Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty

So at the same time that they're pushing back at being objectified, part of the industry, part of the business of being a woman rapper, particularly in the 90s and the early 2000s, is that you're presenting to them the very things that they seem to desire, even if what you're presenting to them as consumption is stuff that you might not be personally comfortable with.

So at the same time that they're pushing back at being objectified, part of the industry, part of the business of being a woman rapper, particularly in the 90s and the early 2000s, is that you're presenting to them the very things that they seem to desire, even if what you're presenting to them as consumption is stuff that you might not be personally comfortable with.

So at the same time that they're pushing back at being objectified, part of the industry, part of the business of being a woman rapper, particularly in the 90s and the early 2000s, is that you're presenting to them the very things that they seem to desire, even if what you're presenting to them as consumption is stuff that you might not be personally comfortable with.

You know, I feel the same way about some of the language. You know, we hear the lyrics. We very rarely actually have conversations with rappers about why did you choose these lyrics, right? And I wonder to the extent that they're actually invested. We could say the same thing about the violence that we, you know, guns and drugs and all that kind of stuff.

You know, I feel the same way about some of the language. You know, we hear the lyrics. We very rarely actually have conversations with rappers about why did you choose these lyrics, right? And I wonder to the extent that they're actually invested. We could say the same thing about the violence that we, you know, guns and drugs and all that kind of stuff.

You know, I feel the same way about some of the language. You know, we hear the lyrics. We very rarely actually have conversations with rappers about why did you choose these lyrics, right? And I wonder to the extent that they're actually invested. We could say the same thing about the violence that we, you know, guns and drugs and all that kind of stuff.

You know, how invested the rappers are themselves in that language and the stories that they tell, as opposed to fitting some sort of rubric that they think they have to produce in order to sell records. Right. And the pressure to sell records within that context.

You know, how invested the rappers are themselves in that language and the stories that they tell, as opposed to fitting some sort of rubric that they think they have to produce in order to sell records. Right. And the pressure to sell records within that context.

You know, how invested the rappers are themselves in that language and the stories that they tell, as opposed to fitting some sort of rubric that they think they have to produce in order to sell records. Right. And the pressure to sell records within that context.

You know, 30 years ago, if you turned on mainstream block radio, there are certain artists that you had to listen to. right, because they were the only artists being played.

You know, 30 years ago, if you turned on mainstream block radio, there are certain artists that you had to listen to. right, because they were the only artists being played.

You know, 30 years ago, if you turned on mainstream block radio, there are certain artists that you had to listen to. right, because they were the only artists being played.

The ecosystem now around music is so different is that Big Sean can say what he wants, and you never have to pay attention to it anymore, right, because literally there are hundreds and thousands of other artists, some of them who are Black women who are openly feminist, some of them who are Black women and men who are openly queer, who are going to produce versions of hip-hop music and rap music, popular music in general, that appeals to you so that you do not have to be bombarded by these other kinds of images.

The ecosystem now around music is so different is that Big Sean can say what he wants, and you never have to pay attention to it anymore, right, because literally there are hundreds and thousands of other artists, some of them who are Black women who are openly feminist, some of them who are Black women and men who are openly queer, who are going to produce versions of hip-hop music and rap music, popular music in general, that appeals to you so that you do not have to be bombarded by these other kinds of images.

The ecosystem now around music is so different is that Big Sean can say what he wants, and you never have to pay attention to it anymore, right, because literally there are hundreds and thousands of other artists, some of them who are Black women who are openly feminist, some of them who are Black women and men who are openly queer, who are going to produce versions of hip-hop music and rap music, popular music in general, that appeals to you so that you do not have to be bombarded by these other kinds of images.

There's no question from its earliest moments for Black youth, it was a conduit for them to talk about their own lives and their situations at a time where public policy and even Black political leadership was not paying much attention to them. You really do see a kind of two Black Americas that emerge in the 1980s, at least in terms of popular culture.

There's no question from its earliest moments for Black youth, it was a conduit for them to talk about their own lives and their situations at a time where public policy and even Black political leadership was not paying much attention to them. You really do see a kind of two Black Americas that emerge in the 1980s, at least in terms of popular culture.

There's no question from its earliest moments for Black youth, it was a conduit for them to talk about their own lives and their situations at a time where public policy and even Black political leadership was not paying much attention to them. You really do see a kind of two Black Americas that emerge in the 1980s, at least in terms of popular culture.

You know, there was a world of Cliff Huxtable and The Cosby Show that became a representation of what Black America was or should strive for. And at the same time, you have a generation, quote-unquote, you know, as William J. S. Wilson described it, the Black underclass, that is being framed in terms of criminality, in terms of fatherlessness, in all drug addiction and all those kinds of things.

You know, there was a world of Cliff Huxtable and The Cosby Show that became a representation of what Black America was or should strive for. And at the same time, you have a generation, quote-unquote, you know, as William J. S. Wilson described it, the Black underclass, that is being framed in terms of criminality, in terms of fatherlessness, in all drug addiction and all those kinds of things.