In each of my blog postings, I’ve talked about how my Liberian up-bringing has influenced my musical autobiography. In this post, I think that the best example of music and gender comes from American music. Particularly Hip-Hop, R&B, and Rap music. For years, it seemed as though the women all sang their hearts out in R&B or sang on a Hip-Hop or Rap track, while the men all rapped. Of course, men were allowed to sing too, but women? Rapping? Banish the thought! Back in the days of 2pac and Biggie, I don’t think female rapping was exactly smiled upon. It makes me wonder though. What exactly is so hard about rapping that a female couldn’t do it? Of course now, we have Missy Elliot, Lil’ Kim, Lauryn Hill, Eve and Nikki Minaj, but where were all these characters in the ‘80s?

   I find it fascinating that as we progress through the years, and we discover more that can be done in the music world, women are still put on the backburner until enough rise up to prove that, once again, we can do anything that men can do. I know that some rappers today, such as The Game, can be characterized as being violent, and female rappers typically aren’t violent at all. But if they wanted to be, they totally could. Some female rappers, like Mary J. Blige and Lauryn Hill, often rap about their lives and their own personal experiences; Of course, they are known as highly influential singers as well. Missy Elliot has primarily entertaining and somewhat humorous music, while Lil’ Kim has more of a gangsta-like influence. Lil’ Kim has an interesting back-story, though. Despite the lack of female rappers in the ‘80s, she worked undercover with the Notorious B.I.G. and became known as his “sidekick”, and later became famous.

   On the flipside, males rapping and then singing would never have happened 10 years ago either. Up until a few years ago, the idea of using auto-tune, or even just natural talent, to sing as the hook or chorus of a song, would never have happened. Rapping used to be about the streets and the hood, probably contributing to why the whole concept of female rapping was unheard of. Now rapping can be about anything from the gangsta life, to love, real love. Artists like Drake and Nikki Minaj have really taken the idea of singing and rapping on the same track to a brand new level, and for them as well as Soulja Boy, Lil’ Wayne, and Kanye West, it’s extremely unclear to find the thin line between rapping and singing.