Remixing Womanhood – The Hip Hop African
Her Agenda: Remixing Womanhood in Hip Hop Mixtape
Hegemonic masculinity within the hip-hop industry has promoted the idea of male dominance, aggression, and hypermasculinity. This has led to the patriarchal construct within the genre that dictates how Black women are seen and how they’re expected to behave. As discussed in the article
“Sound and Sociology: Hip-Hop Feminism and Rap’s ‘Patriarchy Problem’”, this dynamic is rooted in historical trauma. During slavery, Black men were emasculated and dehumanized due to the white male standard of what it means to be a man. (White, 2024) This distorted gender roles and pressured women to be submissive, sexualized, quiet, and confined to domestic life in both society and hip hop. This mixtape rejects those expectations. It centers women who assert their power, break stereotypes, and reclaim what it means to be a woman. It showcases that women have layers and will not be tied down by ideas born from times of oppression. This mixtape reveals that women can be more than what society expects them to be within the industry.
The opening song in the mixtape is “God is a Woman” by Eno Barony, where she mixes the Ghanaian language, Twi, with English. The opening immediately demonstrates how multifaceted women are. Though the music video opens with Eno Barony in a white wedding dress and baby, her lyrics reveal an assertive artist who refuses to be confined. She challenges her male counterparts as she declares, “Frɛ king no na wɔnbɛgye sack letter. We taking the game to a different dimension, Nti forgeti wakata,” meaning “Call the king, and they’ll receive a dismissal letter. We’re taking the game to a different dimension, so forget what you’ve covered.” She actively redefines womanhood in the industry by asserting dominance and confidence, challenging gender roles. She also reveals she is bisexual in the track, challenging heteronormativity.
The next track in the mixtape is “Been That Girl” by Bree Runway, which demonstrates a bold celebration of individuality, empowerment, and sexuality. This is seen in the lyrics, “And my ass thick but my bank account thicker. Tasty ass bitch, skin brown like a Snicker”.Not only does she represent confidence, but she also expresses her individuality in the beats of her music as she mixes pop, trap, R&B, and rock. She is showing that it is ok to be unique. She employs the use of braggadocio throughout the song, one of those lines being, “Wake up, bitch, it’s a new era. These bitches cap like New Era. They salty ’cause I bring the pepper. I’ll be the it girl now and forever”, challenging the industry’s expectation for Black women to tone themselves down. Instead, she embraces being unapologetically loud, bold, and powerful.
As the mixtape reaches the halfway point, we arrive at “Woman” by Little Simz. This song discusses the fluidity of being a woman and how each is different but thriving in their own way. It is a celebration of the beauty, strength, and complexity of women. She highlights women’s intelligence when she makes a reference to “Miss Ethiopia” and strength through mentions of “Miss Tanzania” and the “Yoruba girl.” She rejects the idea of women being props as she addresses their different skills. In doing
so, she challenges patriarchal norms and proves that women can be both visible and celebrated in a male-dominated industry in a subtle way.
The fourth track in the mixtape is the famous song “Peng Black Girls” by ENNY, a song that earned widespread recognition despite the industry’s unequal access to resources for women. She challenges media erasure in the song when she says, “Never wanna put us in the media, bro,” calling out
the exclusion of Black women from mainstream media. While doing this, she proves Black women are not monolithic by showing how some challenge Eurocentric standards of beauty while others may choose to follow the trend. Through her success and message, ENNY defies industry limitations and highlights the complexity within Black womanhood.
The closing song of the mixtape is “Black Girl Magik” by Sampa the Great. In this song, she asserts an unapologetic presence and strength in the lines, “Abracadabra here I come / Magic carpet styling” and “Ooh! my word she back again / You will never end the reign / We keep multiplying.” Just like the other artist, she also touches on the resilience and power of women, because, just as previously mentioned, women are more than what society has tried to limit them to be.
In closing, this mixtape breaks down the patriarchal concepts and marginalization of women in hip hop by showing they can be dominant, confident, masculine, feminine, loud, and unique. All of the artists in this mixtape have shown that women are not monolithic. This mixtape serves as a celebration and rebellion against the patriarchal constructs and marginalization of women. This has been seen From Eno Barony’s challenge to gender roles and heteronormativity to Bree Runway’s unapologetic confidence, Little Simz’s celebration of diversity, ENNY’s critique of media erasure, and Sampa the Great’s declaration of resilience, these artists reshape what it means to be a woman in hip-hop.
Summary
This episode explored how African/Black women in hip hop have challenged hegemonic masculinity and the patriarchal construct. The purpose was to display how women have redefined what it means to be a woman in a male-dominated industry and society. This mixtape consisted of artists like Eno
Barony, Bree Runway, Little Simz, ENNY, and Sampa the Great, who confronted gender norms and embraced individuality. This episode is meant to show that women have and still are breaking barriers and reshaping the narrative in the hip-hop scene.
References
White, Nahla. 2024, October 7. Sound and sociology: Hip-hop feminism and rap’s “patriarchy problem” — Part I. The Northern Light.
https://www.thenorthernlight.org/stories/sound-and-sociology-hip-hop-feminism-and-raps-patriarchy-problem—-part-i
