R.eal A.nd P.ersonal
Saving the Female Emcee – Part 1
By: Deshair Foskey
Last updated March 9th , 2010

I wanted to set the table with this edition of "R.eal A.nd P.ersonal" for columns to come on the subject of the Female Emcee. As time goes on, I will slowly phase out that title and hope that you will do the same. Because face it, calling a woman that raps, a female emcee, is like calling an African-American that plays the position of quarterback, a black quarterback. Ability should be sexless. We must change how we see the art of Hip-Hop in order to understand its faults. I like to get in and get out, so here we go.

In Hip-Hop, the "First Lady Effect" has hurt the growth of the female emcee population since day 1. This effect promoted the fact that there is only one female, and she doesn't play well with others. She is angry for no apparent reason, with a Gladiator's mentality. In her eyes, most likely the record labels eyes, there could only be one woman in her crew and one woman in the industry; and the objective was to be both.

This is something that many of us shouldn't be surprised with. Ever since our sandbox days, there was that little girl who hung out with the boys (the tomboy). She played sports, ate lunch and rapped with the boys. But you never saw two tomboys in the same crew. So even as children, it was a natural progression to only have one girl in a crew. Saying all of this, an argument could be made that the near extinction of the female emcee on a mainstream level is a social issue that began on Elementary School playgrounds (add your epiphany here).

The "First Lady Effect" must be made into a thing of the past in order to begin reshaping the genre. This effect has settled in so deeply that the days of crews like Ruff Ryder's with Eve, The Firm with Foxy Brown, and Junior Mafia with Lil' Kim (along with Missy Elliot, Da Brat, and others), where there was lateral representation of women in competition, has become a one-at-a-time affair; a unilateral tragedy of having to wait your turn. For example, when Remy Ma was in the limelight, her shine had to fade completely out before a Nicki Minaj could step in.

Don't get me wrong. There's a long list of female emcees that are making an impact on Underground and Regional levels. Here is the truth. Under our current format, their fate is rested on the back of Nicki Minaj. Any false moves by the current torch bearer could set every female emcee back for quarters, maybe even years. Now that you have this information at your fingertips, what will you do with it?

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