On "Consciousness" and Conversations: Celebrating Seldom Discussed Looks by Women in Hip-Hop

By Ramona Roberts

We know how impactful hip-hop music is. From lyrics to movies to film and fashion, hip-hop has played a major role in shaping the world’s culture. And when you consider the fact that Black women have been at the forefront when it comes to encouraging much-needed conversations on misogynoir, racism, and social change with society-at-large and within our own communities, it’s no surprise that some of the looks in hip-hop would become a direct reflection of these conversations.

When we talk about women's roles in hip-hop through the lens of fashion, the conversation often centers commercialized looks and our standard fan favorites. We have to be careful to include the full scope of history though, and recognize that there was an entire wave of women donning less commonly-worn styles and making their own rules in hip-hop fashion. This was displayed through women in the industry described in the 1980s as “conscious,” because their music and style was reflective of what has been deemed the politically charged sub-genre of Hip-Hop.

Queen Latifah, for example, reinforced the content of her music (and her rap name) with her fashions. Coming from the socially aware group Native Tongues, the queen MC complimented the political views in her music with her style. Through songs like “Ladies First” and “Fly Girl,” Latifah affirmed the power of women while rocking kente fabrics, African pendants, and embracing her name “Queen” with tall stylish crowns and kofias. During a 1989 episode of Yo! MTV Raps, she explained to Fab 5 Freddy, "By wearing African clothes, African accessories, not only am I supporting my African brothers and sisters who have these businesses, but it brings me closer to my ancestors...I just feel inner power." For Latifah, both her lyrics and her clothing made a political statement.

The same can be said of Ms. Lauryn Hill, whose style influenced many and reflected the conversations she had both in and outside of her music. In hip-hop feminist and scholar Joan Morgan’s She Begat This: 20 Years of the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Morgan notes the way Hill “signaled multiple spaces of Blackness in her style.” She sported locs and tams (crocheted hats usually worn by Rastafarians), and also challenged the notion of what she “should wear” by seamlessly shifting traditionally feminine looks and tomboy outfits. During an interview with Essence, Hill spoke on her relationship with fashion and the need to protect her “creative birthright” from exploitation. “Fashion is something I breathe, for example. It’s something I did very naturally, but I’ve seen my style, my look, everywhere. I wasn’t really trying to share my style, I was just trying to be me and exist.”

And from stylish head wraps and colorful long spaghetti strapped dresses to grillz and fedora hats, Erykah Badu’s fashion evolution has represented the themes in her music as well. In 2003 she released her third studio album ‘Worldwide Underground,’ incorporating hip-hop and funk elements into her neo-soul style to create a project that addressed racism, police violence, a man with a “complex occupation,” and more. At that year’s Essence Awards she rocked a lime green military-inspired suit, in line with the content on her album. In a 2020 interview with Essence, she spoke on the pressure of actualizing the perceptions that come with the box of neo-soul, even with her look. “As much as I appreciated it, it kind of made me feel trapped a little bit. I became the incense [and] candles poster child...[The headwraps] just got heavy, physically and a little bit mentally.” Today she continues to never limit herself with fashion and continues to steal the show with her bold style choices, such as her most recent 2021 Met gala look. "I have a good understanding of my own personal style...[I know] what looks good on my body, what colors look good on my skin. I'm not afraid to take risks. I mean, it's all creativity,” she shared during an interview with Instyle. 

That’s just it, fashion is all about creativity and personal style. Clothes reflect who you are, what you think, the world around you, and the conversations you are having in it. Check out some of the looks we seldom discuss that we want to celebrate below!

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Queen Latifah at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California. 1999.

Queen Latifah, circa 1990. Photo by Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Ms. Lauryn Hill on stage in New York City. 1999.

Ms. Lauryn Hill at the Billboard Music Awards. 1999.

Erykah Badu at the Academy Awards. 2000.

Erykah Badu at the Soul Train Awards. 2017.

Reflections From a Fashion Journalist

by Ameera Steward

Elena Romero is an assistant professor in the Advertising, Marketing, Communications Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology as well as a TV correspondent for a show called LATiNAS on CUNY TV. But before she took on these roles, Romero was a fashion journalist covering the rise of Hip-Hop fashion for the Daily News Record from 1996 until 2002, and Women’s Wear Daily from 2000 until 2002. 

Below are some of Romero’s reflections from that impactful time.

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The Gumbo (TG): When recalling growing up in Brooklyn during the early days of Hip-Hop, Romero said discovering the brand Cross Colours in college was a critical moment for her, in terms of fully identifying with Hip-Hop style. She then explained why the brand caught her attention.

Elana Romero (ER): For me I think it was really the idea of solidarity, of unity, [and] of culture...It was the message that really connected me to Hip-Hop. The idea of having a connection to not only culture but [it] also addressed fit and function. So up until then many of the aspirational brands that many young people were looking at were, let’s say the luxury brands, or the preppy brands. But those brands were not created or designed to fit all body shapes and types. So, one of the things that brands like Cross Colours did was really promote and push a different silhouette and the guys from Cross Colours picked that up on a trip to New York. They were based in California [but] they would [visit] the subway in New York City and see how young people were wearing [their clothes]. And naturally, because young people couldn’t find the appropriate fit to adjust to their silhouettes, they would buy the clothes a size bigger or wider. And so that was something that they naturally incorporated. What you found with Cross Colours was that they might have had a true waistline but then it was a much broader silhouette when it came to the hips and the seat area for example, to give you that true oversized fit. It was fit, it was comfortable, it was style, it was the message. 

