yeah what up everybody oh that was some whack noise y'all make some more noise
I work yo so if I was all about community I know a little all spread out
right now everyone just come closer you know make a friend try to like bring the
love in together everyone just coming coming a little bit
closer it'll help the overall environment gonna help the speaker's
make sure we have some good energy tonight all right so first to kick it
off I'd love to talk about our mission statement for digging in the crates.
Digging in the Crates, hip-hop studies at Virginia Tech or VTDITC, exists to foster
a sense of community among hip-hop artists and fans on campus. We hope to model that
students' personal interests are worthy of academic study and further
institutionalize hip-hop studies presence on Virginia Tech's campus.
Our monthly events seek to celebrate hip-hop scholarship via community creation.
so first up I'd like to give a shout out and opportunity for some of the student
organization sponsors to come up and talk about the organization so the first one
we have is Students of hip-hop legacy.
new tonight yeah so long my name osage on and I was due to hip hop legacy very
similar to digging into crates we try and facilitate and embody for hip hop on
this campus once our students some of the events you've had this year have
been a concert several gbm's with general body meetings dublin acronym so
and tonight i just brought the students in the room i just saw so y'all know
we're hosting a kod listening party if you want details on that please contact
me yeah thanks so much
so I also personally represent the Flowmigos which is the breakdancing Club
on campus so we host monthly or weekly meetings every Monday and Thursday I
also host a competition every spring semester called give me a break so if
you're interested in finding out more information we are on all the social
media pages so Instagram facebook but just look up Flowmigos, F-L-O-W-M-I-G-O-S.
so next up we have WUVT radio station
hey guys WUVT is our on campus radio station we are a not-for-profit we've
been serving Blacksburg and the New River Valley for seventy years now which
is super awesome we try to highlight music that you can't hear on the other
radios which does include hip-hop and our next
event is going to be Macarena fest on the 27th 28th it's on our Facebook page
if you're interested it's going to be kind of a dance party raising money for
the living grant Foundation which is an addiction recovery foundation.
Lastly we have VT expressions hey hey what's up guys I'm Calvin and I'm here representing
VT expressions just also I have a part of the students that you see as
well but yeah so about VT expressions were kind of built around
giving all artists whatever and be like visual you know rappers poets dancers
worth the price of all of that so I guess where it falls in the umbrella
of Digging in the Crates is kind of giving hip-hop the platform because it
is a expression as well uh so what we do is I be a movement monthly we just had a
talent show this semester we're kind of doing an outdoor block party type
concert next week with no record label from Richmond
tomorrow oh my bad I just wanted to say yeah
tomorrow yeah yeah so it's tomorrow's I already had on a 6:00 p.m. right in the
GLC Plaza so that's just right out of here
and yeah so we just kind of look to give a bunch of people platforms I know a lot
of different levels whether it be students that just wrote a poem and then
what like or something like what we're doing
tomorrow with rising musicians trying to get a platform but yeah so it's been
anything apart of it for this long and I'm glad that thinking the train system
going strong sweet so like a folder root is can you reason minute this is like
your preparedness interface to them sweet so we have a good amount of people
pull we hope this is a good proper introduction to hip hop to you guys we
hope you guys come out to the next VTDITC sadly this is our last one of the
semester but we have multiple events coming out in the fall semester the
first one will be Saturday Thursday September 20th from 7 to 9 it's always
7 to 9 and it'll always be in the Newman MPR but before we continue I'd like to also
give a shout out to some of our campus units so the Africana Studies program
the black cultural center College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences office
of undergraduate affairs dicks professorship in the humanities
University Libraries residential college at West Beverly Johnson Smith
professorship and black studies University Libraries diversity Council
Beatty Women's Center and the women and minority artists and scholars lecture
scholarship so lastly I'd like to introduce some of our presenters and
speakers for today first up we have Blair evany Smith she's
an artist scholar and doctoral candidate our artistic and scholarly work with
saving our lives here at throughs in practice-based and organizing collective
that seeks to vision black girlhood anew our particular artists inquiry
procession seek to document analyze and integrity
black girl hood and black girls relationship with each other and
empowers the creative sound and music making exploring access of taking care
cruising and crossings specifically as they are practice and gear eyes and so
on this work also explores our participation in girl man we levitate
and a digital and musical virtual experience of doing so Hanukkah the
working title of our forthcoming dissertation is cruising as crossing the
care the collective sounds of black girl in freedom Angie's as an artist Blair is
known as DJ PE as the DJ for we levitate and lovin Zeus as a beat maker and
samplers a sonic exploration of black feminists and black velvet love and
organizing genealogies and the waves we take up celebration and so on thank you
next time pxie show Jennings she's an English lecturer at NC State University
her research focuses on african-american literature and integration of hip-hop
and popular cultural texts her co-author article teaching the mix turntablism DJ
aesthetics and african-american literature hones in on those settings
and sensibilities of hip-hop scholarship by examining how Bullington and
compositional techniques of DJ's was used to design her survey of
african-american of course this summer she began her PhD
program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and is studying English
literature and criticism most recently she was featured on NPR as the state of
things where she reviewed her local hip-hop scene and a roundtable
discussion
good evening are you guys doing so as he mentioned hip hop it's about communities
and so we have to exchange images so it was about community and exchange of
energy so it's important that we give energy all right so we're going to start
off with an activity actually so Craig is going to play a couple of songs and
if you like the song or artist I would like for you to stand up if you feel
like dancing a movement that's totally fine it's not that's cool to stand up
and join us on the artist if you do not like the song artist remain seated
changing that they were in the range
so how many of us stood up for both Nicki Minaj and part of the batch okay
awesome so is it safe to assume that we could like both of these artists that
there's room for more than one successful female hip-hop artists
shaking ahead do you think that there's room for more than one successful female
artist so last week trying to be released her debut album invasion of
privacy and Nicki Minaj after a four-year hiatus came back with two new
singles and social media just went crazy they made it seem like that weekend
became Nikki versus party like as this there was a space for both artists one
party released her album a lot of celebrities gave her attention and
homage from Oprah - Erika bye - and then when Nicki released her singles as Isis
the consumers or the fans expected Nicki's penis to do the same like to
pose and then when some people did it they were critiqued though right it's
also a monotone congratulate you and all of - the fans was like why aren't you
celebrating her she's mean right so this whole war so most recently may know if
we look at this clip here he posted something on Instagram and he
acknowledged that there is space to celebrate both cardi B Nicki Minaj and
he offered this social critique of hip-hop by acknowledging that this is
the only genre where women are pitted against each other and there seems to be
