The artist that I chose to pick a song from this week is Dope Saint Jude and the song is called “Keep Your Head Up”. Dope Saint Jude is a rapper from South Africa. She also is a part of the LGBTQ+ community. She expresses herself in this way in her music. One line says ” My girls are black, queer, trans standing beside us, and we are everywhere you look don’t try to hide us.” further on she says ” My girls are black, queer, trans, don’t ever doubt us, and we don’t care if they say yes or don’t allow us.” These are both bold statements that stand up for what she believes in. Specific lines in this song stick out to me. For example, she says “Hey girl keep your head up, Don’t give a fuck about the system that was set up, You’re the boss, you’re the king, you’re the sheriff.” Dope Saint Jude is a feminist, so what I got from that was that the system that is set up by men does not matter because a woman can do anything and everything. Dope Saint Jude is a female artist who shows that she can go against the stereotype of women in hip-hop. In most Hip Hop videos women are used as props to show off their bodies and if they are rappers are always set to be wearing clothes that barely cover them up. With her music, she breaks down barriers from LGBTQ+, to standing up for women, and establishing herself through lyrics and not just a general concept to keep women in a box. She shows that there is more to Hip Hop than the over-sexualization of women and that you can shed light on different topics through lyrics. I wish there was a video for this song, but there isn’t. For more Dope Saint Jude her Instagram is @dopesaintjude