When Cross Colours hit, it really became an overnight sensation and that was for many reasons. We had not seen a brand [specifically] market culture, Afrocentricity, to that level. You had support from politicians to celebrities, [and] they had runway shows in Paris — this was not a small production and it showed. Between 1990 and 1994 the brand did zero to one hundred million in sales, [and] it was distributed in chains that no longer exist like Merry Go Round and Chess King, those were major retailers. It was really the first time that we had a brand that spoke to our generation and it crossed racial boundaries. So, although it was centered around the idea of Afrocentricity and Black culture, it was something that every person of whatever background or culture could resonate [with] because it also spoke to the Generation X and that musical connection was definitely rampant within their marketing and promotion. 

[It] was an automatic feeling of pride, of satisfaction that finally someone was addressing my standards of beauty, my culture, my roots and that was the beginning to many things that would come later, other brands that would follow suit up until today. 

TG: What was your mission as a journalist from the Hip-Hop standpoint?

ER: I felt a personal responsibility indebted in gratitude. My journalistic career grew parallel to the market that I covered so I felt that I had a responsibility, as someone that is part of the culture who also helped document the culture through a journalistic lens, to continue to do so in an accurate way. And almost to some degree naming myself among the many guardians of that. 

That’s where preservation comes in and working in conjunction with the university I work at, The Fashion Institute of Technology, to permanently have a collection of urban fashion houses within our museum. And then later to be able to do an exhibition to pay homage to 50 years of Hip-Hop style (in 2023, which will be the fiftieth anniversary of Hip-Hop). My goal is to also have an accompanied book to go along with it.

[This will] show the world that we are much more than just baggy jeans and tees, that we have influenced the world. And really showcase our designers, our people, our superstars, [and] our contributions to society in terms of style and fit, culture, and everyday normal life. 

Young Romero wearing a Cross Colours hat, a Cross Colours T-shirt, Girbaud overalls, and Nike Air Huarache sneakers in 1992

Young Romero dressed in Marithe + Francois Girbaud jeans, and leather wallabees

TG: Walk me through the industry during the 80s and 90s, especially when it came to Hip-Hop.

ER: So, I’ll walk you even a little further back. I covered a market called Young Men’s and that was the label or category given to fashion that spoke specifically to male youth. Prior to the 90s, those fashion trends, and youth fashion in general flip flopped from East to West coast. So, in the 80s the young men’s fashion was primarily driven by the west coast – California [and] Seattle; we’re looking at more of a surf, beach-like style. With the entry of Hip-Hop into mainstream the fashion pendulum for youth fashion moved from the west coast to the east coast, and in part that was because we now saw the Hip-Hop persona move from local television to national television with the advent of MTV. 

When Hip-Hop went mainstream, it gave Black entrepreneurs the platform to break into the business. They now were the voice speaking to that generation. We didn’t have brands that did that. We had aspirational brands that were inspired by Hip-Hop but not necessarily coming from the creators or the trendsetters. For example a young LL Cool J would wear a brand like Troop. Troop had inspirations of Hip-Hop, but it wasn’t necessarily created by people of the culture. What we then started seeing was designers like April Walker, Karl Kani [and] Maurice Malone who were a part of the Hip-Hop generation creating for [the] Hip-Hop generation – that’s the main difference of what we saw happening in the 90s.

The brands did very well and were showing at a trade show called Magic in Las Vegas, that at the time was the show to be at. It would happen twice a year and these early brands would have small booths and were starting to check at retail. Retailers were going to Vegas and writing million-dollar orders – that had been unheard of up until that point. It came to a point where in the mid-90s what was [labeled] an urban brand at the time was making 5, 10, 15 million dollars at Magic. That was obviously a sign of the tide turning as far as where the direction to trend, and where the volley sales were; and it was evident that it was male youth of color that were now dictating the trends at retail. The trends were predominantly independent and regional specialty store based. Later we see department stores picking up on it and then it becomes mainstream, and it was that case up until the mid-2000s. 

TG: When reminiscing on her favorite brands, Romero found herself explaining what women-led brands really meant for Hip-Hop. 

ER: Each brand spoke to me differently, each brand had a different story. [For example], April Walker’s personal story of being one of the few women in the Hip-Hop space, making it in the men’s business, and finally addressing the needs of women in a very feminine style. Early on with Hip-Hop, women’s sexuality, and femininity didn’t really come into play until much later. Many times, we had to dress unisex, and in part women have always had to kind of prove themselves to the boys. And so yeah, we might have worn our baby hairs out on the sides of our ponytails slicked back and we wore our jewelry—those were our feminine accents — but originally when we wore Hip-Hop, we rocked it like dudes. 

That came later where we could have our own space, our own lane and that’s why for me it was interesting to see how many of the brands in Hip-Hop spoke to men, they didn’t speak to [women]. We were always in solidarity with our men when it came to style and music. But then finally we broke off and created our own. At first the female styles came from the men, so those brands did OK, but they were being created from a male point of view. It wasn’t until later—Kimora with Baby Phat, April Walker with Dimes—that we started finally hearing our voice. The men realized ‘We better hire some female designers to create the women’s line and a great example of that [is] KiKi Peterson. [She] was the female in the male group designing at FUBU. Eventually she would head off the FUBU ladies where she finally gives women a platform to be able to dress sexy, provocative, and still have that same urban flare but now catered specifically for us with the same message.

