Producer and owner of the So So Def record label, Jermaine Dupri has been in the headlines lately after his interview with PEOPLE Now. He's been receiving public backlash from hip-hop MCs from the likes of Cardi B, Kamaiyah, and Doja Cat after saying in an interview that 'somebody's going to have to break out of this mold'.
On the brink of comments made by Dupri last week regarding female rappers, the Grammy-nominated lyricist, Rapsody, gears up for her third studio album, Eve. The album is set to be released next month in August. It's also is set to feature Queen Latifah and D'Angelo on a particular track, “Hatshepsut.”
“I feel they’re all rapping about the same thing,” Dupri said. “I don’t think they’re showing us who’s the best rapper. For me, it’s like strippers rapping. […] OK, you got a story about you dancing in the club, you got a story about you dancing in the club, you got a story about you dancing in the club.”
The North Carolina native isn't doing anything she hasn't done in the past. With this forthcoming album, she is getting to put black women up on a pedestal and rap about the women that have inspired her.
At the Essence Festival, she told The Recording Academy "When I was growing up, I didn't know who Nina Simone was, I learned who she was for Lauryn Hill, so if I can do that for another little girl," she said, "it continues that legacy, and I think that's important. So that was the whole idea and concept around the album."
Rapsody became the first female MC to sign to Roc Nation in 2016 and quickly earned herself a Grammy nom the following year with her project Laila's Wisdom. This follow-up album will feature song titles named after Nina Simone, Oprah Winfrey, Aaliyah and Whoopi Goldberg, an array of black female icons from yesterday and today.
Nevertheless, Rapsody is one of those artists, whether she's making millions or not, who is delivering bars of what purists would deem 'conscious' substance. JD doesn't name MC's like Rapsody, Tierra Whack, or Noname when questioned like that because, well maybe he is not privy to their content. If any tastemaker is aware of some of the music these women are creating, one could never claim that "they’re all rapping about the same thing".
Rapsody's upcoming album, Eve, is set to feature Queen Latifah and D'Angelo on a particular track, “Hatshepsut.”As you prep for Eve, you can connect with Rapsody at the following links:
Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | Instagram
Also, check out a few of these other inspiring and talented female hip-hop artists leading the way:
