Respectez-nous as We Feminize the Rapped Rhyme
and to discuss how social discrepancies in regard to gender affect society at large . This very subject of résistance is worthy of our attention and analysis . Thus , after a brief overview of the origins of hip-hop in the United States and France , as well as a discussion on issues as they relate to females of color in the latter country , we introduce and examine a few songs that have a mission to educate listeners on topics concerning women of color by the four most popular female French rap artists over the past two decades . In doing so , we illustrate how this quartet of rappeuses lyriques also acts as hip-hop philosophers who use the public platform of the microphone as a pedagogical tool in which to discuss divisive subjects that minimize or ignore the role of ethnocultural women in France .
RACE , SPACE , AND HIP-HOP PHILOSOPHY
Researchers such as Prévos , Forman , Chang , and Rose ( The Hip-Hop Wars ) have long argued that the base rubric of hiphop music is formed by the rapper ’ s spatial and social construct . Famous rapper-activist Chuck D of the group Public Enemy once echoed that sentiment when he labeled rap lyrics as being “ Black America ’ s CNN .” This was the case because early American hip-hop educated listeners about the numerous social , racial , and economic realities and discrepancies that were occurring in minority neighborhoods in the 1970s , 1980s , and early 1990s . Forman ( 78 ) builds upon this sentiment when he argues that a rapper ’ s location , or “ place ” serves as a “ lens of sorts that mediates one ’ s perspective on social relations ,” and that it “ offers familiarity ” that provides artists with a certain “ perspective ” in which to evaluate their spatiality . This concept of speaking truth to power as a way to educate people is constant throughout early American hiphop culture , as the movement was founded on the fours prin-
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