Romero's brass buckle name belt, which she will be donating to the Museum of FIT to be apart of its permanent collection on Hip-Hop style.

TG: Do you think that was the biggest change you’ve seen in Hip-Hop fashion?

ER: There have been so many changes, I mean from a female perspective yeah. Our own brands, our own silhouettes, that’s big. It’s hard to really speak in general terms because there’s so much to talk about when we talk about Hip-Hop style – hair is its own lane, jewelry is its own lane, footwear is its own lane, apparel is its own lane. So, it just depends on what we’re talking about. I think there’s always been a fallacy of people trying to pinpoint Hip-Hop as just being casual sportswear and it’s always been more than that. Hip-Hop has early roots in dressing formal and casual sportswear came later. It’s been hard to convince, I think, the fashion industry [of] how intricate the style and influences are to the culture. I think they predominantly have tried to pigeonhole [Hip-Hop] to be baggy jeans, t-shirts, baseball caps, sneakers and oversized logos and it’s way more than that. The influences come from both the casual, sportswear side and the more formal, [dressy] side. Think about the early days of Rakim—silk shirts and sharp suits and dress shoes were always a part of the style. So, I think the industry [was] kind of stuck in a particular time period and never tried to move back. And you see it now in our celebrities, they’re not only dressing in jeans and tees, they’re wearing all kinds of clothes and that is cognizant of what the fashion style or trend really speaks to. We’ve always been influenced by a variety of musical styles and genres; we just remix it and make it our own.

TG: What was your favorite piece of clothing, shoes, jewelry from the early Hip-Hop era?

ER: I think of custom pieces because I think they’re so nostalgic. The only thing that I kept from my childhood [was] my memento of my brass buckle name belt. For me that had such historical significance, it’s like being able to capture something from a time capsule. And even though it’s a brass buckle name belt, it speaks specifically to that time of customization. I remember going to this little mom and pop shop to get that created and that was the same mom and pop shop where I would get my sweatshirt and I would have them put the felt iron Playboy Bunny on it with my name. Those were my early memories of me creating my own personalized Hip-Hop style. 

Anything custom always speaks to me because [they’re] unique and they [speak] not only about a particular time period but there’s so much history just in a custom item. It really speaks to an individual’s personal style. This is why someone like a Dapper Dan has withstood the test of time, because he created these one of a kind looks. Whether it’s my name ring, or my name plate jewelry – all of those things to me withstand the test of time and they’ve even come back. I have a 14-year-old daughter who, when she turned 13, asked for [a name chain]. [It’s] like a rite of passage.

For more information on Elena Romero visit http://elena-romero.com/

Hip-Hop, Fashion, and A Whole Lot of Hard Work: A Conversation With Stylist And Designer Toni Scott Grant

by Nadirah Simmons

Toni Scott Grant’s career in fashion knows no bounds. Her first “real” gig-her words-was to outfit the VA-bred Hip-Hop legend Timbaland, and her most recent most jobs include styling on the set of Wu-Tang: An American Saga on Hulu and the Super Bowl LIV halftime show. A woman of Houston, Texas and a student of both FIT and some of the biggest names in the industry, she sits on a long list of Black women designers and stylists who have contributed to the fashions of some of our favorite moments in music.

She got her start as a kid redesigning the clothes on her Barbie dolls before making her first move to NYC. There she studied at FIT, and a chance meeting on a Geto Boys shoot kickstarted years of work in the industry. Then, after years of shopping as a stylist and not seeing items that reflected how she looked or thought as a Black woman, she launched her line Haus of Swag, with the mission to “create distinctly curated images of self-expression and empowerment for women of color.”

Grant doesn’t really like the word “unsung”-”it feels like a diss,” she says. But she says that there are a lot of Black people within the fashion industry, more specifically within Hip-Hop, who are not celebrated or praised in the way they should be. Especially when Black people and Hip-Hop alone and together drive the culture. She’s one of those people.

We sat down with Grant to talk about her start styling artists for music videos, the work that goes into creating your own brand, the importance of lifting as you climb, and more.

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Well let’s get into it! When did you know you wanted to work in the fashion industry?
I know everyone always says “ever since I was a little girl” but basically it is true. I was always redressing dolls, it started at about 8 or 9 as far as what I didn’t know would be styling. Redressing, reimaging, reimagining ideas for people, but it can in the form of dolls when I was very small. I would always hand sew little clothes on dolls because I never liked what Barbie sent, so I’d remix it!

And then looking at movies or film I always had the curiosity: “who dressed them? Where did they get the stuff? And when they build out costumes how does that work?” And that started around 12 or 13. And then Mo’ Better Blues changed my image forever as far as the color and what Ruth was able to do with those costumes, and I think I was in high school then. That movie and seeing [Black people], us, sparked [something].

I love that you mentioned Mo’ Better Blues because I’ve never really thought deeply about the fashion in that movie! 
You gotta watch it again and look at the style! But that’s why I was so curious, the color. It was a lot of red, it was dreamy to me!

Now I know Houston is your home.
Yessss, H-Town!