this narrow idea of how many people can be successful and and maíno's critique
he says there can be only one king in only one queen but I would argue that
men are not created against each other in the way that women are like I am
allowed to say hey Kendrick just won the Pulitzer Prize and Cole's about to drop
more Friday and so he's killing it Jake is killing
it in his ventures of business ventures and executive roles and he just dropped
four four four four and it's okay it's cool like I can like all of them at the
same time but it's not the same for women so why do we think that
like where does this stem from what is this idea that there can only be one
successful female artist them from so let's try to unpack that if you have
access to technology you can go ahead and go to Paul evey comm slash miss Kay
Jennings and contribute your ideas as far as hip hop the current climate in
hip hop suggests that there is room for only one female artist to be successful
so where does this ideology stems from and then we'll be able to look at every
responses
we don't have to login you don't have to put your name once you go to poll
easy.com / miss Kay Jennings you'll be able to see the question and just
contribute your response be right see the question
patriarchy incentive yes
misogyny
yes multiple successful women represents a threat to the geography
that's the assumption that women are tiny you cannot get alone
female MCS are you idea to the mainstream
reinforce Jim the roll yes
yeah Rock currently being seen as a man please yeah why do you still contribute
on responses yesterday I was at a local hip-hop show and once the female artist
got on stage it was really talented a lot of the guys just walked off and went
to the back I noticed I'm acknowledge her colleague but then kind of shaked
ahead and went to the back to get some fresh air so yeah it's definitely this
humanity sexism institutional oppression thank you for your contribution those
are all
okay so we know that hip-hop is rooted in masculinity and one of the core
characteristics of the culture is the ability to be braggadocious and
competitive so we see this play out in b-boy vados and ethos and ciphers and
rap battles we even see this in personas of artists and even regional spaces so
East Coast versus West Coast the South versus everybody track versus everybody
and even in diss tracks the prevalent I mean here in a second so we see this
found in diss tracks when we look at the trajectory of diss tracks I would argue
that diss tracks are essential to the culture in a way that other genres do
not need this tracks but hip-hop needs diss tracks for in a teammate survival
that make it a degenerated on revenue right so recently Netflix released
Roxanne Roxanne and how many of you saw it right if you haven't seen it you
should look at it and after those we go through the introductory and the
importance of the role of women in hip-hop you would go back and take a
look at that film and so Roxanne Roxanne documents the Korea of Roxanne Shantae
who is a pioneer in hip hop and she is porn or credited for starting the first
hip hop eath with the Roxanne Wars what's up saw marks and revenge
so the rock sale wars ultimately developed this like communal
conversation is extension of a narrative that has never been replicated since and
so there were over some are 350 some say 100 some say 30 responses or answer
recipes or diss tracks to that particular track and most of these
records were by female MCS and male MCS and so there are a couple of popular
ones that is important to pay attention to or kind of hone in on
so the real Roxanne was put out by another lady that's decided to be the
real Roxanne well you say
Roxanne do any dentists data I make you feel hotter than if you sing grenade the
auto
marquee 18 months a place with Roxanne you're through
for me the Roxanne wars sets a foundation in the tone for the role of
women in hip-hop what we see play out is this desire to eliminate Roxanne or
replace Roxanne or even remove our femininity and say Roxanne's amia what's
also interesting is that when people remember the Roxanne war is the only
thing they remember is Roxanne versus rocky because at the time they were the
two most popular female MCS and so this is important because rock finish is an
interview where she said the real reason she recorded the Roxanne's revenge was
to make an attack or critique against UTF phones in the air Roxanne Roxanne in
the song ut'fo they talked about trying to talk to a girl and a girl doesn't
want to give them no play so the neo taco they caught her stuck up they say
that she's bougie and so they're pretty much disrespecting women and Roxanne
said she could not allow that to happen and specifically not happen on record on
select listen to the ut'fo original tribe
and so in that interview she talks about how she was taking a stance on feminism
and tell the woman that stand up for yourself and don't let men talk to you
any type of way but that is totally overlooked in the only thing people
remember is that it was sparkly D versus rock singing right the part what I would
call her feminist is just ignored
interesting that she strategically decided when it make her turn after this
for you hiatus and it was the same exact week that hard to be released her first
album and so what it appears to me is that Nikki is trying to let her peers
know no one can replace me I am the goat of female hip-hop I mean I'm going to
let you guys know and we'll be listening to the lyrics of Barbie teens and truly
we see that she is directly attacking Remy Ma and she's also saying you are
all copying me everybody wants to be like me everybody give book like me and
it was also interesting is that they sonically the cadence of Argentines is
reminiscent of Roxanne's riffing
so the production is similar sonically as far as the cadence of the beats for
both songs right and so that goes to show that she is essentially trying to
replicate the rocks and revenge wars so what I also find interesting is that
Beyonce last weekend right Coachella did you see
her performance so Beyonce decided to enter one of the most widest pieces and
make it black makes he made it Halla black right we went to said HBCU and
went to the block party when's the cookout it was just pretty much black
culture on the forefront but while watching beyoncé's performance
I noticed or remembered in cosy Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's vocals on
Wallace where she says we raise young women to be in competition with each
other and then aha moment came in my head like wait a minute
we do that in hip-hop too from the beginning not someone decides that their
female MC they've been conditioned to think that they have to compete with
another female and she in Vicki Minaj shows us this so I was able to find a
clip of Sparkie leaves or member Sparkie be was going against Roxanne and this is
a recent clip of her freestyling and she offers an analysis of the trajectory of
women in hip-hop and she also acknowledges the shift in the dynamic as
far as when she was relevant and how women in rock
each other now
I was so excited about is the fact that first of all she made a remark about how
she came before a lot of these mainstream male artists if we were to
survey a hundred people and ask them whose party he was they probably
wouldn't know but if we were to ask some who were Indian cities they would be
able to tell you who Run DMC is and then also at the end where she says Oh Luke
tax break very one another new school cats can't stand one another she is
basically talking about what we see happening right now so the universe
works mysteriously because as I was putting this talk together I came across
this tweet from quavo that in a census of problematic
so quagle tweeted this what 27 right he says motorsport is a modern-day roxanne
versus park indeed right and so remember what I told you when people think about
the Roxanne Wars that's all they remember is Sparky B versus Roxana knee
skip over the feminist critique that represent was trying to do and so this
is problematic in many ways because this means that he is hidden Mickey and
cardille against each other again despite the numerous times that the two
women have said that they don't have any B's and there was this controversy
around motorsport in the vs. and how Nikki supposedly changed to averse and
how to take party's name out of her purse there was all this drama and what
