Defining a genre

Della Johnson and Raghav Raj | Staff Writers

 Breaking into the male dominated industry–or in this case, genre of music–has been a long time coming for female rappers. Within the past year, these women have accomplished a lot more within their style than ever before, with the help of four leading pioneers.

 Nicki Minaj arrived as part of a new crop of Young Money Entertainment artists in 2009, and has been dropping hits ever since. She’s had multiple chart-topping songs, collaborations as well as solos, including “Super Bass,” “Starships,” “FEFE,” “Chun-Li,” and more. Over the course of her career, she has released four studio albums, and doesn’t seem to be stopping yet. Her delivery is sharp and syncopated, filling the monstrous beats she raps over with alter-egos and a whole lot of personality.

 Cardi B burst onto the scene in 2017 with the smash hit “Bodak Yellow.” The tough-talking single, which used the beat from Kodak Black’s “No Flockin’,” was a show-stopping introduction, the second #1 hit on Billboard for a female rapper (preceded only by Ms. Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing).”) Following the success of her 2018 debut, Invasion of Privacy, she’s continued dropping an assorted array of singles, from “Press,” to “Money,” to a certain smash hit collaboration with Meg Thee Stallion that we’re not allowed to name.

 Meg Thee Stallion has been inescapable since late 2018. With the help of multiple dance trends on the app TikTok, her songs “Savage,” “Captain Hook,” and “Hot Girl Summer,” featuring fellow rappers Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign, charted on the Billboard Top 100. Her delivery is outspoken and filled with bold wordplay, with rhymes that read like explicit poetry. Her self-confidence shines through in her music, and it’s central to her style.

 Flo Milli is a newer addition to this class of female rappers, and she’s staked her claim as one of the most promising up-and-coming talents with a style that’s gleefully profane and radically in-your-face. Her debut, H*, Why Is You Here, just released in July, features past viral hits like “Beef FloMix” and “In The Party,” as well as newer hits like “Weak” and “Not Friendly.” 

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