Grabbing Feminism by the Mic: This Is How Women in Hip-Hop Are Making a Lane of Their Own

The terms “hip-hop” and “feminism” might seem like oil and water. After all, the culture of misogyny and straight disrespect of women throughout hip-hop culture could lead one to think otherwise. So can a feminist politic exist in a hyper-misogynistic space?

The answer: It’s complicated.

“Hip-hop feminism” was coined by author and scholar Joan Morgan in her groundbreaking 1999 book, When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost. And hip-hop feminists are active in the culture. Though some women in hip-hop might not refer to themselves as feminists, artists like Cardi B, Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion are dominating and certainly representing a feminist agenda, intentionally or not.

The Root sat down with Brittney Cooper, Ph.D., to unpack it all because she’s got this hip-hop feminism thing on lock. Cooper is an assistant professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University. She’s also a co-founder of the Crunk Feminist Collective, and author of Eloquent Rage.

The professor believes that, at its core, the ideology of hip-hop feminism acknowledges that black girls matter.

“It’s also about taking down all these barriers, so it’s not ‘you either a professional, respectable black girl or you a ratchet black girl,’” she says. “We say everybody gets to come to the party and hip-hop is the ground upon which we do that.”

See the entire video above.