The female emcee is fast becoming extinct. She is a voice lost to a generation of young listeners. The likes of Trina and Nicki Minaj have now replaced the more realistic representations of women that existed at the dawn of hip-hop. In my recorded interview with Ise Lyfe last month, we agreed that rap is now the only genre in the world were women are literally scared to say their piece. Ise declared – “Queen Latifah started rapping when she was twelve years old, now if a young girl wants to rap; she’s going to hear ‘f*** you bitch’ from every corner. The horrible consequence is that hip-hop loses a valuable voice.”

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So why is it that we don’t get an abundance of talented female emcees? I believe it’s down to the fact that when manifested in it’s mainstream form, hip-hop can come across as abusive and threatening to women. From the portrayal of females as sex objects in videos; to the direct verbal insults. And while I don’t advocate the banning of records or a complete rejection of selling sex. It is the inbalance in hip-hop that fans and artists need to address. Once young girls have role models in hip-hop they can look up to for their intelligence and talents, then we will have gone a long way to restoring the genre’s credibility.

As things stand the most talented women are been pushed underground. Names like Jean Grae and Ursula Rucker maybe unfamiliar to most, but they are the last lifeline for the female voice in hip-hop. Instead of selling their bodies. These women can actually rap articulately and in essence they have something to say. This is in stark contrast to the record companies chosen path of marketing brain-dead lifestyles. The last of a dying breed continue to survive under the radar.

One woman who penned a track to get her point across was Bridget Gray. Check out her “Letter To Hip-Hop” by clicking on the image below:

PADDY