Hip-Hop has always been known as a male dominated industry although there has been great female influence in the game such as MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, The Real Roxanne, and many others.
Female's absence from the game has given much attention to Young Money's Nicki Minaj. Although she represents for the ladies, standing alone has opened attention on her actual ability in the rap game.
Nicki Minaj seemed to be the only female rapper brave enough to spit with the guys on the BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher.
Female's stance in the rap game has become less about their skills and more on politics, and there has been question if Nicki is writing her own material or is Lil Wayne doing it for her?
Minaj recently spoke on the different barriers of men and females in the rap game.
"Women are held to different standards. I mean that's just the way it is. I always say 'Nobody tells 50 and Wayne anything when they're taking their shirts off every night'. You could say that's selling sex; that's selling sex appeal. I respect Wayne and 50 very much, but if a girl comes out in a cute little outfit showing some boobs, she's not a real rapper."
While many critics question Nicki's verse on the Cypher, she clears the air with what is reality. "How many people in that Cypher
do you think spit that off of their head? See, that's another thing and
I'm glad you brought that up. Yes, I didn't spit that off the top of my
head. I can't come up with those punch-lines, metaphors off the top of
my head. Everybody else, besides KRS-One, who else can you name that freestyled off the top of his head."
Nicki also
lifted some weight off her shoulders telling how she is the only person
who writes her material. "They will tear apart a female like, 'Oh, she
did a good verse, but she wrote it'. The only thing that matters is
that I wrote it on a paper and memorized it. I don't need a dude to
write my sh*t. Wayne
never wrote my sh*t. No one writes my stuff because it's in here. It's
not about what you have down here [points to crotch] that makes you
intelligent enough to write a rap and I think that's so corny."
Female rappers are still working hard to gain equal respect as males and if the time will ever come, no one truly knows when.
