The Hip Hop African

Across the world, the hip-hop community is very male-dominated and now in the current years more female artists are breaking the barrier by becoming as successful as male rappers. Many African women rappers are coming into fame and are making music to empower women and make them feel more confident with themselves. Since the hip-hop community is male-dominated majority of rap songs that are being produced are oversexualizing women and overall bashing their presence. Now female rappers are combating male rappers by releasing songs that will help build women’s confidence and to remind them that they are strong and needed in this world. The female rappers featured in this mixtape each take a different approach with how they chose to empower women in their songs. They each have a different rapping style and have their own ways to represent femininity. 

Fukunyuka- Bomb$hell Grenade

The first song that is featured on the mixtape is “Fukunyuka” by Bomb$hell Grenade. Bomb$hell Grenade is a rapper, singer, entrepreneur, and actress from Lusaka, Zambia. The song is a mixture of her rapping in Yoruba and English. In the song, she takes a jab at men who try to approach her and says her sex appeal makes them weak. Bomb$hell Grenade is a confident woman and empowers other women in her raps by telling them that they do not need a man for anything and that they can obtain anything they want. Outside of her music she still showcases her support for other women. She is affiliated with Urban Girl, which is a reusable sanitary pad company. I would definitely listen to this song getting ready for a night out and having a good time with my girlfriends. 

Power- Muthoni Drummer Queen

Secondly in the mix is the Kenyan rapper Muthoni Drummer Queen with the song titled, “Power”. It’s perfect that she titled the song “Power” because she is doing just that by empowering women with the lyrics in the song. In the middle of the song she raps, “This is for the women who came before us, Who build the world for us, who made it work for us. Those lyrics specifically are an ode to the contributions women have made to the development of Kenya and the world. Oftentimes in history, women are not credited for the advancements and contributions they have made to society. This song is a reminder that women have done so much in the world and we do not receive as much credit as we should. I would consider this song an anthem for the female empowerment movement. The braggadocio in the lyrics could also be used as positive affirmations to help with being confident. This is a great song to add to a working-out playlist as it would help finish any workout strong. 

Peng Black Girls- Enny

The British-Nigerian rapper Enny took the world by storm when she released the song, “Peng Black Girls”. The word “peng” is UK slang for “good-looking” or “awesome” so the song can be called “Good-Looking Black Girls”. The song is dedicated to Blackness, womanhood, sisterhood, and femininity. Enny praises all types of Black women and raps about how beautiful they are no matter what physical attributes they have. Beauty standard in the Black community is a major topic and a lot of Black women are criticized for not having a certain look to fit society’s beauty standards. This song is a reminder that none of that matters and Black women should be confident in their own skin. The beat has a laid-back and welcoming feel to it and Enny’s delivery of her rhymes flows perfectly with it. The song originally features Amia Brave and after the success of the song, Jorja Smith was featured on the remix and performed it on the Youtube channel COLORS. I would recommend showing this song to young Black girls to remind them they are beautiful and should be comfortable in their own skin. 

Black Girl Magik–Sampa the Great

Sampa the Great is a Zambian-born Australian-based rapper who released the song Black Girl Magik in 2017. Towards the middle of the song Sampa recites a poem dedicating it to other Black women and at the end says Black women are Black magic. The song overall is about how she can feel Black girl magic everywhere she goes and that it is powerful. The song is empowering because she’s letting Black girls and women know that we have Black Girl magic and that we were born with it. In Sampa’s lyrics, she embodies how Black women are beautiful, strong, and royal. The song and music video are beautiful as it features Black women dancing, playing chess, and braiding hair. This is also another song I would play to young Black girls as a reminder that they are special in the world

F E M A L E- Sampa the Great

Last on the mixtape is another Sampa the Great song titled, “F E M A L E”. The song has an upbeat tempo and a catchy hook. She refers to Black women as queens and praises those who are goal-driven, know their roots, and are independent. Even though it’s a short song Sampha was efficient in getting her point across by giving the message that the song is about Black women. In both songs by Sampa, there is no profanity and she mentions Africa. Sampa the Great embraces her femininity by wearing clothes that represent her native country and letting people know through her lyrics that she is a confident woman. 

Overall the female artist featured in the mixtape are talented and release songs that are meant to uplift women. Every artist took a different approach to how they wanted to empower women and they were successful in doing so. The hip-hop community needs more songs like the ones included in this mixtape to remind women of their beauty and to make them feel confident where there are obstacles in the world trying to bring us down.