Working — let alone existing — in the world of hip hop as a woman is complex on many levels: the misogyny that’s riddled its history has always been a problem and is impossible to avoid. It’s 2017, and there lies hope in the influence of certain artists like Kendrick Lamar, Anderson .Paak, and Oddisee. The women in hip hop themselves have always had to take charge of their voices, creating platforms for their points of view and how they see the world. Podcasts, blogs, radio, and panels have all shone a light on the future of journalism. While print journalism fights for a brighter future, there’s no denying the influence of newer technologies. The coverage of hip hop music has reaped the benefits, as well.
Hip hop has been around since 1973, which is long enough for people to learn about its roots, the ins-and-outs, and for it to be flipped; so flipped and capitalized on that the genre itself has been referred to as pop music. With the little that’s left to be discovered, we’ve come up with new ways to talk about it, in hopes of helping others understand with the senses that print journalism can't channel.
Amongst the women journalists of today’s hip hop scene shining bright lights on the world are Abigail Covington, Anna Dorn, Frannie Kelly, and Tiffany Walden.
One way that we’ve been able to perpetuate the voice of hip hop, conserve and preserve its message is through podcasting, which allows those interested in delving into the subject through the use of writing and audio clips, activating the aural sense to open our minds and activate our feelings about the music.
Microphone Check was a podcast from 2013-2016 on National Public Radio (NPR) hosted by A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Frannie Kelly, who was an editor and writer for NPR from 2007-2016. Over the span of three years, Muhammad and Kelley interviewed rappers, producers, and managers alike; Nas, E-40, Sophia Chang, J Cole, and Pusha T have all been guests on the show. While Muhammad brought familiarity to the guests of the show (having worked or toured with many of these icons), Kelley holds a BA in Music Criticism from New York University and was always knowledgeable about the interview subjects. She was someone you could count on someone who's attended the shows, a listener, a fan, someone who remembers all of the tiny details from the audience. While Microphone Check was one of those silver linings in new journalism for hip hop, it was cancelled in 2016. Muhammad and Kelley promised to bring it back on the road as an independent production, but we have yet to hear of any new developments this year.
Other forms of keeping hip hop journalism fresh are educational panels: In 2015, there was one at South by Southwest (SXSW) titled “How to Be a Woman in Rap Journalism”. It featured Sowmya Krishnamurthy, Nadeska Alexis, Kathy Iandoli, and Georgette Cline, who talked about “making it work in the male-dominated genre.” The thought of needing a line of women to instruct other women on how to survive as a journalist in such a misogynistic field seems almost insulting, however, it’s refreshing to have this kind of discourse, especially at such a popular music festival.
Helping to shift the conversation is Tiffany Walden, a Black journalist here in Chicago. She writes for The Chicago Tribune and has launched a new social media platform, The Triibe, which promises to shift the discourse around being a Black millennial in Chicago. The contributions that Walden and her team make lend power and visibility to underrepresented voices of the city, and are able to give unique perspectives of hip hop.
Walden was kind enough to answer a few questions for me via e-mail.
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Mallory Somera: What is your relationship with hip hop music?
Tiffany Walden: I acquired my initial music tastes from my parents. My father mostly listened to the Blues. My mom loved 70s and 80s R&B - Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, Michael and Janet Jackson. But, my mom also listened to hip-hop. And that was my introduction to it. I remember riding in the car with her on the West Side, bumping "Today Was A Good Day" by Ice Cube, and her knowing all of the words. She loved early Mary J. Blige and everything from Puff Daddy and Bad Boy. I think it was Hip-hop's use of samples that attracted her. The samples made it fun for me, too, because I often knew the original song because of my mom. But most importantly, for me, I could envision the stories being told in Hip-hop's lyrics. The stories were so vivid and true to life, for me, as a kid growing up on the West Side of Chicago. I would get lost in the storytelling. And I would watch every music video to see how artists would put their words to video. I admired the wordplay and creativity, and I truly believe music is the reason why I became a writer. I couldn't sing. I couldn't freestyle or rap. BUT, I could express myself on paper. Writing became my art.
MS: What are some of your earliest memories of music journalism, and how do you think it's changed since then?
TW: My earliest memory of music journalism is watching TV shows like Teen Summit, Rap City, 106 & Park, TRL and Behind The Music. I can quote TLC's episode of VH1's Behind the Music word for word ha. Each show brought a unique style of interviewing, and that made the music exciting. I would run home after school to watch my favorite artists on these shows. Print wise, I loved Vibe Magazine as a kid. They were really on top of the next wave in music, and their writers wrote in-depth pieces about a genre that the mainstream media oftentimes deemed uncultured, unimportant. I had no idea the hosts and writers were even called journalists. I would spend time on the internet looking up what their jobs were called, and what you had to do to get a job like that. I like to think of the 90s as the golden age of music journalism for hip-hop and R&B. Writers studied their crafts, studied their subjects and wrote beautiful pieces that fans appreciated - sometimes, so much, that they'd rip out the pages of a cover story and tape them onto their bedroom walls or school lockers. Today, music journalism is too rushed. We're so quick to call an album an "instant classic" only 20 minutes after it's release. There's also the whole idea of click baiting and posting reviews before the next outlet. There's no time to sit down to truly consume music and develop a thoughtful piece. It makes me worry about the future of music journalism.
MS: What do women's voices bring to the field of hip hop journalism?