we see here is essentially play ball is confirming the drama between the two
women or creating either confirming or creating a drama and so a twitter user
he accurately sums up this so-called Nikki versus party B B's by saying the
thing would make me a party seems like miscommunication magnified by men rumen
that men aren't good for anything facade sex and I would say Mike drop right
there to completely come so when we discuss gender in hip-hop it is
important to realize and to acknowledge that despite the constant hidden of
women against each other females hot fulfilled multiple roles in the culture
that have shaped shifted and moved the culture forward since to begin enough
time it's all hopefully so we're going to go through not a linear timeline but
an overview so that you guys to see that the rows are women play in hip-hop goes
beyond just being in front of the mic and be an MC they go from being a brand
manager to be a nun manager to be in a public relation specialist to being an
engineer to be in a producer to being a DJ the list goes on and on and on the
back roads and a forefront road playing hip-hop so this picture here
this is a funky four plus one and I personally have an issue with the plus
one so the plus one is for chiraq the female emceeing in the group right so is
she not funky enough to be one before why can we be funky five right so the 24
well chiraq is going to be one of the first female rappers in the MC firm I
have to hear something that changed
female MC from the group funky four plus one four dudes MC she was a must one I
think was shot up and they get out they have the Mexican out and then they had
um and a couple of work is our sugar that only enjoy stuff like that
well one day I heard something that wasn't shocks review and it was a tape
of her running over seven as a punk and she said some crazy dog Raj that is
better than 85% of emcees out today but this is what was a life-changing in me
she was riding over dum dum dum dum dum de dum de dum duh she was wrong with
that and she said to all of you my name is everyone at that table for three days
try a belief how incredible this girl was with that go chamber that comes
along a chance to go drink records and I was like yo J I gotta be like shocked I
have that echo chamber shout rocket genres changing so I'll give it up to
you you and your Co Chris full of a reason why DMC is the king of rum
it's so pretty quickly you don't have to play the song so this is the Sugar Hill
Gang and the Sugar Hill game is known for rapper's delight' one of the first
mainstream rapper song until typically scholars would say that this is one of
the first successful hip hop songs what they don't remember is that that same
year Rapinoe Ryman Brightman Arachne came out by Paula and Tanya Wiley who
are two sisters released the track that same year and then also a woman is
responsible for the creation of the Chicago game um also for the creation of
vernacular flash in a Furious Five so Sylvia Robinson she was an artist a
producer in a CEO of the shipping hoping to hear American fashion a theory of
five in there point for having one of the first conscience recommend to it the
message before hip hop was all about partying and having a good time and then
came the message right don't push me because I'm close to the edge you from
you guys I'm her biggest a that right but it came from here oh so quick on
pepper right best-selling female rock acts 15 million albums single a single
sold worldwide and six singles that reached platinum in gold status on MC
Lyte the first female to release the solo album right then we have Queen
Latifah the Queen Latifah was one of the first to come out and say who you're
calling up alright but don't call me that
alright and put her foot down and saying this is disrespectful you cannot be its
give us all this patriarchy at the same time though so then the brat she was the
first female to go platinum with her hit single from provide a 1994 The Rock does
anybody know who this is who's this this is teen do you see the
similarity the influence from pink and a breath right muhammediye she served
underground often but her album was the first LP
written and co-produced entirely five of course learning that Larry Hill had
tons of success of the Fugees and then tons of solo success and her
record-breaking street is just crazy Mitsy Anya five-time Grammy Award winner
six platinum albums nominated to over 250 awards in as a credible producer and
then of course weekend so Luke M introduced this new aesthetic Safina
Rock right this sex appeal both visually and lyrically she decided that she would
say what she wanted to say in getting rid of respectability politics all at
the same time alright so then the eve of Eve also broke some records which then
leaves us there's a bunch of people in the middle but this leaves us - Nicki
Minaj and you see the influence right the influence from Luke in Sydney Minaj
and of course leading to its Accardi be breaking records she broke a record I
wasn't happen until since all right now 20 years debuting at number one oh so
what I have the left but we don't have time to get because I want to make sure
if the Lea gets all of her time is billboard recently highlighted behind
the scenes so this is Julie Greenwald she is the chairman and CEO of Elena
Records and she's responsible for the careers of cardi B amigos booty main
coat and black Bruno along with her colleagues and so they are these are
their roles and a comment that they made most frustrating aspect of being a woman
industry being repeated right when a man says the same thing you just said in and
they get credit for it right instead of repeated competed oh and then it says
Vyasa hope she is responsible for Childish Gambino's red foam being
included in the film get out and also included on television some this is
nikiforov actually Missy just now promoted and she is the first female at
Def Jam to have a top position a powerful position induction has been in
business for 30-plus years right and then so I love this advice for up and
comers stop anything you'll be the same brakes as a male appears you won't right
inch in an interview with billboard she tried to deny or not like pay much
attention to her being a woman and getting his promotion and then at the
end she said no you're right this is a big deal that I'm a woman and I'm in
this position and she's trying it for Rihanna logic con named Khalid and then
we have here Wendigo standing patina Bynum they're responsible for Drake's
more lies post Malone and his song feature in 21 Savage
this is Ethiopia she's the president of Motown Records under 40 years old and a
black woman Oh little yagi amigos and she signed Zaytoven who is a Grammy
award-winning producer and so it's rare that producers get signed in hip-hop and
so she signed and the me no signs of them after their success with with the
popular song and then a release more before a few more time
sylia Rowan write most about certain aspects of being a woman in industries
and lack of opportunities for black and female
scarcity of mentor and support programs within an organization
so future is signed to her label and she is responsible for my future at least
two platinum albums back to that she helped bring Epic Records back up to the
forefront and generate revenue for Epic Records
um rock nation jay-z's Roc Nation is being run by a woman Diddy's pumps
Enterprise is being run by a woman Mimi how does all the beautiful thing
about Mimi I absolutely love her we talked about the Netflix and a Roxanne
Shantae movie that you guys are gonna watch later it was because of me Valdez
on The Breakfast Club interview with Roxanne champagne she said she was at
industry event it made me came up to her and said I want to make the movie about
you she works for Pharrell so she hasn't money to do so and just like that there
was a movie made about Roxanne Shantae because Mimi saw the vision to do so and
she used to beat that out chief editor for vibe magazine and now she works for
Feroze company and they produce hidden figures which is not essentially hip-hop
but the still important force of culture and also she was possible for the
creative direction of thrill happy and then Carter Lewis she has um a comfort
promotion group and so she has helped chance
Callie Bryson tiller Travis got have these sold-out concerts global rock
concerts and then finally Jacqueline um almost like Jacqueline Reynolds and drum
