Background/Information
Natalie Florence, better known as “Noti Flow”, is a Kenyan musician-rapper and actress. She is known to be a “controversial” artists for different aspects such as; her raunchy photos, sexuality, skin color, sex talk, bluntness, and being on a controversial show. But the view of the public eye has not held her back if anything it has given her more attention and a better opportunity of getting herself and career out there. It wasn’t until her last year of primary school that Noti Flow realized she could play with words. Later on in her life she also realized she could act. Then landed herself a spot on the Nairobi Diaries which is a controversial tv show. Even though she is looked at as controversial, she does not see herself that way and doesn’t care what other people think. Which sends a great message to young girls today. Be who you are and don’t worry about what other people may have to say. Rising to fame and being in the spotlight there are going to be a lot of opinions on artists failing to realize that they are just like anybody else, human. I in fact like Noti Flow because of her controversy. That’s what makes her stand out.
Controversy
- Sexuality– Noti Flow is a bisexual female.
- Skin- Pictures surfaced of her at a younger age with a darker skin complexion than now. This can be a confusing topic in Hip Hop because usually its a genre that fetishizes light skin women. But when you are darker and start to bleach your skin it is frowned upon a well known example is lil Kim.
- Boldness/Bluntness- One incident happened were Noti Flow commented on Avril, a singer, to hit the gym. Noti stated “I’m not saying she is not pretty now but she is not my type right now. She used to be pretty and then she got fat and I can say it was a good thing telling her to go to the gym and try and look sexy again. She should appreciate my truth unlike her friends who will lie to her that she looks good.” “To me that is not sexy. I think trolling is good because you will try hard to maintain the sexiness in you. I have been told I do not look good sometimes and I take the criticism well and try and look better. It’s not that I despise thick women, you can be thick, healthy and look sexy like Rihanna.” This situation I feel is something reoccurring in Hip Hop and music all around. Does Hip Hop also think like this? Can what you look like make or break you? This is a controversial topic no matter who is speaking on it.
- Pictures- Yes, her pictures can be explicit and may not be appropriate for young girls that may look up to her as an rapper/artist but as Nicki Minaj has said “they have to be parented by their parents” Which I feel a lot of people fail to realize. There are going to be people that are not as conservative as others may want them to be. So artists of different art forms can express themselves without getting backlash.
Here are some lyrics from her song “Kamatia”. What I like about this selection of lyrics is the fact that this is what society thinks women should not be doing and not be talking about. Society wants females to be covered up, no drinking or smoking, don’t be sexual, and also don’t approach men. Everything in this selection is completely ignoring what society feels a women should be like. Also for Americans or anyone around the world listening to this song it gives a little similarity to “Down In The Dm” by Yo Gotti and Nicki Minaj, which I loved. This song was flawlessly sorted out, all while giving versatile flow, and verses to accommodate with a vibing generation.
“I was chilling in the crib
Sippin on my Hennessy
Matter of fact I was logged on my IG
Keepin OG looking for a real G
Oh my , I feel kinda freaky
I’ve been smoking Loud and drinking
Then I see this guy and am sinking
Yea , so I hit him in the DM”
https://www.instagram.com/notiflow/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/noti_flow?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_YBHBlBka7k5vs8rOXljaw