Women In Rap Are Writing Their Own Stories, Men Want A Handmaid’s Tale

Welcome to 47th issue of Backseat Freestyle. This is my weekly hip-hop newsletter I send out every Friday focusing on one big thing that happened over the past seven days. I also include links (15-25 of them) to what I’ve been listening to, reading and watching. You can check out the archive, here, and read more about me, here. If you’re already a BF subscriber, thank you for your continued support. If you’re arriving to this issue by way of a forward, LinkedIn or social media, please subscribe below. And please share this newsletter with your circle so that they can enjoy it, too; personal referrals are my best path to long-term growth. With that said, let’s get into it….

Editor’s note: The Trunk Music section reflects last week’s releases; I’m aiming to drop my next newsletter on Monday or Tuesday (on Utopia) to include this past week and today’s releases, then my next edition will arrive on Friday (4th), and one on August 11th before taking off for two or three weeks (summer vacation; send any book or throwback album suggestions! [Though I’m prolly gonna read “Rap Capital,” finally] and resuming September 8th.

Front Seat

This is what’s driving hip-hop this week….

I was having a conversation with someone recently and they asked me who my favorite young rapper was right now. I replied Latto and this person acknowledged my answer, but followed up by repeating the question with a different emphasis, ie who is your favorite young rapper? The slight was meant to devalue Latto into being my favorite female rapper, which would then open up a slot for me to say a male rapper, like Polo G or Symba. Both of which would be true in that context. It’s just that the whole truth is my favorite under 30 rapper is Latto, no gender caveat needed. Even as we’re experience this women’s movement in hip-hop (going on long enough to be an era more than a moment), where being a 1st Lady of a crew isn’t necessary, there’s still old framing devices hanging around. None more damaging than the one Fabolous trotted out recently about women’s rap styles being one-dimensional.

Back Seat

Respect my mind or die from lead shower.

WHEN MEGAN THEE STALLION AND CARDI B released the music video for their collab, “W.A.P.”, back in 2019, men got in a tizzy, commenting online and commentating on air, about the women who were rapping on the track and who appeared in the visual, criticizing them for expressing their sexuality. The track’s topic is wet ass pussy, what else were they supposed to rap about on the song? Yet that didn’t stop a blowback, which wasn’t just coming from Fox News anchors.

To me, that moment crystallized the current women’s movement in hip-hop that we’ve been experiencing, where Latto doesn't have to belong to a crew to blow-up, Kash Doll can develop in peace, Flo Milli can mature in real-time, Rico Nasty can be as experimental as she pleases, and Cardi and Nicki Minaj’s duel can go from traded barbs to a battle for éminence grise of the remix.

Change is hard, though. A changing of the guard is even harder. The ladies are running this rap shit (periodt, word to the City Girls).

But sometimes it seems like male rappers can be their biggest critics, and they come off sounding like conservative senators in their remarks, over women doing the same things they do.

Recently, Fabolous posted on his IG story about what he perceived as “only one style of female rap/Hip Hop.”

“I love hearing female rappers talking some real shit. Women are so strong. Have so many stories and perspectives that we need to hear in pure form. No disrespect to any female rappers out there but I think there’s only one style of female rap/Hip Hop being promoted, programmed, and looked at as successful now,” he wrote on July 16.

What the actual fuck?

Imagine if he said, I love hearing trap rappers talking some real shit. They’re so strong. Have so many stories and perspectives that we need to hear in pure form. No disrespect to any young rappers out there but I think there’s only one style of young rap/hip-hop being promoted…He might as well put on the bluetooth earpiece, wing-tip shoes, black socks and plaid shorts. 

It’s crazy because, say, take someone like NLE Choppa, who talks about fucking just as much as Latto does, yet he gets hailed as a potential new star; where she’s relegated to pretty good for a girl status.

And look, Fab isn’t alone.

(Fwiw, I disagree with him but I do really like Fab, I think he’s not only talented, but has challenged himself in this business; when I interviewed him for Vevo, he spoke in detail about essentially product managing the Feddy vs Jason release and when he guested on The Bridge, I thought his conversation with Nas was one of our best episodes. The same goes for these guys below, respect them a ton but disagree with their takes.)

Jermaine Dupri has said women rappers all talk about the same thing. Snoop pleaded for women to not reveal too much of their sexual exploits, so men can have some imagination of what intimacy could be like. And J. Cole was policing noname’s tone, a big no-no; he might as well have been wearing a Best Buy shirt when he wrote his rhyme.

What irks me the most about this Puritan bullshit coming from male rappers is that they then project a morality on Rapsody, whose style is more baggier clothes and boom bap rap, as an example that’s supposedly in contrast to some of her peers. Fam, she isn’t trying to run around with a halo on. And knowing her, she’s championing every single one of them, regardless of differences. Each successful woman in rap, makes women rap as a whole more successful. Women’s rap success as a group, makes hip-hop grow and expand.

The last two predictions newsletters I’ve done have both been filled with shouts to women running the upcoming years.

And I’ve written about the supposed lack of new stars, despite the rise of GloRilla, Coi LeRay and Ice Spice, to name a few.

I could take a cheap shot and tell men to step up, but brothers, instead, simply step aside—there’s enough lime for everyone to shine here, whether they’re rapping about fucking, shooting or rapping for rapping’s sake—so that the spotlight is on all the talent we have, both men and women.

Because there's so many stories and perspectives that we need to hear in pure form.

Trunk (Music)

Music, news, reads, podcasts and videos that I’m checking for this week.