they also have a concert agency and it's info schoolboy through said about each
Duke a Caroline Mills how artists work she writes with them and she doesn't let
up that rule speaks volumes I have a daughter of some how about Girl
toddlers that's what that's another of the many meanness problem is my agent
Karis mom hip-hop produces wonder girls track girl patchily is off get all under
30 all right catch release 29 one girl on track girl are like 23 22 and this is
important how many of you heard Drake's new song that he just released right
what does it remind me mistress not yet and so you hear the voice a big
freedom this is Big Freedia in the middle how many of you have seen Big
Freedia before good and Big Freedia is also the voice on Beyonce's formation
and so recently drink and Beyonce have been put on blast for ignoring Big
Freedia and so Big Freedia is a non binary form a queer artist and so it's
important to acknowledge the contribution that commercials have mates
at the top ads with Lo and then here are some women that if you are listening you
should be listening to Jean Grey couched all rhapsody rebels just playing some
Rhapsody just now stuffs London and this was curated by a hip-hop curious 19 who
used to work for hot 97 so if you're not listening to these artists you should
take a listen to them
and in recently this was amazing I thought when it was a female rap driven
party on Twitter and that is the end of my talk and I would love for you guys to
search the hashtag to see the conversation from that female or
actually a party that happened on foot it literally three days ago and so it's
important that we have to remember that woman's role in hip hop is not just at
the forefront they are helping shape some of your favorite artists careers
and that we have to make an opportunity for women like cardi B and Nicki Minaj
to both be able to be at the top of the charts and not feel like you have to pit
them against each other thank you I wanted to thank Joel cred
thinking McRae's for inviting us to come out and so I wasn't I didn't even know
so what I want to do for my time soon is also think about how we're gone how what
we can do chi chi Barta Barta feminism at the best
something that we often neglect when we have conversations about women's gender
in their pod it's like what can we do like a lot of you artists our
organizations he'll pop organizations by working odd need to make space for women
artists the black women girls to be a part of those places I think it's
interesting so probably also Cubs winning the Mary my freshman year I was
able to circle silence didn't get popular musician I was one one of I
don't know how many million women are part of that organization were very few
and so I think now in my work I'm also thinking about as I continue on as an
artist as a scholar which selection was
the purposes of microcosm of our world right so all of the issues that we talk
about today a patriarchy capitalism racism sexism these are also part of our
larger world how they function in your classroom so video oh yeah there are few
people Wow well this was this was something point in 1990 had imaginal
Morgan was a hip hop journalist she interview jay-z a lot of Pacific top
artists to in that time and she decided to write a memoir about just some of our
complex the train asleep in a woman who fell asleep I
at the same time you know the terms hip-hop and feminism together for most
people just sort of felt like that couldn't possibly exist in the same
phrase the sentence and let alone the same person and I thought I do I exist
and I think that it's perfectly appropriate to describe what I was
trying to explore and expand the notion as a feminism into at the same time I
think your pop feminism to me it's really about a verb you know it will
sound like it's a noun but feminism to me is about what you do not just what
you say so I'm at the point where conversations about gender and misogyny
and sexism in here also has to be met with some sort of proactive action all
right we just sound like a bunch of women complaining about the sexism and
misogyny in hip-hop you know and I'm really I was really happy to
it's a really it's a difficult thing because you go from writing thinking of
this concept alone in your room or maybe talking about it to your five friends
you kind of turn call hip hop feminism and then another ten years later the hip
hop feminism courses and there's a national conference in Chicago where hip
hop feminism conference and that has really been an amazing journey and
amazing thing to watch and to see the other women at spelman take definitive
action around Nelly's presence of Spelman not to say
you can't come but you're gonna have to if you come you have to have some sort
of accountability to the women here and engage us in a dialogue I think is
exactly where I would have hoped that hip hop feminism can go
go back
alright so I'm just a little history lesson till the end of that video to
talk about Nellie y'all remember that yeah I've heard under the chip to really
do everything that so got seen that video so not only in the late nineties
not only one it's worth going to college to do Mormons were fundraiser for the
sisters there something like that what a woman women at spelman was like okay you
can come to your fundraiser but what you're going to do is come and have a
conversation with us too as an artist there's a black man about some of the
issues we have mature with me artistry he ended up denying if he ends up you
know saying well I'm just not going to come but I'm also this this has been
thinking about like what can we do like what what might happen is
Oh
so Buddhism was not is not new to popular culture it's not new to how we
can make change and one of the things that's been coming up you brought up do
not say I'm a horseradish car polish crack the corporative feminist black
woman is sometimes you might even hear Nina Simone's
was one attract like what might happen if if we made them this and I let the
voices that make something that can get us away from rightness Beach like 101
Beach by Beyonce she brought how many black women are you coming when - this
young will say over there that's before the vegan we can do too so I just wanted
to be Bob just like a quick overview the tip hop feminism that the baby I
wouldn't have really been doing work I really couldn't in work I think
they're doing a fortunately nobody knows what this impression is so here's just a
few texts
what - is an anthology of artists scholars who are addressed in different
issues in the hip hop from sexuality from club culture thing that reforms in
there and this also Department is selected I don't know if you ever heard
conference but really don't belong around some drugs have gotten attention
13 in a row a lot of bottles they engage their culture their foundation we also
have home with hip-hop realism buyer doctor Aisha Dora this is a bully dope
theft dope text that's been gauging their personal experiences as a woman
so the puffiness that have crossed over and right into education engage young
people engage electrode as a collective in complex ways one of Joe Morgan's
biggest things was populism is like haven't you thought with the grades you
know one of one of the customer book is like you know like what would we say
when like when you know like the rapper said incitement and responsiveness to
we're in it like it actually gets me around us like how can we open up boom
to our conversation complex conversation about that not just the bad
in one of the ways folks have been doing that as possible is actually working
with my girls
what is essential and important so I also want us to think about jewelry
product like for Julie and I want to think about this and something that
hip-hop artists have done throughout time something that pop artists have
done to submit away from the 101 beats I mean I'm also wondering like what
happens to produce I mean I think that that's a that's a product product or
patriarchy and misogyny so I just wanted to play a couple of a few sonic the
visual examples my prices that that's really important that we have to show
the visuals showing faces
all right
hip-hop example like a diss track so patriarchy at this track to submit a
collector point of one we you see black women and different types of clothes
baggy clothes that that we definitely get to serve especially really positive
about how we think that black women hardly TLC's flora disrupted I mean they
