The Female Rappers Who Have Held Their Own In A Man’s World

In her article For Women In Hip-Hop, Their Greatest Opponent Is Still Misogyny in Issue 006 of Service95, kathy iandoli spotlighted the female artists making waves in the world of rap.

1. Roxanne Shanté – who perfected the art of battle rap.
2. Lil’ Kim – who taught us that sex is power.
3. Lauryn Hill – who mothered the rap style of most men out today. 
4. Nicki Minaj – who took hip-hop to new dimensions. 
5. Rapsody – who didn’t surrender to industry pressure, and remained authentically herself.  

kathy iandoli is a critically acclaimed journalist and author of the books God Save The Queens: The Essential History Of Women In Hip-Hop, Baby Girl: Better Known As Aaliyah, and the Lil’ Kim memoir, The Queen Bee. She is also a professor at New York University