Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip Hop. Directed by Hannah Beachler, dream hampton, Raeshem Nijhon, Giselle Bailey, and Carri Twigg. Los Gatos, CA: Netflix, 2023. 4 episodes/45 minutes each.

Hip-hop formed on the heels of radical-era spoken-word poetry, bebop, and cool jazz in the late 1970s in the Bronx, and since its origins, the genre has evolved in many ways. As a seemingly male-dominated space, hip-hop continues to be criticized for its phallocentricity, misogyny, and oversexualized imagery; meanwhile, the contributions of Black women and Latina hip-hoppers to the subculture are often overlooked. “New school” female rappers, from Cardi B to Azealia Banks, Megan Thee Stallion, Rapsody, Sexyy Redd, Ice Spice, Tierra Whack and Chika, indicate that women are equally visible across hip-hop’s diverse subgenres today. Sadly, this was not always the case, despite the existence of “old school” female rappers. Many women emcees paved the way for the new generation; these names include MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Roxanne Shanté, Salt-N-Pepa, Missy Elliott, Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown, Lady of Rage, Monie Love, Sister Souljah, Lauryn Hill, Da Brat, Yo-Yo, Eve, Trina, Angie Martinez, Rah Digga, Jean Grae, Nonchalant, and Sweet Tee. The Netflix documentary series Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip Hop, coproduced by famed emcee MC Lyte and hip-hop journalist dream hampton, among others, aims to rectify this omission, giving women proper recognition by noting that they have been involved in hip-hop culture since its inception.

Overview of the Docuseries

Starting in the late 1970s with MC Sha-Rock—a female hip-hop artist, b-girl, and member of Funky 4 + 1—the documentarians regard her as a hip-hop progenitor (Sha-Rock and Brown 2015). Later, Roxanne Shanté, at age 14, grabbed Sha-Rock’s baton and presented one of the most potent diss tracks, “Roxanne’s Revenge,” in 1985, challenging the pop-rap scene cemented in the mainstream imagination by Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 “Rapper’s Delight.” Women were also creating rap groups and financing them, as exemplified by the late Sylvia Robinson, the former singer-turned-rap-industry-mogul who signed Funky 4 +1 and created the Sugarhill Gang. Women hip-hoppers have also nurtured all hip-hop elements, including rapping, graffing, deejaying, and b-boying (dancing). The docuseries sheds light on women’s contributions to these and other Black cultural expressions—including dance, fashion, and public intellectualism, or “knowledge of self.”

Featuring scholars who best represent this element, like Dr. Brittney Cooper from Crunk Feminist Collective and Dr. Joan Morgan, the docuseries traces the history of women in hip-hop and contextualizes hip-hop’s more significant messages and the narratives that make it into the mainstream. The interviewees point out how mainstream hip-hop portrays Black women as sexualized objects yet highlights how women speak and mobilize against sexism and, in some cases, utilize their sex and sexuality in regressive ways. For example, Moya Bailey, a cofounder of Crunk Feminist Collective and credited with coining the term "misogynoir," led the anti-“Tip Drill” boycott of Nelly in 2013 at my current teaching post—Spelman College. Conversely, Kash Doll, like Cardi B, expresses how, as a former exotic dancer, she uses her experiences as a sex worker in her music. California rapper Yo-Yo, the preeminent female member of Ice Cube’s Da Lench Mob, discusses how often women such as the Lady of Rage (Death Row Records), Lil’ Kim (with the group Junior Mafia), and Foxy Brown (with the group The Firm) were seen as appendages to the male rappers in their crews. Lauryn Hill of the Fugees breaks this paradigm and becomes one of the most prolific emcees in her own right. Therefore, this docuseries complicates the idea that women were just objects complicit in the marginalization of their voices and contributions.