were I mean they were Boston Austin in fact those southern artists like I think
it's cool to see the way in which they were able to be
so these organizers we called lactose people we bring artists performers
scholars to have this artist truck this is our disc on some universities so I'm
interested in tourism attraction actually on this new research on black
girls in hip-hop oh great you need just like 120 55 z but everyone's but like I
was like
any news
me
premature attachments me it's that she miss me miss me it's best white
supremacy yeah baby I'm Jeanette charges miss me
whiney tantrums miss me with play the emergency holding up a deep
providing the space in the LAV excitations this means gender binaries
we turn the neck
if you want to be you should emergency office if you ask you neither working
you better have my if you have another Jenny me I'll be surprised what makes
you happy try guys don't look back I just like the
attract company and I
I'm just supposed to kind of use that as an example like we're all for our
students I mean so to drop that again like they
that kinda dummies a rap like you just absolutely obsession like came together
and sensitive the studio session around Lebanon hip hop and folks came up with
those verses in oxidase so yeah I think it's amazing what can happen you know
when we get together
humanize ourselves and I think when we hear a lot about black women girls
everybody else especially in a very racialized census class world
I have another example if you have ever heard about in other words yes so I'm
thinking I'm also just present-day examples she press all I don't know
she's trying to a label but I think was interesting like we have so got we got
Nicki party he's still doing that thing but we also just have good in an
instrument like we have this way look like independent artist an artist may be
folks who never heard of never signed to a label that are doing our thing I saw
some don't mind for yours on on your list soon so I think just Jamila was
definitely in in that class of boats and I think she's buying some really cool
things of engaging
engaging women in their product and hostel celebrating black girls and also
a diss track it's an industry to our dog
okay so that was the wrong
why do you think he is present
if you write anything on your computer you need
I just wanted to show that in blackboard or iris the sort of using using our age
what I think if that's kinda beat like some of that like black girls even
Triton in school like this is like this is women competing with each other is
just anchor this patriarchy and systemic racism that all of these things that
capitalism which you know creates environment when we have to what
everybody has to scrape the resources right and I think things are just great
thank you so kind of fits in that and to share our joy and power that is
complex that is that's not hot we've got having such things like that
I don't know if we have time I said I have stuff that I've made
thank you all so much appreciation
we get one more round of applause for Blair so right now for some place for
music we have some and then we come back quick intermission like
Blair
yeah just more I think my lips look like in this male-dominated space too
yeah I think so I don't know it has to be the hustle create my creative space
right we can come up and you know express themselves so yeah I don't know
that dish thank you so I ask the questions I know for you all before I'll
select to a wider audience but I know like Lauryn Hill's now by the on tour to
celebrate the 20th anniversary that this education of Lauryn Hill but there's
been some recent commentary and there's like some articles about reflecting on
that album and perhaps it's David miss and reference to issues of gender and
patriarchy so I kind of just wanted your your tape in terms of its timeliness and
also to reflection in terms of her going on tour right now as we have you know
cardi B hey Nicki Minaj sort of like in conflicts and then fat bar being getting
nominated for an award in billboard yeah so a couple of things of what I saw such
media positive response but also hesitation of her track of
dealing in so many things that she will have to do some PR moves in order to
sell those tickets those in the car last tour she had to put nas on a bill and
other opening acts to do the opening acts to maintenance out make the tool
itself so I hope that it didn't also you know she can't sing the original version
of the album because of legal reasons so all of the songs are a new matchup you
think that so people are mad about that because they want to sing along to the
version and they know so I hope that and that's about common sense that folks
from either buy these tickets or he'll need to bring out after Webb yes I did
Laurie no need to bring out the Fuji you make the food ubers unite bring out nods
and she needs me to do badly so sing the songs of any original version so I hope
that it is amazing that she's going on tour but I was that she could do
something to offer something new to listen to our audiences singing as far
as the commentary on the demoness of the misattribution Hill
I guess agreed to come I thought we'd play it's relevant as far as respect
yourself and respect is just the right oh you when you have these conversation
about teaching young girls to navigate the teenagehood and sexuality and not
making mistakes and not falling victim or prey to young boys who sometimes
don't have the knowledge and realize that there ain't no need young girls I
feel like learns little pumpkins guide them through that process in a lot of
ways so I don't interview with that commentary up in the billboards I
thought you was that yeah I could your anomaly dad
no Barbie that Barbie but she spells it differently yeah oh yeah it's
disrespectful to the artistry of woman in hip-hop you just saw that five slide
lists over artists with like 12 images of artists who are killing it and we
have to be defined like what success is because all of those artists they're not
on the radial per se but to book know they she's like $10,000 to book her
right only think of little Smiths she's about ten thousand twelve thousand
dollars to book her per show so if you are an artist you really need to
redefine how you look at success and know that the radio is not the key to
success but unfortunately feel more traffic nominations please don't party
and apparently stabbed Barbie started keeping that number 76
I would imagine that she has a demographic who she feeds into I can
imagine a demographic is not black and she speeded into playing off of the
aesthetics of a black girl or the populous that excels like you know the
long nails and then they hear what people would follow the sassiness are
even populist I think's in it she's doing co-stars from black artists yeah
she's fine I hope it stops soon um oh my god Elena record cyber like that made me
so disappointed in the limit you know the people who aren't behind the routine
behind Kearney and other artists of Atlantic Records find her I mean this
kind of makes me question what do you think about us when the correctors for
you to give this young lady
a little bit about pro-life I think about when she when she came home and
just all the work she's done for women in the pot women rappers I think I just
I'm hoping for but a lot of the things that she's running up against the
industry they are my period I think even hard being like - I mean she has an
artist I mean I guess it's an artist to life actually you know like I could
imagine having to perform front of millions of people expected me to do by
the certain thing the way that they want to do it and was the right people to be
honest when you look at the hypothesis to see a majority of people in the
audience right only at the moment up with the same thing
this is not new so it's a Blackman artist though I don't know I just I'm
sorry lady wait so I didn't know about the legal things so she can't work yes
she camera so she doesn't own her master's oh so she had to either she
sold it to pay back her tax debt or something like that it's thinking but
she doesn't own the rights to her song it in what she lets her contract I
believed it was like trying to attack her stop her and hit the her from making
money remember she was gone for a long time
she couldn't even perform like because of her leaving out of her contract they
told her like she cannot perform right so it so once that time was up then we
