WEBVTT - Down with the Queens 0:00:01.760 --> 0:00:04.480 You're listening from Waiting on Reparations. It's a production of 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:12.360 my Heart Radio. Yeah, I'm waiting for my reparations. I 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.000 need my ship. Dope knife Arriet p y'all know what 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:17.160 TeV it is. She hit the lay up, I might 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:20.120 toss the meaniss. Y'all want the flavor, then, don't trip. 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:22.840 Just think of this this episode. You're gonna acknowledge what 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:25.079 it means celebrated father this day and now it's how 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:27.240 much to the Queen's clean the teeth in the respect? 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:29.480 Don't forget bout me an ex rod dig a note 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:31.440 name if you want to see him flex If you're 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:33.720 planning to stay Kathy and the Layer be our guest 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:37.479 waiting on reparation, start handing me my check yet. Yeah, 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.240 it's like this and like that dope knife fall lay 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:42.640 but my mama coming back. Of course it's a different 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:45.479 color and fly. I'm Tai's more for excellence because my 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:48.040 chromosomes got a second accident. And I don't think it's 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:50.280 an accident that happens. I'm the best the rest and 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.800 happen to have all this extra estrogen. Who she kind 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:55.279 of feminine? She must be psycho. You're kind of right though, 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:57.520 I'm maybe it's private. I'm taking my off to wa 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.720 Ron makes Ron making take some pot host because the 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:03.480 monument ape the Faith in the Rock boy Man, even 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.720 where the episode Wescovery Christ has started, I'm deadly obscured. 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:09.200 But I'm sure you heard of miss Hank to the art, 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:11.520 Tak to the e R the eons where I put 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:18.279 every beat that at beyond y know what's good people, 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:22.240 which is dope nighte Lingua franca. And we are waiting 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:27.160 on reparations up. So how are you doing? Yo? Um? 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:32.080 I went through an ordeal yesterday. What happened? Yeah? So 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.200 the long background is that in the wake of a 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:38.319 lot of the gun violence that I've been referencing um 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:40.440 in the show, just kind of talking about what's been 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:42.880 going on in the neighborhood, a lot of people have 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:45.680 been stepping up to like sort of form organizations or 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.680 launch programs for the youth. Because some of the people 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.560 who have involved in the shootings, either as suspects or victims, 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:54.360 have been very young, the youngest fifteen years old, and 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:55.600 so a lot of people are stepping up for the 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:57.960 young people, trying to, you know, get them involved in 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.640 leisure services activity from the government or launched their own 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.320 like tutoring programs and getting kids jobs, etcetera. And so 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.400 this one group and we're working with UM Save the 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:12.440 Youth had the idea of purchasing a city bus to 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.640 transport kids around to different activities in town and then 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:19.280 have us like a mobile portable, UM hangout spot, like 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.679 put some PlayStations in there, just posted up on the 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:24.640 block and have a spot kids can come hang out 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.120 and instead of like we're down the streets by themselves. 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.480 So UM, we bought the city bus, uh like two 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:35.680 weeks ago, and UM the plan had been that, uh, 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.200 my partner Paul and this dude Donald, this this other 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.480 guy that rolls with him, we're gonna go down and 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:44.720 pick it up yesterday. So they had plane tickets. They 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:46.959 drove them to the airport at like six o'clock in 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:52.760 the morning and they missed their flights. So we were like, well, 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:54.960 we're already an hour and a half. It's only another 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.079 four hours to Florida where the buses. So we just 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:02.959 drove down and got it and then in um we 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:06.440 got it picked it up, drove it back. It was 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:09.840 like a tropical rain storm, but other than that was fine. Um, 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:12.079 so we got to make it. The bus broke down 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:17.160 and Magan and so we hung out and makan for 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:19.040 like four hours trying to figure out what to do 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:21.920 around what time was that that was around we had 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:26.560 to make around We're megan for like four hours. Finally 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.560 decided to get it towed back to Athens at like midnight, 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:35.480 and so we got back here. I got everything wrapped up, 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:37.880 including I had to like go to it and find 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:39.480 an a t M to pay the toe trunk person 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:42.360 at like four o'clock this morning. So we got like 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:44.480 four So I was in the in the car or 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:49.120 otherwise dealing with like bus stuff for twenty two hours yesterday. 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:53.200 For the love of the children. For the love of 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:55.080 the children. You know, I really believe about this project. 