Talk to me about a little about the characteristics of the style there.
I’ll jump and then I go back! Coming here [to NYC], whenever I would say I’m from Houston people thought “country.” But a lot of what I was hearing was “I got friends in Carolina, I got friends in Virginia, my family is from the South!” But that style, when you think about it, we were very colorful. I remember my aunties, when they went out you were going to see them because they were going to have on some glitter, they were going to have some sparkle! I think about the Pointer Sisters, even though they weren’t from that town, when I like at my mom and my aunties it was their style. And I don’t think the Pointer Sisters get enough credit, but back to Houston. Always color, always glamorous, always beautiful, we made something out of nothing when we didn’t have much. It influenced me and my life for sure.

And then you moved to NYC from Houston, with relatively no friends or family in the town. 
Coming from Houston, I had met a girl on a Geto Boys video shoot. So talk about Hip-Hop, talk about style. And funny story, Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child make an appearance in that video. And my hairdresser, she was picked to do the hair on that video and she knew I wanted to be a stylist. She was like, “You gotta come just play like you’re my assistant.”

And Chris Robinson who is a famed video director, who’s directed so many videos and also did an episode of Wu-Tang-which we’ll jump to, his assistant and I, we clicked! She lived in Brooklyn and she was like, “you should come.” I was fearful but I wasn’t, because I was like whatever New York has to offer me I should check it out. So I linked up with Chris’ assistant, she was already living in New York, and she had a few connects and that’s how it got started. 

I also went to FIT during that time because I was also like, I wanted to get the business side of fashion too.

I love that you mentioned FIT because it comes up a lot when I talk to my friends in fashion. What did you get from these sets versus the experience you get at FIT.
FIT is a great experience for anyone. I always say black and white is always good. You kind of want to know business side of fashion, and I know in many ways it has helped me on my journey as an entrepreneur. And I wouldn’t take anything for granted even though I didn’t finish because I had gotten so busy with style work. It wasn’t one of things where: “Oh my god I’m making so much money I should leave school.” Because that’s where I learned my principle because my study was design. 

I don’t know how it is now, but back in the day you had to go up against a committee if you were studying design…You go up to a committee, bring your sketchbook of what your designs are and you show them and it’s a yay or nay, and it was a “no” for me. My feelings were crushed. But every dark story has a brighter story. One of the counselors saw how hurt I was so she asked if I ever thought about merchandise and management. Never heard of it, FMM, fashion merchandise and management, and she thought it would be a great fit for me…I learned so much about textiles, fabrics, buying, international, global, so many things now that people don’t take the time to read. Even an online boutique or whatever, you want to have some book knowledge!

And I know while in NYC for the first time you met The Fashion King, Groovey Lew, who’s styled Diddy, Biggie, Lil Wayne, Lauryn Hill, and Nipsey. What was this meeting like?
Ah my brother. The Lox were having a listening party and I was asking around, “who’s the dopest stylist that’s a male” and “who’s the dopest stylist that’s a female?”  Who hits the block in New York? And just making a point for the kids, you don’t have to have a celebrity behind you or a lot of work. If you have a passion and a fearless energy in you that this is something you know you need to be doing, you just figure out who’s a player in that movement. So people are saying “Groovey Lew, Groovey Lew.” And at this listening party my girl points him out as the guy with the head wrap. So literally, with my country self, I walked over to him, confidence abound and I told him: “you need me.” I told him I just wanted to assist and I had previous work with Timbaland and Geto Boys and I really love Hip-Hop. And that if he ever had any work I would love to help, and he asked me if I could work that weekend!

He gave me his number and I called and the next thing you know I was flying to Los Angeles within a week to style Snoop Dogg, Jagged Edge, Jermaine Dupri. It was a video for Harlem World, Mase’s group. And Loon was in that group!

Oh my god, this is making me so excited!
This was my intro to Hip-Hop styling beyond Timbaland. And I would be remiss to not mention that Timbaland gave me my first start before Groovey Lew. 

But the next week I’m in Los Angeles. And Mase has a twin sister, her name is Baby Stase. She was the person I was appointed to assist and style, and we get to the shoot and she doesn’t like anything that we brought. So I’ve got go to the Beverly Center, and Groovey Lew was kind of like “you know what to do.” He gave me the opportunity, [basically saying] “this is your chance.” So I brought back a few things and she loved it. Also funny story, we were in an area and I can’t remember what area if it was, Bloods or Crips. But we had to pack up and move to another location. So all of that was happening, and I was a newbie!

I love that you mentioned Timbaland because that was going to be my next question! You called that your first “real gig.” Were there any other style moments outside of that, the Geto Boys, and Snoop that stand out for you?
Shout out to Snoop. I’m very introverted. So, I didn’t really know that once you dress everyone you can come off the trailer. Snoop comes on the trailer, I’ve got his stuff ready for the Harlem World shoot and he’s like, “Why you on this trailer ma?” 

I told him I had to wash the clothes and he’s like: “No. You come off this trailer and if anyone says anything to you tell them to say holler at me…You need to see the action, you need to what’s going on, you need to come off this trailer.”

It was a very good moment because he saw me. And every time since then, I worked the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame where Tupac was being honored and Snoop was there. I hadn’t seen him in many years and he said, “What’s up H-Town Love?” He gave me that nickname on set.

