“I absolutely have encountered sexism in the music industry. I don’t look at myself as a victim…And certain behavior has been passed down and it’s been accepted, and I think it’s up to us as women not to accept it and lead by example. I won’t allow myself to be oppressed.” - Janelle Monae

The conversations discussing women and hip-hop have typically been in regards to lyrical content and the depiction of women in music videos. However, these conversations rarely address the pros and cons of working in other roles in hip-hop for women.

Women working in hip-hop journalism, production, artist development and other creative fields are kicking in the doors and breaking down barriers of a 50-year-old boys club, but are rarely recognized for their contributions.

We hear about the great multi-million-dollar/rapper turns businessman success stories in hip-hop like Diddy (or whichever of the million names you know him by) , Jay-Z , and Kanye West constantly, but how many women in hip-hop Alanna Milan, CEO of Milan Media Circle and writer for Philly-based hip-hop website Hip Hop Since 1987, takes no prisoners when her male counterparts give her a hard time.

“I’d like to give props to all of the black women who have dominated the journalism and publicity realms since the beginning of our inclusion. (Ethel Payne, Ida B. Wells, and Alice Dunningan etc.)  The representation of us across all mediums is important, and coming into hip-hop, it’s easy for people to box us in with stereotypes to the hip-hop culture — when really our skills are transferable and multi-dimensional. So I’d like to thank all of them, no matter what industries they committed to.” says Milan.

As women have progressed in the hip-hop industry, it has never come to a point of overshadowing men, however the unintentional intimidation can definitely be felt amongst women in hip-hop management and artist development roles.

Ronni Drew, an up-and-coming hip-hop a&r executive for BirdVision Entertainment, sees past the tough male exterior to some real insecurities. "It’s possible that our male counterparts are intimidated that our growth could potentially overlook their success and one day we could surpass them in career ranking due to our skillset. Social media now more than ever has encouraged creators to hop on the trend of showing what you’re doing on a day to day basis and I believe more women than men are hopping on this trend so now we’re seeing more women."

As hip-hop progressed, Nicki Minaj picked up the baton and catapulted into stardom. She dominated the rap world, regardless of gender. Nicki Minaj had the "it factor" - versatility. She switched her vocal cadence at the same rate that she switched her wigs (all the time!). Minaj also has versatile content. While she could be just as raunchy as her predecessors, she also had tough songs for the streets, pop songs that became LGBTQIA+ community anthems, and songs that you could dance your life away to at the club.

_Nicki Minaj held her crown high, and her influence created a major influx of women who wanted to be the next rap star. The leader of the pack, Cardi B., came bursting on the mainstream scene after she became a fan-favorite on VH1’s Love & Hip-Hop. There were rumors of tensions brewing after Nicki was accused of liking a comment on Instagram disrespecting Cardi’s rap abilities. The feud still has it's peak moments, like their physical altercation at the 2018 Met Gala.

Hip-hop would not be hip-hop without rivalry. However, adding that sense of rivalry to the universal stereotype of cattiness amongst women allows many hip-hop enthusiasts to question whether or not women can handle the cut throat attitude associated with the culture.

"I think its very realistic to expect women to be kumbaya, even in hip-hop," says VIBE social media manager and hip-hop journalist Tatyana Jenene,"Yeah we all work together under this umbrella of hip-hop, but that doesn't mean that everyone has to get along. There's going to be some type of conflict in one way or another."

The current feud between Minaj and Cardi B. has birthed a ton of sub-feuds amongst the rap girls. Insults flew like bullets on Twitter when a tweet from JT of the City Girls allegedly threw shade at Cardi B. for the release of Glorilla's "Tomorrow 2" remix, prompting Cardi B. to release a subtweet alluding to JT being Nicki Minaj's "lap dog."

The rumors regarding Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion began to swirl after Nicki was rumored to have ill feelings towards Megan Thee Stallion after the release of "WAP" featuring Cardi B.

In September, the Barbz and the Hot Girls took to Twitter in a frenzy after allegations of "an artist Nicki worked with as a favor for a favor, didn’t return the favor and started ignoring and shading her online" were brought up on Minaj's Queen Radio, giving fans an haters a chance to weigh in.

Megan Thee Stallion has since come forward against these and more allegations from Minaj.

"In the history of women's rap beef, a majority of it has been manufactured in one way or another. Whether it's like Foxy and Kim where there are different men from different crews in women's ear causing the fallout or like Megan [Thee Stallion] and Nicki, where Nicki is mad about Megan working with Cardi," says Jenene.

The three way feud between Eve, Lil' Kim, and Foxy Brown is another feud that went down in hip-hop history. Eve's tracks released in this timespan like "Let Me Blow Your Mind" had secret diss lines aimed at Kim and Brown's alleged lack of writing their own lyrics.

Brown states the beef between she and Eve began when Eve told Kurupt about Brown's alleged affair with Eve's fellow Ruff Ryders' member DMX.

In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Eve said “Before I’d met anybody, I always thought of it as this sisterhood. I thought we were all gonna be friends. It was not like that, I’d see [Lil] Kim and say hi, and she’d be like: ‘Get the f— away from me.’ Not verbally — you could just tell what she was thinking.”

"To see her [Nicki Minaj] go out in the same way she accused Kim of going out fifteen years ago, is really sad and also poetic justice. Because 15 years ago, she accused this woman of being old and washed, and teamed up with Drake to go at her every chance she got," Jenene explains,"And now here we are 15 years later, and she [Nicki Minaj] is going after a 20-year old over absolutely nothing."

While there are many critics and "hip-hop enthusiasts" that feel women don't have a place in hip-hop, nobody can deny that women are here and here to stay in all places, spaces, and times of hip-hop.

"Women ain't going nowhere Sweetie! You can't make money without us now!," exclaims Alanna Milan.