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:57.920 I think it's a great idea. Um. I just definitely 0:03:58.000 --> 0:03:59.720 did not intend, you know, like I had a whole 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.480 day planned yesterday and then it was like, well, nope, 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:07.280 I am driving to Florida. I guess. So that has 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:09.280 been my That has been my saga. And that is 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:11.400 how I mean. I even I want to be like, well, 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:13.520 you know, at least everything got taken care of in 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:16.680 the end, and that's a hell of an ordeal though. Yeah, 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:18.880 we gotta get the alternator tuned up, I guess on 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:21.000 the bus so that I can be mobile again, or like, 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:24.320 you know, there's there's a there were many things that 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:26.080 were still left to be done in the bus anyway, 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:30.120 like you know, getting it wraps with something cool, and 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:33.000 like we were planning on converting it to like biofuels 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.800 so we can get like restaurant donation grease to like 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:39.760 fuel it so it would be cheaper to fuel and 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.920 like teach kids about sustainability all this stuff. So now 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:45.760 that's just one extra thing on the list. But unfortunately 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:48.720 had a little bad news in the family. Uncle of 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.919 mine and Liberia had passed away. Yeah, I mean apparently, 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:57.160 you know, there's a new strain of COVID that's going 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:00.080 around in Liberia that's causing some damage. They're like as 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:01.560 a matter of fact, of happy in a couple of 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.040 African countries. Just to you know, words of the people 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.360 out there. You know what I'm saying, not to push anything, 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.880 but you know you should go and get vaccinated because 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.359 that's like literally the reason why is the stuff mutating 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:15.880 and changing and new strains and stuff like that. Yeah, 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.200 and it's it's truly a privilege to have the opportunity 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.560 to get vaccinated. There's so many like people in other 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:23.400 parts of the world they're like hoping that they could 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:26.160 get vaccinated and show you right, yeah, who don't even 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.240 have vaccines available and like, yeah, cases are up in 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:31.840 a lot of parts of Africa. I've heard. Well, I'm 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.760 very sorry for your loss. Yeah, it's it's it's sad, 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.320 but it's you know, it's life. Um, But let's get 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:40.880 into some more positive things because we have a pretty 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:43.840 jam packed episode for you guys today. We're going to 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:48.880 be talking about women in hip hop the impact they 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:52.200 have and to talk about that, we're gonna be chatting 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:56.680 with author of the book God Saved the Queen, which 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.440 is a fantastic, fantastic book by the way, I really 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:03.120 recommend it. Yeah, that God Saved the Queen's The Essential 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:06.880 History of Women in Hip Hop, author Kathy and Ley, 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:09.480 And we're going to have her on a little bit. 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:13.080 But before we do, you know, I was the one 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:16.200 who was primarily on this interview. Unfortunately the ride didn't 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:17.800 get a chance to be there, which I really wish. 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:21.040 I mean, it was just a matter of like a 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:23.480 you know, circumstances scheduling and stuff. But it's like I 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:28.000 felt definitely kind of like, you know, man, I would 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.080 have loved to hear the two of you guys go 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:32.000 back and forth on this topic. But at the end 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:33.599 of the day, I think we had a pretty good 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:35.840 conversation that you guys are about to hear. But what 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.800 are some of your thoughts Mariah about? Like, first of all, 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:43.160 just like the trajectory that women have had hip hop, 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:45.160 both on the mic and behind it, you know what 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.200 I'm saying, And how's that changed or evolved in just 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:51.680 even your time of like being in the game, let 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.400 alone like the history of the whole thing. Yeah, well, 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:55.960 I mean I feel like I was somewhat of a 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:58.119 late bloomer with my own hip hop career just because 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:02.279 of like the way that women are treated in the industry. 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:04.760 Like I grew up feeling like I didn't have any 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:08.040 hip like female hip hop role models, despite you know, 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:11.800 kind of listening to folks like ms elliott Um. But 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:15.640 I think it's because of like the prominence or lack 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.960 thereof that like female hip hop artists have tended to 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:25.040 hold within the mainstream industry, like who who um labels 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:28.160 elevate and like you know who was seen as like 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:31.680 the main stars, etcetera. So despite the fact that there 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:35.960 have always been always been really robust representation within hip 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:39.240 hop culture for women since its inception, I think when 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.520 that sort of like gets filtered through, like the corporate 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:48.000 music landscape, a lot of it gets filtered out. And so, um, 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:51.280 it wasn't until I got older that I, um, you know, 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.640 started making using myself. But it's interesting, like the double 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.200 edged sword of you know, even still like being a 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:00.640 female hip hop artist. And I'm sure there's an of 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.240 other like identity intersections where people are like you wrap, 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.520 like what in addition to being female, like which I 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:08.360 think is the main thing when people find out a 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:10.720 wrap and like, you know, never mend me like what. 