But I think, one of my biggest moments was J Lo’s Super Bowl. And even though it was in an assisting capacity, what do you say to that? And even though I was still Kaepernick all the way, just to be in that moment with a Fly Girl from the Bronx who’s done so many great things. It hit me on field day rehearsals, it was mind blowing. And shout out to Shawn Beezy for that opportunity. 

I like to give credence to people because a lot of people who work behind the scenes, we don’t get the credit we deserve. And I will say a lot us who do work behind the scenes, we don’t care for the shine or the spotlight. But when it’s time to inspire and motivate another Brown or Black queen, we gotta do that. 

And even through my research on you and the ways that you’ve shouted out April Walker, Dawn Haynes, Misa Hylton, Sybil Pennix and June Ambrose-I find that so inspiring and important. Tell me a little bit about the camaraderie amongst Black women stylists in music and more specifically in Hip-Hop.

What can I say about April Walker? A queen and someone who lifts as she climbs…You know, we didn’t have a blueprint. Everything was from scratch and we built. And you weren’t afraid to listen to the elders. So to answer your question, for people like April Walker and Dawn Haynes and Sybil Pennix, they are people that people should know regardless of whether they want their shine people should do their research on.

The blueprint certainly didn’t start with me. I learned from watching these other young Black women do the thing. I mean Misa, what do you say about Misa?

They had a retrospective of her work at an event a few days ago and I was invited by April.  And I literally have a card from Misa that she gave me 22 years ago in a ladies restroom. I was at Bad Boy Christmas party I think, she didn’t know me, and I walked up to her and introduced myself, told her I assisted Groovey Lew a lot, and said if she ever needed help I was here. 

My grandmother has this saying: “The smile don’t meet the eyes.” So when I’m talking to people I always look at the eyes and she was so kind and so regal. And she didn’t look through me, she looked at me, and told me to give her a call. And she hugged me and she was so grateful…And I was so grateful to say to her that she didn’t turn this young queen away. So kudos to those women. Shout out to those women. 

Well I want to switch gears a little bit and talk about ‘Haus of Swag,’ founded in 2011. Talk to me about the inspiration behind launching this line and the work that went into it. 
I created this line to be of service to Black women. The way the story goes, I was shopping for t-shirts because obviously as a stylist I’m always running through stores doing wardrobing and costuming. But I was looking for a t-shirt that spoke to me or my homegirls, and there was not one shirt that had a Black woman or a woman of color that I could relate to. And out frustration I had this idea that I put in the back of my mind.

I had a physical boutique in Houston called Scott Free, a play on my maiden name Scott. The 2009 boom came and I had to shut that boutique down, and then I had a car accident that put me on my ass and I was laid up, woke up from a dream, and in that dream Lauryn Hill was in that dream, Billie Holliday, just fly women from Jazz and Hip-Hop. And I was like, I need to put that on a t-shirt. And that’s how Haus of Swag was born.

Then the business side, if I had to give pointers or say the difficulties: trademark, trademark, trademark. A lot of people come up to me saying they have ideas for a t-shirt brand or a handbag or accessories. Trademark your work. If you feel that work is very important and it’s going to be important to culture, trademark your work because we are in a copy and paste environment. Originality doesn’t get credited and mediocrity rises to the top. 

I know that you’ve also done work in television! Talk to me about your work in that industry.
Doing a lot of the videos back in the day was a great start. And then that film in the Hamptons that I quit my job for…But I really didn’t hit my stride until my second move back [to NYC]. So I’ve got to say one of my greatest moments is working on Wu-Tang, the Hulu series. I mean hello! Shout out to Marcy Rodgers, costume designer. Just having that experience and not fangirling looking at RZA everyday on set, telling that Hip-Hop story, and seeing April Walker from Walker Wear, and seeing her wardrobe be brought onto the truck and placed on Dave East, who plays Method Man. Just watching all of those things and the characters come alive, It’s just one of my best fangirl experiences.

And you did the key costuming on the Bad Boy documentary too?
I sure did! And that was here in Brooklyn and that was a tester, they were going to see if that would make a good run for the turn. Kind of like how a show does a pilot. It wasn’t a tour at first, that was their test run.

That experience, omg. Seeing Black Rob and being able to [establish looks for him]. Groovey Lew was there with Diddy and seeing him and catching up with him was great. DMX, god rest, he was there. One of the girls from Total had a wardrobe malfunction and I had to run onstage while to show was going on to help pin her costume. Those moments, I don’t trade them. I’m so grateful for those moments.

We’ve talked about so many things today, and one thing that’s been a constant in all of these industries is the presence of Hip-Hop. How would you describe the relationship between fashion and Hip-Hop today?
It’s a needle mover, there’s no movement without us. So many of those pioneers, April Walker, Misa Hylton, they didn’t know Hip-Hop would be what it was. They did it for the love. And all of us in Hip-Hop, we love fashion. You can’t have one without the other and you see the influence everyday. 

If you think about a lot of these brands, I see Burberry very logo’d out, Versace very logo’d out, it’s cool. Sneakers and all of that. But a lot of [these] things they would not have done prior [to Hip-Hop]. These brands had to recognize who we were, and I don’t think we needed them. They needed us. They still need us. 

