Ladies On Loop: Has The Standard In Female Rap Been Remixed Too Many Times?

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Hip-hop, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary as a music genre, is in a state unlike any that it’s ever been in before where the women of rap are dominating the charts by the dozens.
Rookie-of-the-year Ice Spice is already doing top 10 collaborations with pop queen Taylor Swift, Latto and Cardi B have the entire world ripping themselves out of plastic bags on social media and Nicki Minaj is finally making her Barbie dreams come true with a hit on the blockbuster film’s official soundtrack while simultaneously planning a sequel to the 2010 debut album that kicked off her decade-plus reign in rap.
Fabolous, an elder statesman of sorts in hip-hop after maintaining a level of relevance over the past 20 years, recently chose to weigh in on why he thinks some women have the game on lock right now. As you might’ve already seen over on social media, things didn’t fair too well for Fab as many criticized his viral hot take.
 
RELATED: Fabolous Flamed For Calling Female Rap ‘Too One-Dimensional’
Looking at the top 10 on Billboard’s current Hot Rap Chart sees Ice Spice, Nicki Minaj, Kaliii, Latto and Cardi B holding their own against Gunna, Lil Durk, J. Cole, Toosii, Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Young Nudy and 21 Savage. The same chart a decade earlier saw Nicki Minaj as the sole female presence thanks to a guest verse on Rich Gang’s posse cut, “Tap Out.” Even five years ago, it was just Cardi B with “I Like It.”
While things weren’t exactly different 20 or 25 years ago either — Lil Kim was rocking her “Magic Stick” solo in July ’03, while The Real World alum Heather B. did some damage alone in July ’98 with her moderate hit, “Do You” — there was some diversity happening when it came to the divas delivering the message.
It’s true that you’re now more likely to hear “the next Lil Kim” on your radio before the successor to Lauryn Hill, Da Brat, MC Lyte or Queen Latifah makes her long-awaited debut. However, nowadays the output on the radio is greatly influenced by the audience’s input. With the rapid rise of social media and its direct effect on how people consume music, including what’s expected of any given artist in order to be successful, that standard for creating a star femcee very well might’ve been carbon-copied a few times over the years in order to give the people what they want.
 
Of course, there are a handful of other women in hip-hop who represent another side of the female rap spectrum. However, you do have to ask yourselves how many of them get proper Billboard recognition, endorsements deals, fashion collaborations or even simple feature opportunities.
Could a refusal to “get with the program” be holding them back from wider success?
 
 
 
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