started to see her perform but she has to perform a rendition of the song and
she's not allowed to perform the original version
unless she'll get sued there probably millions of dollars so hopefully um it's
kind of similar to how um if you look on iTunes to search for earlier records you
won't find them because but it's her you can't think of his name right now but
he's Aniki was an executive at Motown and he owns alias masters and he is
refusing to release them to allow any revenue to be generated for Alia's
family so it's kind of similar like somebody owns this and you're saying no
you cannot use this
right yeah
hurry all favorite female parties until I love Rhapsody and I live in North
Carolina with the Durham so the first time I saw a Rhapsody was I pulled my
concert and she was performing with him still she does amazing like she's
singing for what a female MC should be promoting as far as like her social
commentary how she is the total opposite of like the Lu Kim right so she's not
trying to be this simple and she is literally grinding Parsa if you are an
artist recipe has been grinded for at least cynical years before she got a
trophy nominations and he's appellees currently with visibility so Rhapsody
definitely I was bumping the cars kind of a rush apology my guard up
I think this is going down but I'm really like my commander it's another
art of Asian weather nice got a selection of artists Filipino artists in
the know I brought her to Durham as I have a festival and so we brought her
out and she's also really know how does hip-hop plays and left out beautiful and
you're like growing up so short you know so my dad was a DJ that in a rapper and
I remember being like six years old amazed that he could remember these
words and they rhyme together and I just remember being like that means like how
did you do that or how do you do that right so that's that part and I'm from
Jamaica Queens and also South Ozone Park and so there will always be a lot of rap
artists around my father so from the Lost Boys to onyx was there from the
same neighborhood to AZ um also and actually once once I started to do a lot
of work hip hop somebody emailed message me that Facebook and he said you know I
remember coming to the block parties and seeing Lost Boys at your father's house
in and he told me that my father introduced not 82 nas now I don't know
how true that is alright cuz he's probably he's passed
away now so I don't know how true that is
but um my dad was featured in a video the music video sugar mill came with
nice and easy and so at that time I'm like what seven eight years old and um
he was at home in an idea grown-ups I didn't get to see him that
often but I remember reading TV on in the Eliza if he goes it's right there
oh so from that's from like eat and then also my mom put me in school so like if
I was you know intertube hip-hop dance classes and then college the rest
literally it was like the formation of identity I really listen to rap like
that though my teenage years it was always does that exploding the language
the dance moves like any new dance like at 16 we were breaking out in a routine
at a party or battling battling another young women and now that I'm thinking
back it was very aggressive like how many's moved the chicken is what my
favorite just kind of attitude that what Jake wants if he came word or she came
on it was like I was trying to just essentially destroy whoever I was
battling so yeah
like just even you know I'm little with brandy and I could avoid if I came out
everybody was trying to be a festive
that's my or is it so I acknowledge that some things aren't for me right
everybody has a link right so um well yg dresses all of them a lot of my male
friends they were like oh this Ovitz bah blah blah and I listened to it I try to
stay on full of us and everything and I was like I can't do this
like if it hurt I cannot do this so yg isn't for me I'm not miss target
audience right but all the the words the heat viewing is it's not targeted to me
at all yo gotti some of the songs by aqua aqua but then someone white up this
is too much so sometime is like this is too much but at the same time context
right cuz in my everyday life I curse a lot right if the one I'm talking to my
black womanhood in black sisterhood we use bitch every other citizen
like he's my soul to be able to like express myself in this way to my sister
in a way you came up smedium was like yo yo bitch my life like that's different
like I'm at a party or from my blue or whatever like move my girls but that's a
different context you know I'm standing right I think it didn't like the pants
and I mean I think that's the complexity of it off with you know seeing ourselves
as like oh you know contradictory people like it could be like I can get pleasure
from it
yeah I'm thinking about the eating some twins I'm being from singing one song to
the window to the wall right and the excitement of that song and hired by to
dance in a weightless to the word the way Oh a game context sorry sometimes it
creates this energy that's exciting and positive but then when you stop there
like actually pay attention you're like wait a minute wait did you say I'm even
thinking about like that journalist I think about having conversations right
so like even though I'm thinking about me to drill video like I think there
were a lot of different opinions about that especially from people coming from
one of them were actually like fence workers might work work as strippers
right that's another perspective to look in whereas someone who might be not into
that like that's a different concept like they might like that they may not
be comfortable with watch the bodies - I subscribe and credit card before sex
work yeah you don't pay me because yet you won't pay me right so I don't know I
think it's also about having conversations that allows for all these
specialists coming and that conversation that are binary format but how can we
talk about you know the whole complexity
what are your thoughts on like the performance of gendered hip-hop
something apart a second time Bob Feller princess Nokia and how to play around
gender and whatever how are they identify the kind of women I absolutely
love it even I would even add all the guys
believer out of it but not all of them young thug that's not sick you know I
would even have them in that conversation as far as like how they're
finding the traditions the coloring of the hair right the freedom but I
absolutely love that young men of color think that it's appropriate and okay
that they feel that they could you know stand in their identities their I'm
gonna beat reminder to be purpose today I'm having me pink today all right so
all of the fluid it I love it absolutely I think the different
perspectives to life I mean I feel like you have younger the younger male he's
probably like the more you know you know his importance of
police are on a platform and I acknowledge the contributions I think
Rita has me on to hip-hop with not even just with her which would also
constantly itself right let this sub-genre of hip hop and it's
unfortunate that you know we're not there yet when I was watching Bianca's
departments I was just hoping that she was gonna bring Greek without but she
came that was like I think that wasn't life and she did so much right she
brought a woman of different sizes out like she did a lot but I was
Egypt some thoughts on the recent mints averaging attack with the use of the
n-word with a lacrosse team well before we give thoughts I would ask
you guys how do you feel Gamow how do you get back still like what was your
reaction where you bad what do you like this is normal this is okay it was
something good I think to a certain extent is like everybody was like not
disappointed but not surprised it was exciting
it's like it was a matter of time before you know people got caught saying it at
the song the next specific song and so it wasn't necessarily that we were four
hours it was not that I was upset about this song per se or like what it
happened and I feel like you know you do something you get a certain amount of
punishment whatever that is and not like something might be suspended anything
because I'm b-but you know you get your punishment
anymore but the fact that it was like just schools like man you know this one
is do you chew versus if it was another if you if it was two maybe another
community then it was like no we don't accept that that's not acceptable here