Rico Nasty Gets Vulnerable On "Grow Up"

by Brooklyn White-Grier

We know Rico Nasty for raging against machines—AKA bubblegum synths and hi hats that tip-toe, unless you were ahead of the curve and remember her more fresh faced work from 2014. Regardless, she’s since become rap’s ordained punk supreme, constantly being recognized for her nearly hoarse boasts and too-cool-for-you demeanor. She’s dropped off a few yearly projects, most recently her debut album Nightmare Vacation and mixtapes Anger Management and Nasty, giving peers into her daily orbit and general life philosophies. Transparency isn’t avoided, but isn’t regularly laid as plainly as it is on her new loose track, “Grow Up.” 

Maybe she’s feeling the slump that’s hit us all like a ton of bricks. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate, the Texas government has found a way to meander around Roe v. Wade, climate change has escalated already-dangerous natural disasters and we’re expected to work, be parents (Rico has a young son) and maintain the grossly inauthentic “good vibes only” front for strangers online. It’s a crushing dance, especially when you’re just nestling into your mid-20s and millions of eyes that are strained from increased screen time are on you. So we find Rico fearlessly submitting to reality. 

“I don’t wanna grow up, I’m so scared of losing, I’m afraid of failure, I don’t check my emails,” Rico croons on the chorus. We’ve come to expect distinct ways of being from the artists who fill our playlists, which is not always the case. They’re complicated like all of us and every day isn’t the same—some come with missed alarms, insecurities and shifted hair habits (all of which Rico raps about here), which is life when your routine is mangled beyond recognition. Mask removal is cathartic. 

Maturing is a delicate process when it wants to be, while other times, it’s unrelenting. Anyone who says differently is a liar, or maybe one of those who constantly embraces tension and makes themselves think they love it. Maybe they actually do, I don’t know. I do know that confrontation with yourself can be like sandpaper to the skin and your memory can lose its fire for containing everything that’s ever happened to you. They say it gets better, (whatever “it” is) and while I believe it does, I understand their experiences aren’t quite this. But hey, everyone is self-watering to the best of their ability, stretching and leaning towards the midday sun—sages, everyday Gen Z-ers and celebrities alike. 

Five Black Women Rapper Fashion Lines You Might Not Remember

by Nadirah Simmons

Black women are always setting trends, from hair to makeup to clothing. Thus, it’s no surprise that Black women rappers, in all of their visibility and straight up coolness are the ones at the forefront of what’s in and of course, what’s not. And when you learn that celebrity fashion lines date all the way back to the 1800s, it makes sense that Black women who rap would follow in the tradition and become the faces of their own. 

Vogue says that a big turning point for celebrity fashion lines came in the 2000s, “when the explosion of celebrity really took over. With the rise of Internet blogs came an insatiable appetite for daily content around our favorite stars—meaning more appearances, more red carpets, and more launches for them. As a result, you weren’t a big star unless you launched a fashion line.”

It’s true. Some of the biggest names in music helmed their own clothing lines at the turn of the century. There was Beyoncé’s House of Deréon, a line introduced by the singer and her mother/stylist Tina Lawson, inspired by their family lineage. There was also of course, JAY-Z and Damon Dash’s wildly popular Rocawear brand, which had annual sales of over $700 million.

And in recent years we’ve seen some of the biggest Black women in rap dive directly into the world of fashion. From Cardi B’s wildly successful Reebok® x Cardi B Collection, to Megan Thee Stallion partnering with Fashion Nova for a clothing line and swimwear release and stunning as the face of Coach's recently announced BAPE Collection, to the City Girls linking up with Boohoo for a line of items, to the Saweetie x PrettyLittleThing collection that promised everything from “sexy street-style to show-stopping, figure-worshiping dresses that will take your IG to the next level,” the lines are plenty. It’s worth noting that the advent of “fast fashion” has allowed for the rapid and quick production of clothing in a way that was not seen in the early 2000s. To put it quite simply, fashion has changed a lot. Nonetheless, it does not diminish the impact, talent, and overall style Black women who rap bring to fashion. The demand is there and arguably, has always been.

Check out the five fashion lines from Black women rappers that you might have forgotten.

(Photos by Mychal Watts/WireImage)

Fetish by Eve
In the fall of 2003, a little over a year after her GRAMMY win with Gwen Stefani for “Best Rap/Sung Collaboration” and in the midst of the first season of her eponymous UPN sitcom, Eve launched her clothing company Fetish. The line was sold in department store and included jeans, jackets, t-shirts, shorts, and handbags. The line shut down in 2009.

(Photo by KidduNot.com)

24/7 Star by Lil’ Kim
In 2011 Lil’ Kim debuted her clothing line 24/7 Star: The Goddess Collection at North Carolina’s Charlotte Fashion Week. She told NBC New York’s Niteside: “My inspiration is definitely all of my designer friends like Marc Jacobs and Donatello Versace. Those are my friends. I watched them prepare for shows, and I see [what] they [went] through.”

Queen Collection by Queen Latifah for HSN
Rapper, actress, producer, singer, and songwriter-there’s literally nothing Queen Latifah can’t do. In August of 2011, she entered the fashion world with the launch of her Queen Collection exclusively for HSN, which featured everything from clothing and accessories to handbags and hair extensions.

