Category: South Africa
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keep hip hop queer
For my mixtape project, I chose “Keeping Queerness Visible from Artists of South Africa.” As the world becomes more and more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community, it’s important that queer people across the globe take up the spaces they weren’t previously allowed or seen in. Hip hop is notoriously trans and homophobic, so the courage
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THE BLAACKBERRY PODCAST – COLORISM IN THE HIP HOP INDUSTRY
In this podcast two students in the Hip Hop in Africa class discuss colorism in hip hop scenes throughout Africa and the United States. Iesha Daniels : @ieshamdaniels Jazmyn Roberson : @jazmynjanet Gigi Lamayne @gigi_lamayne Dope Saint Jude @dopesaintjude Jidenna @jidenna Princess Latifah @officialprincesslatifah
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5 LGBTQ+ African Artists who challenge heteronormativity
This mixtape shines a well deserved light on five African hip hop artists who are challenging the heteronormative culture prevalent in much of Africa through their music. In many African countries, such as the ones these artists hail from, it can be dangerous to be openly LGBTQ+. These artists are taking great steps to normalizing
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Female & Southern African Rappers — Putting Themselves on the Map
A woman stepping into the male-dominated field of hip-hop is revolutionary in itself. Hip-hop was created by men like DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, in the South Bronx of New York City. Upon its creation you did not see too many female emcees and the weight of hip-hop was carried on the shoulders of
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Love is in the air for these SOUTH AFRICAN female ARTISTS
By Malaysia Robinson Love is in the air for the new upcoming South African female rappers. While the gender stereotypes are now beginning to vanish, females are now seen to be strong, powerful, and independent. However, that does not take away the fact that women have an inner desire to find love and find that
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Breaking Societal Norms with the Beauties of Africa
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIWKhlJkANWnAmsSMzPKUOZX4yRK2cOHW The Playlist highlights a plethora of hip hop styles from the women of Africa. All the artists help break a prevalent and ubiquitous norm typical in African Hip Hop today while still speaking of their own success using braggadocio. While watching the videos and listening to songs, you should think about first gender norms.
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A Younger Generation of South African Women Artists and Societal Expectations
Since the arrival of hip hop on the continent, South Africa has birthed and housed some of the most notable African hip hop artists. As a leading nation in the African hip hop industry, South Africa is home to many notorious female emcees: from Gigi Lamayne to Yugen Blakrok. These women frequently utilize hip hop
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Mixtape Assignment: the coming of the age of Unapologetic rap by woman in africa
The representation and presentation of women in hip-hop culture needed tremendous work. For years, hip-hop culture all over the planet has shunned and disregarded on the basis of gender. In the continent of Africa, women have not had the place to voice their opinions and talents as MC’s, and for so long have been forced
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HHAP EP. 67: Yugen Blakrok on Spirituality & the Spectrums of Human Experience Found in Her Music
Yugen Blakrok doesn’t incorporate hip hop’s boom-bap style, she has no interest in being the Queen of SA rap, she does not do trap, and she is not interested in being boxed into someone’s idea of a conscious MC. Her music has been described as “a mix of sci-fi soundscapes & meditative melodies”. It’s definitely introspective and speaks to you on several levels. It blends references to places, times, & themes both inside and outside of South Africa and contains spiritual references that borrow from diverse spiritual systems. Yugen Blakrok was born in the Eastern Cape and later moved to Johannesburg, the heart of South Africa’s music industry. She released her 1st album Return of the Astro-Goth in 2013 and her second album, Anima Mysterium, which contains a cameo by Kool Keith in 2019. In 2018, she featured on the track “Opps” with Vince Staples & Kendrick Lamar on the Black Panther soundtrack. In this interview, she engages in thought-provoking dialogue with our students who really connected with her music, which transcends a lot of boundaries. Yugen’s music does not just belong to South Africa but has universal messages that connect on human levels. Additionally, she spoke to us about being a socially conscious artist without the need to declare it, but being socially conscious by being it, not necessarily saying it. The conversation is moderated by Mikal Amin of Words Beats & Life. We’re joined at the very end by Phiwokuhle Mnyandu, who teaches Zulu at Howard University. Yugen Blakrok is online at Twitter @YugenBlakrok Instagram @YugenBlakrok Bandcamp yugenblakrok.bandcamp.com
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Cleo Ice Queen – the ‘sensation’-al Challenge to Gender Stereotypes
Cleo Ice Queen is a hip-hop artist, radio and television personality born in Zambia in 1989. With an impressive career in all three spaces, she is well known as a reality TV star due to her appearance on ‘Big Brother Africa’, and in 2015 won the AFRIMMA Award for ‘Best Female in Southern Africa’. Following