and you've seen different instances of that and there's like you don't respect
us enough to be they even think it's painful that's how I guess so so you
know I went to tech as an undergrad I graduated 2006 and now I work here and I
did hit my way through school so when I was an undergrad Kanye West just came
out and gold digger was a really big song right so I was DJing pretty much
every Thursday Friday Saturday and what passes for nightclubs in Blacksburg and
I used to hate playing that song because this very same reason you know like
white Virginia Tech students will just sing along with that so it didn't
surprise me at all but it did surprise me how Virginia Tech handled it you know
I was disappointed as an alum and as you know someone who works here and how it
was basically like you know oh you know it was a mistake and you know it's gonna
be a teachable moment and that sort of thing we didn't really want to engage it
seemed like with how white students consumed black
cannabis you know that was that was this hard to be as an alum someone works here
and also as someone there like a lot of my personal identity is wrapped up and
growing up in my culture you know and as someone that like I'd like to think I'm
a pretty critical consciousness to how I you know consume and participate in
hip-hop it was really disappointed to see just the the discussion afterwards
there was recently a band posted queasy at times where it was basically I'm
assuming the student the author was white but she was making the argument
that it was hypocrisy for the black community to have an issue with white
folks saying the n-word when it's in hip-hop it was just like the lack of a
critical discourse and understanding or even like willingness to engage was
really disheartening and I hope it turns into a teachable moment like I hope we
actually will as a university thinking and we talk about digital literacy right
like we have a digital literacy initiative
what's another what's like a better case book example of you know you just think
you're on the bus with your friends on snapchat and look what what happens you
know I mean like it was something that they thought they could just record for
fun and not even think about it and it went all the way around the world you
know and it yeah so I'm rambling now but it just it was this hard another a whole
bunch of different levels and I'm glad to see president sands did respond in a
second statement that you tried to clean it up a little bit but you know the the
white fragility in hair in the whole situation was disappointing yeah as an
observer what stood out to me was I think it was
the coach's response where he said that right now I totally disagree with that
as an odd person of color that not much first that you cannot tell people who
have pretty much only this right recruiting changing into something else
right became context right that they can't use the word essentially now
belongs to us and if and if anybody needs and resources I would just point
them sent a ton of hot seat coats video because it sums it up perfectly at this
point in my life I am reclaiming my time right and I don't have that energy to
invest in banking why people to not use the N word that gonna do it anyway right
what I was at the show last night I was talking to my friend and this young
white lady she was in the conversation was having a good time and I think she
said that Ingrid I kind of like Disney stop then just and I just thought it or
not love till she said something I did I literally think just say just so it's
difficult um but I'm tired of fighting that battle
me personally like I don't have the energy I would just see
and I guess the Builder I really think it's it's unfortunate that labour Falls
yeah to black folks you know I mean like at a certain point like you know white
people need to be I mean my own virginity you want to get to this land
we know who this school was built back I mean it's Virginia I mean it gets awful
early burned up because that's what's gonna go
that's what
um also just like looking at it from a different angle I feel like the
administration like cares more about like the money coming in than the
students and that's what I notice from being here in certain circumstances like
I've had friends like having to go Tilly just like interacting with in the
community not Blacksburg bully not like the campus but Blacksburg as a whole and
like people like just don't like think before they speak and I don't know I
think president sands was like pushed pressured to say something but you could
tell from like his wording that it was just like so rushed and it wasn't worded
well and that's why he had to have a second response because like looking at
it was complete rash I don't know I think they value money more than
students at times and it's just disheartening
but you know thinking about how capitalism
about money so what is the one you know starting certain people when I get
excluded yes especially also the times we did
other working especially because it's sports also new sports is a huge revenue
for this campus so though like right off the yes that they do a kids not to do
something oh yeah you said I can do it we do it
right our so I find it really interesting I'm actually in multimedia
journalism major and I'm doing a project and yesterday
students just like on campus walking walking through campus about their
opinions on the incident and you know it was surprising to experience but not
surprising to think about like in hindsight but all the white male
students I talked to did not really know about the situation nor did they read
the statements you know so like I couldn't even interview those
particularly like two older men not sure if their graduate students or not but
they didn't seem like a typical undergraduate age they where they were
they were civil enough but they were very tense when they're answering the
question and they disagreed while I was even asking a question and they felt
like you know they gave the argument language is just language and this is
like blown up and that like people need to move on
and even when I like press more to like ask me more about his opinion um he he
said like there's no reason to explain more
and I've had other incidents even in my class particularly the one I like bitch
is a project that some people phone at least this one girl particularly that I
talked to felt like there wasn't a need to discuss more about the situation what
people disagreed about it and I think that well I think that's how that goes
into something more about like our campus in general is that when you when
people are offended about something and then when you're trying to hear them out
even though like we're the people of color you are offended and we're trying
to reach out to other people who are you know less knowledgeable they just shut
down and so it's got me thinking a lot like how do you how do you bridge the
gap that whereas the rare thing we have the conversation at the conversation
and building off that point you're a student here it's not your job as you
keep exactly here here at exhibit three right so why is that labor fall into you
but it speaks to a family and just touching that wakes the bouncing off
what you said like all of the like higher-ups at this school are white men
so they're not touched by like racism in any way so like for them and third way
of thinking like why I can talk on it it doesn't affect me even though it affects
the students that you're supposed to be assisting in their time of need
yeah no there's like first-year experience diversity inclusion but these
honestly I try to see a different angle to try to take the almost sinister miss
out of it it's familiarity right so if that can be
their daughter that could be there then any and their daughters doing this phone
and feels them and it's like ah you know you know actually just did this because
there's some sense and you know it's okay because but it's the same it feels
all the way around so a lot of times you know black judges or black court cases a
lot of times end up where they can almost sympathize with that person if
it's a young black male killed by a female it's like I can sympathize with
them so I'll let you all versed if you have no reference point of sympathizing
with anybody about anything it's like oh you get the you know you don't get the
slap on the wrist you get the for jail time