Respect M.E. by Adidas Originals x Missy Elliott
Launched in 2005, Missy Elliott’s Respect M.E. line in collaboration with Adidas Originals boasted a long list of items, including sneakers, t-shirts, track jackets and pants, sweatshirts, leather jackets, boots, and accessories. It made perfect sense, as Elliott had been rocking Adidas for years before the launch of the line. When asked about Respect M.E. by WWD, Elliott said: “I feel really honored and excited to be doing this. I have been a fan of Adidas since Run-DMC.”

Pink Diamond Couture by Trina
In 2008 Trina launched Pink Diamond Couture, a clothing line that included jeans with textures like leather, python, and crystals, embellished t-shirts, and two fragrances: Diamond Doll and Diamond Princess. On the line she said: “I have always imagined a clothing line that was high quality that I could offer to my fans. I spent a lot of time creating handpicked details that are fresh, unique and one of a kind. The best part they look really expensive but are reasonable priced.”

Cardi B’s Digital Dominance

by Brooklyn White-Grier

Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow” has hit 1 billion views on YouTube.

We live in a time of random achievements holding weight in the digital realm. We celebrate 3-year anniversaries of albums and stats on video and streaming platforms. It’s different from parties for Grammy awards (though some major accomplishments, such as hitting 1B listens on Spotify do come with physical rewards), since they live online and are sometimes discovered by fans rather than institutions. They matter nonetheless and are marking how we think of music and the accolades that come with it. 

Cardi B’s first major single was a shocker to some, but not to analysts. We saw her charisma, knack for social media and sincerity when it came to making her own music. A brief stint on Love & Hip-Hop: New York helped her career as well, giving her additional name recognition. What I believe mattered most was Americans’ love for rags to riches tales and the thirst for relatability. 

Social media has lifted the veil in the sense that we’re often privy to the inner workings of celebrities’ lives. At best, we get glimpses into the creative process, selfies (or well-produced shoots that could be exclusive images for magazines), and teasers of new work. At worst, we get hateful rants and heavy doses of TMI. With Cardi, we got to see the most honest aspects of her journey and all of its twists and turns. So of course, her song about sex work, a Christian Louboutin glass slipper and a new smile performed well. We tend to thrive on the come up of others, running up their numbers in process. Because CDs are dead, right?

“Bodak Yellow” is a fun little doozy because it’s made waves in this new world of digital success and gotten thunderous applause in the old world, too. It was the first song by a woman in rap to top the Billboard Hot 100 since Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing),” proving that we were indeed in new era for women. The girls with fake hair and acrylics became mouthpieces and no longer relied on others to tell their stories or rebuke them. Much had changed in nearly 20 years---a new wave of Black feminism emerged. Behold the new eHeroines who stand on the shoulders of the originators. 

Some of these awards from stan pages are bull, I think. Do we really care about XYZ being the first artist to release three songs this month? Should we really celebrate the 17th anniversary of a single? Maybe, maybe not. But times are changing fast. So we might as well be happy for every reason we can conjure up. 

Kali's Song "MMM MMM" Is A Summer Bop

by Brooklyn White-Grier

Y’all know I ride for a poppin’ southern girl. So you can imagine my immediate interest in Kali, a 20-year-old rapper from Georgia whose single “MMM MMM” is a summer bop.

Read The Gumbo’s piece on how women from Texas are dominating rap music here. 

I spotted her through a Twitter repost from Houston’s KenTheMan. The two are close friends and have posted clips of them in the studio together, possibly when working on their joint song “Ain’t FWM.” 

Kali received major attention for “Do A Bitch,” which she first teased last June (the Twitter clip hit 1 million views, the music video 3.5 million) and released at the top of 2021. She then did something I thought was rather smart—she shared 3 different remixes of the song with guest verses from Rico Nasty, Enchanting and Saucy Santana, respectively. It’s always wise to capitalize on a music moment and fully gauge the success of a particular offering. 

"I'm just staying true to myself and I'm seeing that it's working,” Kali said to XXL in May 2021. “I just have faith in myself if I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing and being me. It's working. Everything should work out the way I want it to." 

She’s also understandably adamant about not wanting to be compared to other women in rap, believing that artists are much more focused on making music than copying their peers. “I’m not going to the studio like, ‘I’m going to make a song like this girl,’...like, we’re not doing that,” she said during a 2021 conversation with Dirty Glove Bastard. It’s tough for women to dodge unnecessary juxtapositions with other artists, but maybe the first step is calling them out. 

Kali’s sole project on streaming services, “This Is Why They Mad Now,” dropped earlier this year and garnered a pretty positive response. Clocking in at just 17 minutes, it’s a bite-sized release that serves as a taste of the rapper’s skills and ear for production. 

Her most recent song is a viral joint that’s been making rounds TikTok, “MMM MMM.” Noting how the social media platform has helped turn understated tracks into Billboard-charting singles—Megan Thee Stallion’s Grammy-winning song “Savage” was an EP cut that went viral and inspired a dance challenge, while Erica Banks’ “Bussit” sparked a makeover series—it’ll be fun to track how to the song progresses. 

“Can I post you on my page? (Mmm mmm)/Spend the night at my place? (Mmm mmm)/Call a broke n---a bae? (Mmm mmm)/”He gone do just what I say (Mmm hmm),” she raps over minimalist, bass heavy production. It’s generally inspiring when women exercise their right to say no and outline the traits they’re looking for in a person, which takes the quotability of the song to the next level. 

