Category: LGBTQ+
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Resistance and Community in Dope Saint Jude’s “Grrrl Like”
The color black is so powerful. That is the thought that comes to mind when I first watched South African artist Dope Saint Jude in her video “Grrrl Like.” The first scenes in the video reveal a group of women standing together, preparing its viewers for the overall message in Dope’s female-centered single. Poet Audre
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Queer, Feminist, Survivor: How Ugandan Rapper Keko Brought New Perspectives to Ugandan Rap
Uganda has seen a steady rise in its Hip Hop scene over the past two decades, but no Ugandan rapper has made as unique an impact on the scene as Keko, a 31 year old queer female rapper whose style of storytelling through rap stole the hearts of many Ugandans and Africans. She started out
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Keko in “I am Ugandan,” sheds a light on her intersectional identities
Keko is an artist that is that is not afraid to get real with her sexuality and nationality. She is known in Uganda for going against the hyper sexualized image cultivated by many American female rappers like Nicki Minaj etc. In this music video, she is not wearing tight clothing, but rather sneakers and jeans.
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HHAP Episode 20: Nazlee Saif on Hip Hop, Sexuality, Race, & Protest in Cape Town
Our conversation with Cape Town based hip hop and spoken word artist Nazlee Saif centers on discussions of race, gender, religion, sexuality, and activism. This conversation centers on the use of hip hop as a cultural space within which to engage several different social issues, and to deconstruct social taboos that continue to exist within hip hop culture. Nazlee Saif is a spoken word and hip hop artist originally from Durban, who moved to Cape Town and attended the University of Cape Town (UCT) during the height of the #RhodesMustFall movement. Nazlee, who was already a socially conscious artist, was an activist and organizer in the movement on the UCT campus. Nazlee, as a queer identified, Muslim, MC, also brings those intersecting identities into the hip hop, a culture that has historically been very patriarchal, very misogynistic, and hostile to queer voices. In the conversation Nazlee Saif talks about several topic, including the #RhodesMustFall movement at UCT, intersectionality, being Black & Coloured, queer identities, being a Muslim & queer MC, Steve Biko and Black consciousness, the term “Hoteps”, and feminism. Nazlee Saif’s presence in hip hop challenges hip hop’s masculine, heteronormative culture. Nazlee Saif expresses strong stances on topics of race, sexuality, and religion. The artist’s discussion of a level of frustration with Black Consciousness, as well as the term “Hoteps”, may put Nazlee Saif at odds with some Pan Africanists. Nazlee on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNoj0WTO0fAoKG0fagDFxQ Nazlee on Twitter: @NazleeArbee Readings Clark, Msia Kibona. 2014. “Gendered Representations among Tanzanian Female Emcees”. In Ni Wakati: Hip Hop and Social Change in Africa, edited by Msia Kibona Clark and Mickie Koster. Lanham, MD: Lexington Press. Haupt, Adam. 2016. Queering Hip-Hop, Queering the City: Dope Saint Jude’s Transformative Politics. M/C Journal, 19(4). Smith, Marquita R., 2014. “Or a Real, Real Bad Lesbian”: Nicki Minaj and the Acknowledgement of Queer Desire in Hip-Hop Culture. Popular Music and Society, 37(3), pp.360-370.
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QueenTalk with FeMC’s
Lady Leshurr is an English rapper, singer, and producer. Lady Leshurr’s Queen Speech 4 video, from her Queen Speech series, went viral this past year. A native of the United Kingdom, Lady Leshurr breaks down the barriers set for most female rappers. It is expected, by society, that women must be sexualized and succumb to
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Black Like Me
Hip Hop was borne from the oppression Black people faced in their urban communities and the outlet to this madness was found in a dope beat and intellectual wordplay. The Black struggle found in the Bronx in America can be mirrored in South Africa where Black people were similarly oppressed in their communities. The Black struggle
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Dope Saint Jude “Brown Baas”
Catherine St. Jude, commonly referred to as Dope Saint Jude, is a Cape Town rapper who has rendered a reputation of transparency as it pertains to feminism, race, class, body politics, and gender neutrality. This rather edgy and controversial rapper has also served as a guest lecturer on the social mobilization of hip hop
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Dope Saint Jude-Brown Baas
Born in Cape Town to parents who were community workers, Catherine St Jude Pretorius developed an interest in hip-hop around the age of 12. This came around the same time she discovered the poetry of Maya Angelou and learned to play guitar. She references the influence of leaders like Steve Biko and Shaka Zulu, as