It’s the night of the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, one of the last few categories of the night to be presented, Best Rap Album of the year.
In a category of mostly all male rappers, Nipsey Hussle for his album Victory Lap, Travis Scott with Astroworld, Pusha T with Daytona, the late Mac Miller for Swimming. Last but not least the candidate that stood out the most, the only female rapper Cardi B for Invasion of Privacy.
Cardi B takes the win and receives her first Grammy in her career.
It was a big win for female rappers in hip-hop since she was the first woman to win an award in this category as a solo artist. Singer, songwriter, Grammy-winning artist Lauryn Hill won in this category in 1996 as a group with the Fugees for The Score.
Many people watching took to social media to share their thoughts and reactions. There was a mixture of feelings toward the winner. It seemed as if more men weren’t too happy about the results and tweeted via Twitter.
“Cardi B won a Grammy over Travis, Mac & Pusha??”
Some even took it as far as claiming the Grammys we’re promoting gender equality which was the only reason that they gave the award to Cardi B.
“Invasion of Privacy was not better than Daytona Grammys just tryna force women equality in rap down our throats.”
In support of Cardi B Grammy winners and rappers, Salt N Pepa congratulated the artist via Twitter.
Salt N Pepa said, “Let’s welcome our new edition to the family! Congratulations @iamcardib sis! You work hard and play hard! Welcome to the Female Rap Grammy Family!”
The tweet also included a photoshopped picture of the other seven female rappers who have won a Grammy including Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, Eve, Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, Lil Kim and Left Eye from TLC.
It was revealed later that Cardi B had deactivated her social media the next day due to negativity she was receiving from the world through comments and tweets. She later posted a video explaining that the previous year people were saying she should have received an award for her single “Bodak Yellow.” Confused to why people were suddenly changing their perspective of her and putting her down when she finally won something she worked hard for, she touched base on how tough it was being pregnant and working on an album, but she continued to record songs to prove to everyone that she could do it under any circumstances.
“I saw a lot of bullshit last night and I saw a lot of shit last night and I’m sick of this shit," Cardi B said. "My album went two-time platinum … and every chart that there was my album was always top 10, number one album as well.”
She had four other nominations for the night in categories of Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Pop Duo and Group Performance, and Best Rap Performance. The previous year she had two nominations for her breakout song “Bodak Yellow.”
According to the polls taken on the Recording Academy Grammy Awards website, it asked “Who do you think voters will pick for the Best Rap Album,” coming in at first was Mac Miller for Swimming and second Cardi B for Invasion of Privacy.
It wasn’t expected for a female rapper to take home the Grammy for Best Rap Album category because it hadn’t been done before. There had been female rappers nominated such as Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim, but somehow they always lost against a male rapper.
For as long as hip-hop has been around it’s always been known as a male-dominated genre since there are more male rappers than females. When you think of hip-hop you automatically think men with a style of flashy clothes, several chains and grills in replacement of their teeth. The only signs of a woman you get are the ones on the videos of these male rapper’s songs or in the lyrics of the rap songs.
In the 90s, there were only a handful of female rappers in the game. Queen Latifah, who had this tomboy look to her with a touch of hard raps. Lauryn Hill, who brought singing and rapping together on a melodic beat that made hits that are still well known today. MC Lyte, who had a raspy voice when she rapped and carried on the gritty style that hip-hop is used to. Lil Kim, who was the first to bring out the sexy female rapper version and allowed sexuality to be the new normal. Salt N Pepa, who formed a duo and created upbeat, dancing music that included some sexual content.
At the time, being a woman meant that you had to be conservative and present yourself in a certain way. Women’s language wasn’t supposed to include any curse words involved and it wasn’t considered ladylike to speak on sexuality. That wasn’t the case for these few rappers, they wanted to express themselves in a way that they felt they should be allowed to since men could do all of these things.
According to Genuis.com, in an article for Paper Magazine, Lil Kim spoke on men being allowed to have sexual lyrics, but it downgraded a woman if they used lyrics like that.
“We have a female who happens to be a rapper, like me, and my doin’ is wrong," Lil Kim said. "And ‘cause I like doin’ it, it’s even more wrong because we’ve fought for years as women to do the same things that men are doing.”
When it came to lyrics during this time female rappers were speaking on important topics that aimed toward women empowerment. In the song, “Doo Wop (That Thing)” Lauryn Hill used her platform to speak to women having to be aware of men only wanting to use them for sexual purposes. She also reversed it for men and expressed how some women can also be the same way, but saying that women are beautiful and shouldn’t have to be women that only seeks that comfort.
Lauryn Hill rapped, “You know I only say it ‘cause I’m truly genuine. Don’t be a hard rock when you really are a gem. Baby girl, respect is just a minimum.”
What surprised the hip-hop industry was when sexuality began to play a big role in female rapper’s career. The late rapper Notorious B.I.G brought in Lil Kim to his music group, Junior Mafia in the early 90s. In touch with her sexuality, she often dressed in a bikini like outfits that had smaller fitted tops that revealed her breast and barely covered her pelvic area. Her music tied into her appearance rapping about her sexuality and men. In the song, “How Many Licks?” featuring Sisco she rapped about several men of different ethnicity she was with and what they enjoyed during sex, dates and how they were.
“That year, 1995, to have these two women [Lil Kim and Foxy Brown] come on the scene both looking amazing both putting this sexuality in your face on your TV screen all day without shame that was a moment of change in hip-hop.” said Rock & Rock Hall of Fame inductee and rapper Chuck D said In the documentary “My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women and Hip Hop.”
Lil Kim wasn’t the only one to raised eyebrows in Hip Hop. The most iconic song that can often be heard at night clubs and gatherings today is Salt N Pepa’s “Push It." The song expresses their comfortableness with sex. Although at the time it might have been too much for people to listen to, the catchy beat grabs in the listeners and it’s hard to not enjoy.
According to Genuis.com, Salt N Pepa was the first female group to have a song became certified Gold and then later went on to be Platinum by The Recording Industry Association of America. It also stated that it placed number nine on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
“Especially being women [in the hip-hop industry] I mean it’s still a male-dominated field…they always thought we was going to be like an overnight success you know, but we kept coming with the hits.” Salt N Pepa said in a 2015 interview on the radio show The Breakfast Club.
These female rappers were icons to women in the industry, they showed women that they should feel free to express themselves in every way. It was a stepping stone for women in the industry today to be able to rap about sexuality and women empowerment. It was risky of them, but they did it to prove that they could do what men could.
In today’s hip-hop, there are still only a handful of female rappers in the genre but now artist like Cardi B and Nicki Minaj are able to openly rap about topics that include sexuality and explicit content because of the women before them. With rappers like Rapsody, she is able to touch on honest lyrics that bring a message to hip-hop not only about women but politics as well.
Women are in the industry are still rising and trying to earn the respect that is needed.
Whether you agree with it or not history was made at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards when Cardi B won the Best Rap Album Grammy. Almost every female rapper was excited about this because it was a moment of realization that women were finally being recognized for their hard work and talent.
As for female hip-hop fans, they were also happy to hear the news because they finally had someone that represented them and showed them that you can have a career and still create a family, which is what women empowerment is all about.
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