With the ever-expanding landscape of women in rap swelling with fresh, innovative sounds and styles, Kali is staking her claim and letting us know how she gets down. Do we love it? Mmm hmm. 

Listen to “MMM MMM” by Kali below. 

Five Phenomenal Hip-Hop Feminist Must-Reads

by Kay Hollins

Through their work, Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, and Missy Elliot, have been credited with bringing feminism into the male-dominated [and unfortunately, historically misogynistic industry that is Hip-Hop. The late 80s and 90s were a time when women in rap and R&B were blowing audiences away with empowering lyrics and style, and bringing Black feminism to the forefront through both. 

It was time for something new in Hip-Hop.  For once, we were getting music that not only sounded nuanced but also expressed themes like sexual liberation,  girl power, and the Black woman’s plight from the perspectives of those going through it all firsthand.

In 1999, Jamaican-American author and journalist, Joan Morgan’s classic, When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip-Hop Feminist was published.  It is in this book that Morgan coins the term Hip-Hop Feminism, a sub-set of Black feminism that centers intersections of race, gender, and class while also acknowledging the contradiction of being a Black feminist that enjoys/is part of Hip-Hop music and culture.  Like Morgan, other amazing authors have been, in their own unique ways, defining and establishing the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes.  So, here are five texts that every Hip-Hop feminist should read; and why! 

1. When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip-Hop Feminist by Joan Morgan, 1999

For the Hip-Hop feminist reader, Morgan’s Chickenheads is a powerfully potent read via the lens of a Black woman that loves Hip-Hop, though she often feels it does not love her back.  This book is just as vibrant and creative as it is academically innovative and educational, as it presents and analyzes information crucial to both community and culture; flavored like the experiences our mamas tell us about.  It’s amazing how many topics and issues surrounding Black womanhood (sex, sexism/racism, dating/courtship, motherhood, careers, etc.) that Morgan mentions remain relevant two whole decades later.  Her diction is funky, conversational, hip and entertaining .  Just as much of a must-read now as it was in ’99!

2. Reclaiming Our Space: How Black Feminists Are Changing the World from the Tweets to the Streets by Feminista Jones, 2019

Feminista Jones is an American social worker, activist, cultural commentator and writer.  Along with contributing to The Washington Post, Salon, TIME, and Ebony, she has received great acclaim for her threads on Twitter and her decades-spanning work as a blogger.

Jones’ book, Reclaiming Our Space, analyzes how feminism has changed over the years because of the technological advancements of the internet, specifically social media.  Though focusing on feminism rather than Hip-Hop feminism, this is a great read because it focuses on the differences between feminism and Black feminism.  It emphasizes that Black [feminist] women have quite the different experience in the fight for equality than our white counterparts, due to also having to face sexism and racism (various forms of misogynoir).  This book is full of research, and knowledge dating back to slavery, as Feminista Jones makes connections to the work modern Black feminists are doing today.

3. Wish to Live: The Hip-Hop Feminism Pedagogy Reader by Ruth Nicole Brown and Chamara Jewel Kwakye, 2012

Assistant professor of gender and women's studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ruth Nicole Brown and scholar, Chamara Jewel Kwakye implement poetry, performance, document analysis, playwriting, polemics, cultural critique, and autobiography into this compilation of Hip-Hop feminist theory.  Wish to Live is the analysis of the radicalism of Hip-Hop, with its history of expressing the realities of social issues in the communities that have been credited with its invention and advancement.  Moving beyond, yet still influenced by, the elements of Hip-Hop (rapping, breakdancing, graffiti art, and deejaying), collections such as this one are great when searching for those doing the work to expose injustices that Black women face in a way that is modern, and also encourages the youth to get involved in community activism.  

4. Home with Hip Hop Feminism: Performances in Communication and Culture by Aisha S. Durham, 2014

From a Hip-Hop feminist perspective, Aisha S. Durham, cultural critic and Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of South Florida analyzes the correlation between white-centered feminism and masculinist Hip-Hop culture.  As a lover of Hip-Hop, similar to other authors in this list, Durham asks the important question: where do Black [feminist] women fit into the culture?  This is a read that celebrates Black womanhood in the ever-evolving pop culture world, which as we know is heavily influenced by Black and Hip-Hop culture alike.  This read excellently includes everyday experiences in such a real and raw way, appealing to undergraduate and graduate students interested in media and cultural studies, race and ethnic studies, and gender and sexuality studies; but also those of us looking for something relatable and insightful.  

5. Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought by Beverly Guy-Sheftall, 1995

Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Black feminist scholar, writer and editor did something so masterful with Words of Fire.  In this collection we are gifted with contributions from over sixty prolific Black women, including feminist greats Shirley Chisholm, Angela Davis, bell hooks, June Jordan, and Alice Walker.  Credited as the first major anthology to trace the development of Black Feminist thought in the United States, Words of Fire privileges us the wisdom of our ancestors and feminist predecessors from their perspectives; views of the fight for equality, dating all the way back to the earliest days of abolition and the planning to dismantle the master’s house.  To know our history is to know ourselves, and it is so beautifully fulfilling to know that when it comes to feminism, particularly Black feminism, the fire to dismantle oppressive systems is generational and inside us all.  

*Happy reading, and cheers to a Hip-Hop loving, hot girl summer!