so I think it's more the familiarity point that could be my daughter in this
situation and if she was going through this
I went her taking that money for this I don't want this being a big thing so I'm
gonna try to scale it back a little bit and try to take a neutral point because
you know these could be daughters of people that I know and I don't want to
you know be that crash about the situation versus yeah I think that's
what it is more anything else it's not necessarily the Simpson so oh you know
Mike you don't care about black people but they have no reference point and
when black people do stuff it's like I have like they must be dead it hear me
cuz I don't know anybody like that versus they know people who they might
ever dead daughter say it but couple times it's like on offending for me
incident like this impacts diversity right for the university that can help I
can't help I can go with the Angela Davis quote that talked about diversity
is our lovely I know that it's about money but I think actually the
additional context insects missing is decision day is coming up on May 1 and
the university's working towards a certain moment goal or how they label
black african-american has Latin accent asian asian american so
this is going to impact their diversity goals because black moment here is
actually so it's it's not even about it is about money but it's actually more
about diversity and to look to worse right but the other discipline thing is
we know that students of color are coming in so we want to make sure that
they feel included and want to make sure that comfort virginia tech Pahadi
balance mean an inclusive environment and the decisions that are happening
sober me i actually the context of the court for me is recognizing that
decision day was coming up i made one and knowing also as well at that you can
see the romans are going on right will predominate white institutions like
Virginia Tech they don't want to lose this kind of they want to lose those
diversity statistics that show how diverse they are then I use that
phraseology not too much races bridge right because we know that
yes I guess is that does that go to light a bait-and-switch though right
like how many how many students of color if you talk to about their impression of
Virginia Tech after coming to Gateway then when they get here you know I mean
when I was undergrad I think we had about maybe eight percent black students
something like that I think that was about what four percent yeah that's only
10 years
outing here more soon perspectives
what do you guys think will be like the solution
or even like the more accurate response from me president what the a minute
changes like well what is the tech solution I'm just thank you for like how
do we get my like white people to care about like black issues or maybe like
Nam people not like PLC's to care about HP is really made how to create more
empathy between everyone other ways so when you're not affected by something
that you can take the correct steps actually
maybe like advocated or create space for needs to have that space to like
so maybe I'll ignore everything compassionately yeah and I brings me
back to Starbucks right because it was the white woman who recorded that video
who was advocating for than two young black men and it was also the white man
in the video who kept repeating what were they doing and someone pointed out
let that have been the black girl or men we would have got for questioning the
police for interfering with your eyes right so that is pretty much similar to
what happen as far as we know about it because of the young white woman who was
like supportive enough to say this is not fair and typically when black people
reported no one believes this happens so yeah replicating that kind of solidarity
definitely
you know like I said to be like iron here up here like I mean it's it's
almost to the point where like I literally just some well there's a
microaggression are a racist act I don't have not one ounce of energy to
acknowledge it or deal with it I have tried to fight in fighting
fighting I am tired and it takes an emotional toll there's research that
shows the emotional toll that it takes and I no longer have the capacity to do
that and so much more so reclaiming my time was good to me clicking my time and
hoping that I mean I don't even
they thought that they would seize that is probably understood the context of it
like well I understand my god you don't know and then you understand Hashanah
thinks okay i-it's the same thing is you probably
might be worried right so it's like because I'm not like a woman then I
can't say that to uh I can't say that's a woman right I'm not a look through
those problems right it's just like the F word of the q''-word who the LGBT
community right they say almost one another but that's not my struggle so
that's not music right and they don't get that deal and we'll see those
parallels and when you bring it up it's like oh well but right I think the
bottom line is if it makes me a comfortable thing right yeah I mean
autonomous equals simplified even more like if we are together and I call him
my honey even I call him but you didn't write for
the body before right that's not very funny can I think that exchange of words
so how do you not it's not appropriate you know
I'd like to offer one thing that I think is important is that we can find ways if
possible to bring this into our classrooms and our curriculum like you
guys are students and you know like I'm a grad student I teach classes
occasionally in this semester like I very intentionally told my students from
day one of class like we are interviewing women and people of color
scientists on this campus that's what we're doing because we've heard enough
of white men so and like we had a couple of readings and discussions about it and
I was really like blown back by like their response to it and like how much
they really liked like really took that up and like today they started
discussing what they're gonna do for their final projects and like I'm going
around and checking on what everybody's doing and I hear like one students st.
to another like well are we gonna bring in the fact that you know like are we
gonna talk about you know women and people of color and science like is this
gonna be you know like they're talking to each other and I'm like I'm trying
not to get involved like I'm trying to let their final project be their final
project too much black stuff right what does that mean when Trayvon was murdered
that came into the classroom they kind of fit but thankfully thankfully I had
administrators who support it and literally everything that I was doing at
that time and pushed back against this idea of teaching too much black stuff
and so they're not taught me that was a teachable moment for me to protect the
beginning of class so list all-girl person to show them how to put a
diversity cause of myself like why I'd have to do that to visibly
show them these are the authors and artists that were looking at so that
they could see that is a colorful wide range all right and then you know even
when products with different institutions african-american literature
whether 14 years right and so then I taught the class and again push back oh
the fire is racist because it asks you to think about if your cultural
conference in it and listen to it right so just continue but then in engaging
the students even in the online class that actually is in West Virginia size
and chops West Virginia um today we're reading chalk on chestnuts granny Sun
rises this very okay and they took it it was just like Oh finally a story about a
slave who cheat I mean a master who teach who treats it's like great and
that's not what the story is about this is there because about the power
agreement to trick its master an agent saw like finally America's but Martha
all this time like accidents have been good to their slaves right so just the
continuance pushback but definitely included it in the classroom and out of
these teaching moments even force innocent ones look like
yes you were writing about african-american women and like he knows
in his duction is they are they are in a lot of times you know there's good
results and sometimes there's push but at the end I hope that they
appreciate the broad range of people that they are introduced to whether
they're lionex or American or Caribbean
the cipher is that's right because it is place we'd say buddy