Tag: Feminism
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Yazzavelli
Yazzavelli’s EP is similar to what is discussed in the current readings of my class. When we look at “lyricism of female emcees in Africa, we must translate the meanings of the words, the purpose of the text. This goes beyond language translation and is an analysis of the subtext understood through the artist’s useRead…
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Confronting The Representation of African women- 3 Artists Changing the Narrative through song
African women are often grossly misrepresented by the media and pop culture, the narratives established since colonialism often find their way into the way African women are portrayed to the world. This is why it is so important for artists like Enny, Dope Saint Jude, and Sampa the Great to be recognized and celebrated forRead…
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“Girl Power” by Mina la voilée
“Girl Power”, by Mina la Voilée, preaches tough feminism, women’s empowerment, and just an overall sense of badass rhymes and flow in a short but sweet song dedicated to women in Senegal. Being a female rapper in Senegal is unfortunately not as common or accepted as in other parts of Africa. Rap in general hasRead…
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HHAP EP. 63: Gigi Lamayne on Representation & Dismantling Respectability Politics
This is the first in a special series of episodes being recorded lives with African Studies students at Howard University and George Washington University. The series is co-hosted with Words Beas & Life, who is also live-streaming the episodes on their Facebook page (facebok.com/wordsbeatslife) on Wednesday nights at 5pm EST. The schedule is on our…
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HHAP Episode 60: The Dope Saint Jude Episode
Dope Saint Jude is a South African hip hop artist who was born and raised Cape Town. A former Political Science student at the University of Cape Town, she started her hip hop career in 2011 as a drag king. Her drag king persona was Saint Dude, and resembled rapper Lil Wayne. After releasing several…
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Feminine ideals in Toussa Senerap’s work
Toussa Senerap—who’s name is a play on the French “Tous ça,” or “everything,” and an agglomeration of Senegal and Rap—plays an interesting consciousness in her work surrounding the idea of femininity. Senerap both embraces womanhood and shies away from traditional conceptualizations of femininity from both hip-hop and Senegalese contexts. For this piece, I’m primarily analyzingRead…
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Lola Monroe’s “Grime”
Lola Monroe, or “Queen Roe”, is an artist who has been steeped in hip hop culture long before she first picked up a mic. The Addis Ababa born, DC raised emcee first got her start in hip hop as a “video vixen” in the early and mid 2000s, when she appeared in music videos forRead…
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Here’s To US
Wangechi Waweru is a Kenyan rapper, singer, and songwriter. She was born on January 19th 1994 in Nairobi, Kenya. Growing up she knew she had a love for music. Wangechi has said that her passion for music derived from listening to Nazizi who is a rapper and songstress. She listened to African music from rappers suchRead…
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Defying the Norm
Born Mabel Oine Alubo, 24 year-old Bella Alubo is an up and coming Nigerian artist. Bella signed with Tinny Entertainment in December of 2016, after being recognized for a cover of Kanye West’s song ‘Therapy,’ and has features with mainstream artists like YCee. While being branded as Pop, Afrobeat, and Hip Hop, Bella reinforced herRead…