TW: Women ran hip-hop journalism in the 90s. Danyel Smith is a legend, and changed the game for music writing when she was Editor-in-Chief at VIBE. Seeing a Black woman on top at Vibe Magazine showed me that this journalism thing was possible for me. Later on, my mentor, Adrienne Samuels Gibbs, taught me so much when I interned for her at Ebony Magazine - the types of questions to ask, how to craft a good story idea, how to pull out interesting details. A woman's approach to a story often differs from men. A male editor once told me, "men go into a music story thinking they already know everything. But women actually asks questions." I can't typecast all men and women journalists, because I'm only 28 years old, but I definitely put effort into vibing with a subject, making them feel comfortable while talking to me, and hoping to draw out a new angle or twist to that person's story that no one else has done before.
MS: I've read stories of women journalists whose voices have been discounted or questioned simply because of their gender. Since you've started your work, have you ever felt this way? How did you respond?
TW: I can't recall feeling this way because I'm a woman. But I can recall feeling this way because I am Black. There have been plenty of times when I was a breaking news reporter where I had to advocate for a story because my editor (a white man) and I wasn't seeing eye to eye on its importance. I was younger and still a fresh face in that newsroom, so I wouldn't fight too hard. But there were times when my coworkers would jump in on my behalf and fight for me... and then that editor would finally see my point. It's frustrating.
MS: What are a couple of albums that have truly moved you?
TW: I would sit in my living room as a kid, alone, and listen to The Bodyguard soundtrack on my mom's big stereo when she wasn't home. That album came out in, like, 1992. So here I am, at least 4 or 5 years old, listening to Whitney Houston sing to me with my eyes closed. I knew then that music affected me in ways I couldn't explain. Mary J. Blige's My Life had a big impact on me. TLC's CrazySexyCool showed me that tomboys are sexy, too. I was a tomboy growing up and would sometimes feel ashamed of it. Janet Jackson's Velvet Rope taught me about sexuality at a super early age. Ginuwine's 100% Ginuwine, Eminem's Slim Shady LP, The Game's The Documentary... I could go on and on.
MS: What advice do you have for fellow women of color who are in the field?
TW: Keep fighting. I grew up on the West Side of Chicago. I never thought I could be a journalist. But the things I've seen growing up - drug deals, shootings, neighbors taking care of neighbors, love - is crucial in the perspective I bring to every story I write. I write stories for the Black people I grew up around, whose voices aren't heard, whose stories aren't valued in mainstream media. If one outlet tells you no, then pitch your story to another. And if that doesn't work, start your own outlet, like I did with thetriibe.com. I'm dedicated to showing the true side of Black Chicago that the mainstream media doesn't show. Never let anyone silence you or your people's voice.
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Morgan Elise Johnson, The Triibe’s co-creator, penned a chillingly truthful piece comparing Kanye West’s scary succumbing into White Hollywood’s hypnosis to the plot of Jordan Peele’s psychological thriller Get Out; appropriately titled “The Moment You Realize Kanye Is In ‘The Sunken Place’”.
Although not a new medium, broadcasting and radio have been a crucial platform for women in hip hop journalism. Miss Info and Angie Martinez have been pioneers for women on hip hop FM radio for over ten years.
After interviewing both Raquel Cepeda and Tiffany Walden, and drawing from my research of women in hip hop journalism, I’m back to asking myself the question, “What do women’s voices bring to the world of hip hop journalism?”
It’s known that when hip hop was making its way to people’s ears, music journalists were urged to write about anything but. The high brows didn’t want to read about it and there was no interest in investing in that coverage. Raquel Cepeda, Danyel Smith, and Dream Hampton were all women who defied these refusals, but were usually made to feel about their voices the same way the higher ups treated hip hop as a form of art. I wondered, what is it that women have to say that these men-in-charge are so afraid of giving voice to? Like the sounds of hip hop, women’s voices have been marginalized.
This reminded me of another underrepresented issue, which is the lack of funding for the arts and schools. According to a survey of art critics at general-interest news publications in America by the New Arts Journalism Program, this topic ranks as one of the least covered. In relation to the lack of women’s voices in publications, I believe that raising awareness of this would be a conflict of interest for those in power, the ones with the money, the gatekeepers to the media.
When the matters come to light via pen and paper, they’re out in the world to be ingested by those who care about the same issues. This only feeds the interest. In a patriarchy, women are made to feel less worthy, their opinions and authority are distrusted; their work is often double or triple checked by men.
I think that same distrust we’ve been led to feel lends to our investigative skills. I think about the years of being told that we can’t vote, own land, or have say over our own bodies; we’ve been pushed to question and distrust in the same people who have distrusted in us. Women have a drive unmatched, with no false suit of authority to hide behind like men often do. Women are creators and gatekeepers of life.
Journalism must ever-evolve to suit the rapid pace at which technology advances. Print is said to be phasing out, but media trends can be unpredictable. Writers, along with many other professions in the creative industry, are required to wear more than one hat. Issues like police brutality and the election have become customary to address, as it changes everything else. The responsibilities of a journalist are growing, and with it, new and innovative ways to carry them out.
What I can say about women in hip hop journalism is that we are busy, we are writing, and more doors are being opened, even if we have to open them ourselves.
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This article was originally written in the Spring semester of 2017 for Susan Snodgrass’s Interviewing and Investigative Reporting class.
Updates (as of August 2018):
The Triibe is now a regular contributor for The Chicago Reader, bringing readers stories about music in Chicago through a segment called "The Block Beat". Check it here.
Microphone Check is back in production and streaming exclusively on Spotify.