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:14.560 But you know, we we had our battle rap episode recently, 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:17.560 and a lot of that, you know, being a part 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:21.080 of that culture, um, just being subjected to and just 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:25.120 like an easy target of a lot of misogynists attacks 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:27.840 and good and you could say in good fun or whatever, 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:31.640 but being pretty much the only the only female battle 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:34.040 rapper in the scene when I was doing my thing, 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.320 um and experienced just a lot of life just had 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:41.360 a good tough skin around, like my gender identity with 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:47.559 that regard um and oh but otherwise just interpersonally in 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.319 the scene doing with a lot of misogyny, like uh, 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:53.120 just like I guess there's assumption like you trying to 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:54.400 hit on me and stuff like that where it's just 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:55.920 like I want you to I want your respect as 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:58.840 an artist. I like want you did respect my music. Um, 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:00.679 I don't want to feel pressured like look a certain 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:03.840 way in order to like get your attention on stage. 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:05.920 I just want to be quiet, am And so some 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.559 considerations that I think male artists don't always face. But 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.160 on the flip side, um, I think that the novelty 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:17.640 of being like one of the only female rappers pretty 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:20.199 even the battle rap scene and happens and back in 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:24.439 two sixteen to seventeen, it was actually like a boon, 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:27.880 like it had the reverse effect of what I experienced 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.000 as a kid with regards to like the female media 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:33.240 blackout was in the music industry where it was like, oh, snap, 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:37.199 let's book that girl. Um, Like, I feel like I 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:40.520 got more opportunities than like the male artists, of whom 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.800 there were so many they were almost impossible to differentiate like, oh, 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:46.160 there's like so many dudes out here, but let's get 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:48.959 that one girl, you know, to play the show, to 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:51.480 do this thing, etcetera. So to and to a to 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:55.280 an extent, it was actually a benefit to me um 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:58.240 as well. So it's just a mixed bag, honestly, UM 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:01.520 And I try to be really a about the I guess, 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:03.679 like I don't want to call it privilege, but like 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.840 the some of the ease with which I was able 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:11.199 to like get opportunities because of my gender, because like 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:14.480 I don't want I don't. I just think it's dangerous 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:18.360 to always construe gender as like a like a form 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.640 of oppression necessarily worth like in some instances, actually it 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:23.520 benefited me, And like I want to be very real 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:27.559 about that, um where even though perhaps interpersonally in the 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:30.000 scene and otherwise I had to put up about ship 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.000 from people that just like didn't perspect women on the 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.400 artists who side of things. So do you think that 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.520 some of the advantages that you feel that you got, 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.040 do you think that was a circumstance of the time 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:44.240 period that you're in and that you're active in, Like 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:46.199 do you think? And I think so too, Yeah, Like 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:48.839 if you were like the only female rapper in the 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:53.880 battle scene in Athens in Like, do you think those 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:56.480 advantages still would have existed in that same way? No, No, 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.040 I don't. I mean because I think I think today. 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:01.240 I mean, like I haven't looked at the numbers. This 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:04.160 is tobally anecdotal, but from my experience of hip hop music, 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:06.880 it does seem like there are a lot more prominent 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:09.920 female hip hop artists today than there were when I 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:13.680 was growing up. Um, like more than I can count 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.040 on one hand. You know, we got like Nicki Minaj, 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:21.560 one of the best sellers um in the industry, Megan Stallion. Yeah, 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.160 like there's so many and there and and genre blending 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:26.640 to folks that sort of bringing some people like Beyonce 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:30.599 and their delivery in their music. It's increasingly popular for 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.559 her to like take on like a hip hop like 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.160 a rappers affect and some of her songs because it's 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.240 like being normalized that like being a woman that raps 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.480 is cool. I think we're talking about that Beyonce thing before. 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:46.760 I still say beyonceonp I don't know write your lyrics. 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.000 I hope it's her because goddamn, sometimes it's like whoa, 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:53.640 that's nasty, lord a mercy Jesus Christ. Yeah, and so yeah, 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:55.960 I mean I think I like to believe that girls 0:11:56.000 --> 0:12:00.920 growing up today, Um though though representations of women in 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:04.720 hip hop are still highly sexualized, um, there's at least 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:08.200 a great representation in general. So there's like a little 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:09.720 girl growing up today could be like, oh, I could 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:11.920 be a rapper, because like they see the music videos 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:14.920 they here, they watch the YouTube, you know, they see 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:17.240 they see women doing this thing. Whereas when I was 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:20.120 growing up, it was like, look at Missy Elliott flailing 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:23.600 around in some trash bags on MTV and I can't 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.120 say the rain, you know, like, and that was and 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.439 that was effectively it in terms of my exposure to 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:31.040 women in hip hop. Yeah, I mean little Kim was 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:35.760 definitely well Kim, yeah, Kim ground Like it was all 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:38.160 three of them were like around the same you know 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:40.800 what I mean, the same time period. So like, because 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:44.199 I remember back then being a little bit older than you, like, 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.760 Missy was like the breath of fresh air. Yeah you 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:52.920 know what I'm saying, because because you know, Little Kim 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:55.960 kind of came out the gate with the hyper sexuality thing. 