. But while watching it I noticed there was no mention of any of the white female MC's (Princess Superstar, Lady Sovereign, Tairrie B., Amanda Blank). I'm wondering if this was deliberate or just an oversight?
Thanks for this video…I have been brain storming for something just like this and thanks to you I have what I was looking for and not all those spam looking links that make you want to click them just to see what they lead too…my pet peave.