"All We Wanna Do Is Be Free"

Commercially speaking, there has never been a better time to be a female rapper.

As I have spoken about both on this platform and my podcast platforms, we are existing in an era of female dominance in rap like we have never seen. 

Whether it be Meg dominating social media and running up the charts. Doja Cat dropping a new hit single every 3 months. Saweetie constantly delivering hits. Rapsody laying waste to your favourite male rapper every time she hops on a feature. Cardi becoming the first solo women to win rap album of the year. Or the return and resurgence of the Queen that is Nicki Minaj. Black women in rap have been so dominant over the past few years that it would be easy to think there is no better time to be a black women in music. And for Black women to be fans of hip-hop music and culture.

However, in reality our spaces within the hip-hop and R&B music scene and culture still have a long way to go before we can truly call it a safe and inclusive space for black women.

I write these words as just over a month ago, I was scrolling Twitter and came across a new article that said singer-songwriter Chris Brown, is facing a police investigation into alleged battery of a woman in LA. About a week or so after this I again stumble on a story which said that Rapper Lil Uzi Vert had allegedly hit and pointed a gun at his ex-girlfriend, while she was out with fellow artist SAINt JHN. Not too long after this, I watched the internet body shame Coi Leray and her appearance following her XXL Freshman Cypher. 

All of this together led me to question how? How are we continuing to allow incidents like this to go unchecked in our culture without speaking up on them? And how do we actively work to change this. How long will we continue to enable artists like Chris Brown, to continue unchecked in their heinous actions, simply due to the fact he releases good summertime music.

I don’t write these words to be holier than thou, as I promise you there are some artists who I love who have terrible pasts when it comes to domestic violence and abusing women. I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t celebrating Nas winning his first Grammy this year, despite his past transgressions. As someone who is so passionate about music and truly reveals in the impact it can have on one's life, I understand the struggle in attempting to let go of your favourite artist’s work. But I question how long we can continue to support these men (in most cases) and pretend that doing so doesn't wholly enable their actions.

We're only a year removed from Meg's incident with Tory Lanez and I vividly recall the universal disgust at the details of that altercation. However, all of the work which was done by us as hip-hop fans to call him out, is completely undone when we continue to prop up and celebrate the like of Uzi & Chris Brown who continue to show no remorse or change in their actions. Even to that extent Da Baby who used his set at this weekend’s Rolling Loud Festival to essentially troll Meg and the very real trauma she suffered.

In writing these words, I am not necessarily advocating for “cancel culture” or just acting as if someone does not exist, never existed or does not have serious influence or positives. However, when said person does not show an ounce of remorse, contrition or change for their actions. Shows zero personal growth or development. And actively continues to demonstrate and display the abusive behaviour which they claimed to have grown from. I feel we as fans and a hip-hop community have an obligation to do what we can to hold said individuals accountable.

I don't pretend to have the answers and I definitely don't pretend to be perfect in this. But maybe we can all start by assessing who we're celebrating, supporting and fanning over and really asking ourselves is this someone who actually deserves my support? And is my love for their music, actually more important than the appreciation and respect for human life?