Not Only Can There Be More Than One Great Female Rapper, There Already Is

The media loves to pit people against other, especially if they’re successful women. When Lil Kim was Queen of Rap and Nicki Minaj started getting big, they had beef, and when Remy Ma started blowing up, Remy had beef with Nicki. The same cycle seems to be repeating itself here between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, but in today’s music climate, there doesn’t have to just be one.

Not that there ever had to be, but that it feels oh so more prevalent that there should, of course, be more than one popular female rapper. I get the arguments for Queen of Rap as much as I get them for King of Rap, but I think since the days of those titles’ real prime, no one really argues about King or Queen status anymore. The market is as saturated as ever, and there’s no reason not to have multiple favorites when it comes to female rappers.

The only reason we make the designation of “female” rapper anyway is because the field has been mainly dominated by male rappers since the ’70’s. Anyone other than that description gets a marker (white rapper, female rapper, asian rapper, etc.) As sexism hopefully fades from the industry, so should the feeling that only one female rapper is able to be on top. In fact, there’s already a ton of amazing female rappers in the game, and you’ll find a selection of some of the best and most popular artists breaking the mold below:

One of my favorite rappers, period. She broke through with an amazing verse on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, and has since worked with huge artists such as Anderson .Paak, 9th Wonder, Talib Kweli, Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, and Terrace Martin, to name a few. Rapsody makes true hip-hop, and her recent LP Laila’s Wisdom was one of my top five favorite rap records of 2017.

Unlike most musicians hiding their appearance, Leikeli47 doesn’t wear the ski mask to seem gangsta or revolutionary. She’s not afraid of publicity, but instead wears the mask so that people don’t focus on her other attributes. It doesn’t matter what her race or complexion or shape looks like, she told Noisey, all they pay attention to is the music and her trademark look of the Ski Mask. It’s branding by enigma, and it’s been really working for the Brooklyn MC.

Princess Nokia

She might have just released an emo record, but Princess Nokia’s 1992 Deluxe was a rap record through and through, showcasing her affinity for the classic New York style, and breaking stereotypes of what it means to be a female rapper. She’s as bold as it comes, performing at the TIDAL 2017 concert, and throwing soup on racist people in the subway.

Kamaiyah

My love for the best mixtape of the Summer forever, Kamaiyah’s A Good Night in the Ghetto, is no secret. Kamaiyah is fun as hell, and she hits the sweet spot right in between novelty and seriousness. Her music is full of 80’s nostalgia from the production down to the choruses, and the simple melodies and sayings about just having a great time will get stuck in your head for days.

Young M.A

I’m not the biggest Young M.A fan, but “OOOUUU” was pretty good, She’s as trap rapper as it comes, but she also leads with the fact that she’s gay, which is a pretty nice signifier that she’s not cool with everything that’s happening in the rap industry right now. Her track with T-Pain showed her singing and rapping about women just as much T-Pain, and although it didn’t get a lot of buzz, it was a good step in the fight against homophobia in hip-hop.

Saweetie

Saweetie might not be the most animated rapper, as her hit “ICY GRL” is performed in the same monotone all throughout, but it kind of only adds to the ICY GRL persona. She just got a huge video write-up in Harper’s Bazaar, and her 80’s style of production bounces as hard as Kamaiyah’s. Her new track “ANTI” reverses the role of male rapper, female singer, with Saweetie pumping out bars in between the chorus of an un-credited male singer. One YouTuber comment wrote: “When Daenerys and Rihanna had a kid.”

3D Na’Tee

I have no idea how 3D Na’Tee hasn’t blown up yet. A battle rapper from New Orleans, 3D’s bars are incredibly fast and witty, once performing better than a young Kendrick Lamar for Sway in the Morning back in 2013. After her bars, Sway says “that’s why I wanted you two to meet.” 3D mentions her trouble with labels trying to force her into a position of “female rapper,” and after Sway and Kendrick oddly oggle her, she stands her ground and says, “I’ll open a show, but I don’t want no backstage pass.”