Critiques

The documentary uses Queen Latifah’s “Ladies First” (1989; ft. Monie Love), Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.” (1993), and later the Lil' Kim–led “Ladies Night” (1996) as a sort of Black Girl Magic ideological hinge point by putting forth the premise that women are a force to be dealt with and a united front. However, the series gives only cursory credit to Salt-N-Pepa, the iconic group, who challenged the idea of female emcees being appendages to male crews: Salt-N-Pepa was the crew, and men were the appendages. The documentary also touches on colorism in general but does not discuss its effects on the self-esteem of women consumers of hip-hop. Eve’s work talks a little bit about sexual assault, and other emcees speak about the exploitation by male artists, though these topics could be more deeply examined, especially in this post-post-#MeToo moment and in the face of accusations against the artist and executive Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Tips for Using This Docuseries in the Feminist Classroom

The docuseries allows us to reflect on what we can learn about ourselves and the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality through hip-hop. The poem “Little Red Cap” by Carol Ann Duffy could serve as an anchor text because it addresses how girls and women are used and manipulated by older predatory men, exemplified by the poem’s male character. When I’ve discussed it in class, girls point out how the 16-year-old protagonist goes with the older man, so we also had conversations about consent and manipulation. In addition, I’ve put hip-hop songs in conversation with media advertisements that focus on this trope of girls as appendages to men or as victims who are weak and ripe for exploitation. Using these texts, we discuss how women and girls can be coerced into exploitative conditions and, through the manipulation inherent in normalized sexist discourses, can become subjects to be objectified. Having a light bulb moment, like the protagonist in “Little Red Cap” does, allows women and girls to think about how they can take back their power, particularly in terms of sexual violation.

Learners are also able to use hip-hop as a pop culture artifact to examine how it uplifts and challenges controlling images of Black women (Collins 2000)—for example, the oversexed Jezebel and the emasculating Sapphire—through artists who represent those images and those who contradict them, such as Junglepussy, Tierra Whack, and Rapsody. “Woman" by Doja Cat is a favorite of many, and it could be used in a classroom to explore the tension between subjection and empowerment regarding gender. Queer artists, also under-highlighted in the documentary, could complicate representations of gender and sexuality. Lesbian, bisexual, and queer-identifying female rappers such as Young M.A, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Yung Miami, Doechii, Chika, Dai Burger, Princess Nokia, and Ice Spice are good candidates to explore queerness and the performances of queerness in relation to the male gaze. We are complex, creative beings with layered dynamic identities, and hip-hop can be a site to explore this.

Further, we compare the themes and ideas in these works and analyze scansion, rhythm, narration, imagery, and figurative language. Then, as a class, we create high-level questions and share them online via Padlet. We pick out the questions we will use to govern our Harkness seminar around these ideas and place them in a global context about gender, oppression, and subordination. Then, we write a comparison essay comparing the texts.

Ladies First also allows students to examine the filmmaking practices and editorial decisions of documentaries and docuseries. For example, how does the documentarian choose which women to highlight—who is included and omitted? Why were those omissions made? What themes are emphasized and why? What scholars were chosen as hip-hop experts, who are these scholars, and are they reliable? These questions are helpful for introducing the rhetorical triangle, which explores the relationship between logos (“reason” and logic), pathos (emotions, belief systems), and ethos (the speaker’s credibility). Interrogating the creator’s methods in documentaries by placing a film in conversation with music, poetry, and advertisements (encompassing the copy, images, and placement of figures), allows students to develop their multiliteracies, including media and digital literacy.

Conclusion

In education, hip-hop provides a wealth of material for examining identity, power, and social justice themes. By intermingling hip-hop works with other forms of media, educators can engage their students in critical conversations about gender, sexuality, and power structures. This approach enhances students' comprehension of hip-hop and encourages a deeper appreciation of its cultural value and women's significant role in shaping its course. The evolution of women in hip-hop is a testament to their strength, artistic ingenuity, and influence on the genre. From trailblazers to modern-day legends, female artists have overcome obstacles, reshaped narratives, and contributed to discussions on gender, power, and identity in hip-hop. As the genre continues to progress, the stories of these women remain vital in comprehending the intricacies of hip-hop and its reflection on societal dynamics. Using documentaries, educational initiatives, and ongoing dialogue, the contributions and challenges of women in hip-hop will persist in inspiring and prompting reflection, underscoring their indelible impact on the genre and culture.

Khalilah Ali is an assistant professor of education and an instructor of African Diaspora and the World courses at Spelman College. Dr. Ali focuses on Black Diasporic cultural expressions in public art and the intersections of visual, digital, and spatial literacy. Her current research explores how public art in gentrified urban spaces, particularly in the context of Afro-Brazilian culture in Bahia, can be critical educative artifacts to support learners' diverse literacies. She is keenly interested in integrating curricula that center students' multiliterate identities to foster a deeper understanding of culture and history.