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.120 And then obviously when something is popular, you have a 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:01.400 bunch of you know, like people like that kind of imitate, 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:02.880 you know what I'm saying. So it kind of seemed 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:04.720 like that was a saturation. So by the time Miss 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.520 Elliott came around, it was like, Yeah, I'm just doing 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:09.800 like these crazy wild videos and I'm in the trash 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:11.920 bag and yeah wild out and ship. It was like, 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.160 oh man, that's cool. It's like quirky and weird and 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:16.199 you know what I mean. It was like an alternative. 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:19.640 But how do you how do you do? Do you 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:22.559 feel any kind of way, like the same way that 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:26.199 certain images are proliferated throughout hip hop, Like you know 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.680 sometimes when we talk about like the glorification of gang 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.679 life and gang imagery and stuff like that, do you 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:35.559 think that kind of that same sort of thing is 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.240 happening might be happening on any level with like in 0:13:38.320 --> 0:13:42.520 the mainstream with female artists, like the proliferation of Yeah, 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.640 I do think so. I think that, Um, there's like 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.120 a there's this there's a sense of like to be 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:51.680 hard in this industry. There's like a couple of different ways, 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:54.160 like got a lot of money, I'll fuck you up. 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:57.599 I like, you know, a bang I'm like abstrapped or 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:01.640 like like I get it in and like I might 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:04.199 not own that in terms of like female rappers. It's 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:06.640 like I'm gonna tell you omahara, bitch, because like I'm 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:08.959 gonna get into some pretty graphic detail about like what 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:10.839 it's about to go down when the lights go off 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:13.120 kind of thing. Like I do think that is a 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:17.559 very predominant Um, it's it's it's a trope of the 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:21.240 lyrics and the music videos. Um. But then but like 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:24.600 you know, we have people like Princess Nokia that like 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:29.160 you're also owning like female representation in a very um 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:33.200 just ut like outside the box way of like what 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.160 your body can be like and like owning that, and 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:39.720 it's owning different what you wear. You know, it's like 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.360 different kind of stuff like that. Um, I think that 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:45.920 we are, even if even if it's mostly within the underground, 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:49.800 just like expanding notions of femininity within hip hop of 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:51.520 recent and I think it's good. It's good. I mean 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:53.560 it might take a while to trickle into the mainstream, 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.320 and depending on how you find mainstream, someone like Princess 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.840 Nokia is highly popular, but um, you know, we're getting 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.920 broadening the horizon. I think I think that we're getting 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:08.440 towards like novel forms of storytelling, um and different like 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:11.240 in visual representations, different ways women can look in hip hop. 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:15.000 But it's ultimately a battle against like what capital rewards. 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:16.960 Like I think that we do see a lot of 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:21.160 sexualized imagery and like lyricism among women because like, that's 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:23.560 what we'll get you on. That's what will gives you 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:28.720 you know, uh play you know, uh universal music will 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:30.680 drop that Sony was going to drop that, you know, 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:33.840 no doubt. It's the reason that you see, you know, 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:36.720 the violent imagery and the gun imagery. It's with the 0:15:37.720 --> 0:15:39.560 It's with the market demands, you know what I means 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:41.880 with the market rewards. So that's what the market's going 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:45.160 to get. So we are going to take a little 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:47.360 break and then we get back. We're gonna have Kathy 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:49.440 Andelay and we're gonna talk to her about women in 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:58.480 hip hop and her book, God Save the Queen's. So 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:03.840 today we are adding with author of the book God 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:07.600 Save the Queen's, the Essential History of Women in Hip Hop, 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:10.680 Kathy Anderley, how are you doing, Hey, how's it going? 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:14.280 I'm good. I really need to invest in like a soundboard. 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:15.920 So when I introduced people like that, I can like 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.240 press like the audience sounds like yeah, like welcome you 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:23.840 to the show. Right. So the first thing that I 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.320 want to ask is I always like to ask people 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:28.800 because it interests me, how did you get into hip hop? 