Maybe this becomes a topic for a newsletter issue down the line, but a couple of my daily text threads often discuss/debate Nas’ late-career run (initiated by the same person, who’s in both groups; we’ll call him Thonsu Bompson); here’s where I stand: Although the first half of his career was marked by incredible heights and frustrating inconsistency, I thoroughly enjoy his having a consistency in his current work even if the highs aren’t as soaring as his younger year. Magic 2’s “Office Hours,” “Bokeem Woodbine” and “Pistol On You Album Cover” are early standouts. Related: Magic 2 producer Hit-Boy and his pops, Big Hit, came together for Surf or Drown, Vol. 2. (I really like the story of Hit and Big Hit working together.) [Listen] [Listen]

Travis Scott went algorithm fishing by recruiting Bad Bunny and The Weekend for “K-POP” but caught a dub instead of a prize. [Listen]

I’ve always respected how influential Valee has been with his flow, but I didn’t appreciate his music as much as I admired the authority his skill held. That’s not the case with his and Harry Fraud’s team up on Virtuoso. They pair together well and Valee flexes his songwriting ability, while drawing in an impactful group of collaborators. Check out “Watermelon Automobile” featuring Saba and Mavi, “About That” featuring 03 Greedo and “Vibrant” featuring Action Bronson. [Listen]

This Big Boss Vette EP, Resilience, is a jam; minus “Ghetto Love” but every track aside from that one is heatrock. [Listen]

The weather in New York has been silly; raining on the weekends and beautiful during the week. It hasn’t been until recently that we’ve gotten some good weekend weather and this Bas and J.Cole team up for “Passport Bros” arrived at the right time. Feels like summer now. [Listen]

SleazyWorld Go might have my favorite flow right now and he delivers again on “Don’t Get Your Feelings In It” featuring Luh Tyler. [Listen]

I respect Babyface Ray’s grind. He’s had incremental growth on each album, including his latest, Summer’s Mine. I keep saying it, but it’s only a matter of time for him. [Listen]

Ice Spice’s deluxe release of Like…? with its new additions “Deli,” “Butterfly Ku” and “How High?” (not to mention her Barbie link-up with Nicki Minaj) continue to show the Bronx bomber has staying power. [Listen]

The documentary, “Mixtape,” is coming to Paramount+ next week, August 1. I saw it last year during a Tribeca Film Festival screening and it left a lot to be desired, especially with it being the doc of record considering the investment from UMG. For starters, they didn’t interview Shaheem Reid (or me, but Sha is Sha and he birthed the Mixtape Monday column that I contributed to); the DJ Drama section didn’t do Gangsta Grillz justice; and the Clue segment was introduced by Funk Flex, who gave Clue his flowers but it was more of the squirting variety than roses. [Info]

A mistrial was declared in the YNW Melly case, but prosecutors will retry the Florida rapper. [Info]

Lupe Fiasco shares that “Chilly free.” [Info] Related: Lupe gets busy on “Roc-A-Fella Y’all,” the Texas Instrument line might be my favorite. [Listen]

WTF, G Herbo?! He agreed to a plea deal stemming from fraud charges and before that was knocked for having an illegal firearm. [Info]

Bianca Betancourt with an interesting essay about “How Drake Won” by becoming “relatable and unobtainable at the same time.” [Read]

For Hip-Hop 50, two of The New York Times’ music critics, Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, who both write about the genre extensively for the outlet, organized an interactive feature called 50 Rappers 50 Stories, where each act discusses the evolution of the culture. [Read]

DJ Drama has entered the pod scene with a production he’s hosted that looks back on his iconic Gangsta Grillz series through a set of 1:1 interviews, including Lil Wayne, Pharrell and more. [Listen]

Sexyy Red sits down with the ladies of Lip Service [Listen]

Kai Cenet gets the prestige coverage treatment courtesy of Complex, where Speedy Morman sits down with the Twitch star to talk about his roots and his hustle. [Watch]

Drake and Central Cee blaze their “On The Radar” session. [Watch].

Flo Milli pays homage to Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” music video via the visual to her “Flo Milli” track. [Watch]

Jay Rock is 2 for 2 with new music, following “Eastside,” he has another thumper in “Too Fast (Pull Over)” with Anderson .Paak and Latto, the latter of which has a dope party visual to boot. [Watch]

I truly have never seen as much dissonance in an album rollout as ASAP Rocky and his forthcoming project, but while we’ve expected zigs here and there, even among the unexpected, he continues to zag. His latest, “Riot (Rowdy Pipe'n),” caused a ripple online for his referring to Rihanna as his wife, but tabloid exploits aside it’s another quality record that finds Rocky at his most Uptown swaggiest. The video is fire; he has a real vision and if patience is what we have to practice for more of this, I can wait. [Watch]

Sometimes Sauce Walka feels like he’s one step forward, two steps back, but when he connects, damn, that shit is emphatic. This collab with Conway The Machine, “Dangerous Daringer,” saw a visual released with it a couple week back and it’s just direct and in-your-face. I love it. [Watch]

The Breakfast Club hosted Emory “Vegas” Jones, who talked about his latest Puma release that doubles as a DJ Clue compilation project; plus he tells the story about how he got his nickname. [Watch]

Dr. Dre tells old heads to stop hating on hip-hop. [Watch]

Tiny Desk has dipped into their Hip-Hop 50 bag lately with performances by Juvenile and Cypress Hill [Watch] [Watch]. Related: Cypress Hill was one of our better episodes of The Bridge: 50 Years Of Hip-Hop. [Listen]

Backseat Freestyle is written and produced by me, Jayson Rodriguez, for Smarty Art. If you have any comments, feedback or questions, feel free to email me: [email protected]. If you would like to discuss sponsoring an issue of the newsletter, contact: holler@ smartyartllc.com and check out the rates, here. And follow me elsewhere:

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