Women in Music

I used to listen to a ton of male artists. I’ve mentioned that a few times on my IG and on this blog. I didn’t necessarily like that and recognized I needed to be intentional about making a change. My “Cared For..” playlist was a pivotal one because it was all women artists and was very personal to me because of what was going on in the world when I curated it. It also made me want to dig deeper.

I’ve never been a big R&B girl, I felt like it was too emotional and I wasn’t trying to feel my feelings like that lol but now I love R&B. It’s not as emotional as I thought before! I love how the artists, especially how women, are able to express themselves and be honest and open with their emotions through their songs. Through my growing love of R&B, I’ve developed a greater appreciation for the women singer/songwriters who’ve poured their frustrations and hearts out in songs. Without necessarily knowing how the song will be received, they sing anyway. I’m sure we can all think of songs like that and we’re better because of them.

Next is Hip Hop. I love hip hop so much! I love the culture, the rappers, and the history. One side I’ve always shied away from was the women of hip hop. So the past few months I’ve been trying to listen to more women rappers and I’ve really enjoyed the artists I’ve heard! The other day I watched a documentary by Ava Duvernay about Women in Hip Hop and learned a lot about the rap scene from their point of view. From the lack of support on the artist development side to the difficulties in trying to get respect as a female MC, I gained a HUGE appreciation for these women and what they had to go through in this industry. For an artist to continue to create, knowing that things are not in their favor, tells us more about who they are than any award or accolade ever could.

This brings me to the Grammys. The Grammys have had an interesting relationship with female rappers. And when I say interesting I mean practically nonexistent. Since 1995, starting with Queen Latifah and Salt-N-Pepa, there has only been a handful of Grammys won by women rappers. Also, there has been a lack of women rappers nominated for Grammys in general. In 1999, Lauryn Hill won best new artist at the Grammys. That same year she won numerous Grammys for her critically acclaimed, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, with 3 of those falling in the R&B category. In 2003, the Grammys started the Best Female Rap Solo Performance and in 2005 stopped the category because there “wasn’t enough competition.” From 2006 up until 2019 there was basically silence in the Grammy world in regards to women rappers. With the silence ending in 2019 with Cardi’s best rap album win. There were several women rappers within those years dropping albums but barely any recognition in regards to the award show. Megan winning all these Grammys this year is a big deal for many reasons but among those reasons is the much-needed representation for women rappers on the Grammy stage!! It’s exciting to see. Hopefully, as the Grammys try and improve we’ll see more women rappers being nominated and winning.

Changing music listening habits is a good thing. It’s another way to see growth and a great way to find songs and genres and musicians you’ll love.