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:33.600 Hip hop as as just like a fan? Just from 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:35.920 you know, you know what, what what was it about 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:39.960 hip hop? Pat your interest to get into as a fan? Um? 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:45.000 You know, I'm an eighties baby, and when I kind 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:49.840 of left the fog of the boy band era and 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:52.160 I'm talking new kids on the block, not Backstreet boys, 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:57.760 because I'm that old. I think that I would say 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:02.760 that I would mark you know nine that that that 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:06.680 period of time. The first video that I think I've 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:12.080 really just gravitated towards was a Lady's First and it 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:13.560 was one of those things where I was like, wait, 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:16.720 what's happening here? Right? And I was only like ten 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:22.440 years old. But then it was in two with TLC 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:27.119 Ain'to Proud to beg and you know, there was there 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:31.480 were so many other songs and videos in between. But 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:33.560 when I can say that I went from hip hop 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:36.320 fan to hip hop head, I would say it was 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:40.359 during that period of time and it's it's a it's 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:44.560 a funny introduction because you know, like at Proud to 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:48.639 Beg literally set the tone for my entire style up 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:53.080 until Fujie Law, which then changed it all up again. 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:55.640 And you know, I was a Fujies fan between two 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:59.639 um boot for whatever reason, Booth Bop was like, I 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:01.960 was like, Wow, this is a great song, and you know, 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:05.400 because I was a distract to fancause a Lauren Hill. 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.280 But I think like I went through these little periods 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:09.879 of time where like if you start with it was 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:13.000 from like Ladies First and Browns to Beg Fougi Law 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:16.480 and then like no Time by Little Kim, Like I 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:20.280 have very specific moments and there's the guys are in 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:22.560 between two. But you know we're we're here to talk 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:26.640 about the ladies, so I um, you know, keeping it topical, 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:31.159 but that was definitely I would say Ladies first. So 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:34.760 because so if Ladies First was like, you're the thing 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:36.520 that made you go from just being a fan to 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:40.800 like being ahead, then is it is it fair to 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:46.120 say that like strong female oriented hip hop was kind 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:49.040 of like the thing that opened your eyes to like 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:51.520 what with the possibilities of what could be done with 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:55.360 the genre. It was more, yes, but it was also 0:18:55.400 --> 0:19:00.919 a relatability factor because you know it it was aspirational 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:03.000 at that point where it's like, oh, I could be 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:05.480 that cool one day, right, And I think that that 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.680 was that was one of the things that also because 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.200 if you're thinking about that time period too, I was 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:14.159 like a big fan of a different world and everything 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:17.200 that was going on the whole, like Flower Child era 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:22.800 of hip hop, Like there was sayah and it was 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:25.240 a vibe and it was it was different. It was 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:29.520 fundamentally different from what I, as a kid had been 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:34.959 listening to. And I think what, you know, I grew 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:37.760 up in a single parent household with my mom, so 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:41.320 I was always drawn to strong female leads and I 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:44.359 was I was, you know, raising only child, so to 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:49.240 be to see that in other women, even as a kid, 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:52.680 it just it was representative of my mother. It was 0:19:52.760 --> 0:19:56.080 representative who I wanted to grow into, you know. And 0:19:57.280 --> 0:19:59.080 I can say I wasn't having like these really deep 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:02.560 thoughts as like a ten year old, but I know 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:06.399 throughout yeah, throughout over the years. What what always piqued 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:09.520 my interest in the way of um of hip hop 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:13.200 has always been what has connected to connected with me 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:16.399 based upon my own values and and and the women 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:20.720 around me and the woman I wanted to become. So then, okay, 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.760 so now going from being like a hip hop head 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:28.080 to actually being someone who is involved with like, you know, 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:30.720 the whether you want to say hip hop industry or 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:33.200 hip hop culture. You're like you know, and you've been 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:35.560 ingrained and involved in it for twenty years plus. So 0:20:36.160 --> 0:20:39.080 what was it that made you then make that transition? Well, 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:42.440 as a kid, I UM, I might have written on 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:45.879 a few walls that might have been my person my 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:52.320 my first introduction to them, to the elements UM, but 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:55.960 you know, I as far as working in hip hop 0:20:56.920 --> 0:21:00.200 as a teenager, I UM, I worked at a court 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:04.560 store and my section was the hip hop section because 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:06.520 of course, right it was actually a hip hop and 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:09.240 electronic which was really funny because the two beats that 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:12.240 I would write about, um became hip hop and electronic 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:14.960 music because I just it was just cataloging and constantly 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:17.440 knowing what these states and reading liner notes. It just 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:20.240 became a fascination. And then from there I went and 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:23.840 I worked in places like fat beats and and and 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:29.399