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Artists and Other Influencers Speak Up About Sexism
1. Andy Mineo
Earlier this year, Andy Mineo mentioned the use of “female rapper” label with 247HH.com
Start viewing at the 1:28 time code within the video below Andy speaks more on this topic.
Andy shared his thoughts on this topic saying,
“I just don’t like when label inhibit people from enjoying something. For example, I think anytime you are categorized by your race, gender or religion first, we know that those things are intrinsicly wrong right? I never liked the title “female rapper”. …because what it does in my mind is perpetuates this idea of otherness. Like you’re not apart of hip hop, you’re like this other thing. But, then you look back through the course of time and they’ve been there the whole time. Though they are the minority, in some ways, by putting a title in front of it like “Christian rapper” or “Female rapper”…whatever it is, I think it kind of says “you’re not welcome completely”. In other professions we don’t do that. We don’t be like, “Muslim Doctor” or whatever it is because it’s like why would you say that? Are you trying to marginalize me? You know, that would be a lawsuit. You’re not supposed to lead off with race, gender or religion because it perpetuates that “otherness”. It’s a long conversation. It’s a big convo that has happened a million times. Where I land is, make the best music you can and put it out and people will mess with it.”
2. Taelor Gray
In a 2014 blog post, Taelor Gray gives his perspective on male artists interacting with female fans where he closes his article with the hashtag #OurWomenAreHurting to bring light to the damage that is being done among our women. Read a sample of that article below:
“Many are just fans of our music. For fellas who do music, seeing an attractive lady’s friend request on Facebook or getting a direct beeline hug offer/photo request from a certain type at a concert many times elicits an internal trigger that says ‘yo she’s feeling me.’ It can definitely be an ego thing, but many times its just an unbalanced approach to interacting with women. We have to do our best to fight that internal trigger.
There’s something to the concept of celebrity. When your talent gives you a platform, whatever perceived notion we carry of being well-known or famous affects how we interact with people.
<< Click here to read Taelor Gray’s full article >>
3. Joseph Solomon
In a recent ChaseGod TV webisode, Joseph Solomon admits his shortcomings on the topic of sexism sharing where he has been, his continued growth, and how he believes wrong teaching that has been ingrained in men from both society and the church plays a role in them falling short and/or at times even simply not noticing that they are falling short in this area.
4. Cataphant
In a 2015, two-part interview with Rapzilla, Cataphant discussed the absence of female artists in CHH. She also shared information about her company “Young Lady” that highlights women in Christian hip hop and provides grants and other resources to women making music in this sub-genre.
Sexism can be very overt and obvious, yet other times it can be very subtle. Experiences and the effects that women deal with vary. But, whether the challenges they deal with are not getting the same opportunities as men, or receiving treatment that is demeaning… the fact remains that how a woman is treated is just a symptom to a bigger issue hinting to how people or society actually views women. The women and men that we recently spoke to about this topic all agree that the issue of sexism is a conversation worth having. It’s not new. It’s been an issue in the church for generations. But, it only takes a remnant of people to change a culture. These discussions could be apart of what helps to bring more change regarding this issue within the Christian hip hop culture as the church as a whole.
Let us know your thoughts on this discussion in the comments section below.