GIRLZ ARE NOT SMILING!

I like Facebook and Twitter! These two social networks are places I can express myself online and get instant feedbacks. Some may be negative, some may be positive while some are well, I don’t give a flying (hello!) about your status or tweet, as the case may be.

I once put up my Facebook status: ”feeling Nicki Minaj, forget the @*! She’s the baddest chick right now!”, within the next five minutes, I got some thirty-something comments:

                                “Ah, Spazm you dey fall hand!”

                                “Nicki, the the baddest? Wot about Eve?”

                                “Trina? Lil Kim? Foxy Brown?”

                                “She’s over-rated! Hype!”

                                “She will fade!”                                                                               

                                   (… and so on!)

I think Nicki’s rise and rise so far has brought a lot attention world-wide back to the female emcee or femcee (as some choose to call it!) that’s fast declining. Nicki Minaj a.k.a Onika Maraj, 25 years old native of Jamaica-Queens, New York has been paying her dues and holding her own in the rap game. Despite her success, experts believe she is the exception. Female hip hop reached a cross-road with the ascension of Nicki whether we admit it or not, she has set new standards for the near-extinct female rappers. She attracted attention from the media but is still classified as an underground emcee, with a track record of mixtapes, hers plus the ones she featured on. Nicki has attracted fans and critics alike with the multiple characters and intricate lyrics, and built her fanbase way before she signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money imprint. She recently etched her name into Hip hop history after her track “Your Love” became the first sinlge by a female rapper to reach Billboard’s No. 1 spot since Missy Elliot’s “Work It” in 2003. Lili Kim did same in 2003, with “Magic Stick” but some argue that it had a lot to do with 50 Cent co-writing and his guest appearance. Plus, Nicki Minaj’s out-of-the-box style is so fresh and different.

This has always been the biggest challenge of the female rappers, STANDING OUT! For more than 30 years, the presence of the female rap artiste has been wavering in a male-dominated industry. Female rappers/emcees have been around almost as long as their male counterparts. In the early 80’s we saw the likes of Salt & Pepa, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah and Monie Love. The early femcees were about female empowerment, respect and equality but later in the ‘90s the image began to change, it became more edgy as Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Eve and Trina to name a few’s sexual imagery prompted a lot of girls to tow that line, the few ones (lady of Roage, Da Brat & Bahamadia) that started with that tom-boyish persona had to switch image or lose credibility and were rejected entry into the game.

The situation is worse here in Nigeria. In the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. I remember Weird MC and Queen Change doing their thing amongst their male counter-parts. They were on the scene for a while till Weird travelled abroad and Queen Change, well disappeared. In the early 2000s, we heard of Blaise and Sasha spitting on the Da Trybes compilation, maybe a couple of girls were on the scene but their buzz was not loud enough. From 2005, dawn to present, we have seen more and more femcees. Weird MC has evolved to somewhat singer than a rapper these days, we are waiting on Blaise to bless us with her debut album which I heard is about to drop.

Props to DJ Jimmy Jatt for taking that bold step in recording the femcees anthem “Too Much” on his The Definition album, which had Blaise, Sasha, Kemistry and Bouqui ripping it from start to finish. The song had critics and converted pessimists who may have been under the illusion that rap is strictly for the men, bobbing their heads. Please, more collabos like that people! I wished that ‘I no send u’ (female version) was pushed more and had a video. Suspect, word up?

It’s bad enough that in the Nigerian music as a whole the female rappers have a lower ratio to their male counterparts. The problem here, in my opinion is some female rappers are photo-copying themselves or are not bringing anything new to the table. We all as rappers have one or two people we come out sounding like or remind people of but you later carve out your own style/persona so that you stand out. Okay so Nicki Minaj reminded us of Lil Kim or Foxy Brown but you would admit she has started carving out a niche for herself and God help her this album blows and she does it one or two more times, she will be a milestone: What’s my strong point? What am I about? Can I hold my own against the male rappers? All this with hard work, mastering your delivery and stage craft, God by your side, sky is the limit!

Shout-out to the other female rappers/emcees doing it major: Eva, Zee, Muna (yes, Munachi Abii!), Cyclone, Lidu Kushy, Mizchif, Mocheddah (when she raps), Ayeesha! If I missed your name please write it here……………………….., thank you! Please make us guyz and Naija proud by kicking @#! On the mic while looking sexy at it. (Girlz are not smiling o!)