The music industry has always been a male dominated world. Until the eighties there weren't a lot of legendary female music icons. The Beatles put the focus of the American public on a group, while Madonna brought it back around to the individual. Until that point Diana Ross was the only legendary performer. You can make arguments for other singers: Donna Summer, Patsy Cline, Patti LaBelle. But, the truth of the matter was that men dominated pop culture. By the time the eighties came around you had Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby all as instantly recognizable male singers.
Rap has yet to split the airwaves with the women. It is a relatively new format with a lot of its mainstream successes stemming from the nineties. That still doesn't explain why the women were excluded.
By 1988 rap had already seen the formation of N.W.A.'s classic Straight Outta Compton. From this you got Dr. Dre's and Ice Cube's hugely successful solo careers. Let's also not forget the success of LL Cool J as a rapper.
Despite all that Miss Lopes ranks as a pioneering rapper simply for her public profile and her one solo venture Supernova in 2001. Fellow female rapper Kreayshawn even references in rapping “I'm going to burn the house down like I'm fucking Left Eyes”. Even with her tragic death in 2002, she always be remembered as the creative force behind TLC who got made enough to burn her boyfriend's house down.
After 1994 we get the first truly successful female rapper with Lil' Kim's Hard Core. Not that we are displacing Queen Latifah's own commercial success Black Reign, however Lil' Kim is still known for her hit singles “Crush on You” and “Not Tonight:, while Queen Latifah's “U.N.I.T.Y.” is simply a hip hop relic. Lil' Kim carried this on into a decade long career of success.
However, I stopped feeling Lil' Kim right around the time she did her Notorious K.I.M. album. Yes, we get it you were having an affair with Notorious B.I.G. Thanks for making that loud and clear Kim. Very classy. Let's also not forget that she recorded a song with the fabulous RuPaul for this album entitled “Bad Girls” (It even samples the Donna Summer classic), but she decided to be a diva and admittedly Ru's weave is much better then hers. Lil' Kim may also be the sole reason there is little respect for female rappers. She proved everyone right. All, Lil' Kim ever talked about was how good she was and how tight it was. The answer to her question is that there are indeed to many licks for a ratchet woman like that.
The success of Hard Core did give another fabulous female rapper otherwise known as Missy Elliot a valid step at stardom. Supa Dope Fly was commercially viable, critics loved it, people bought it. Despite her lack of output as of recently, Missy Elliot is still an in the know female rapper. Never forget that before Missy Elliot sang “Work It” and stood uncomfortably by while Madonna and Britney had a makeup session, Missy Elliot wrote and produced music. The people she has worked with would , make you jealous. Raven Simone (Did you know she rapped as well?), Beyonce, TLC, Nas, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Aaliyah. The list is literally endless and I for one am jealous of a fine working woman.
That's it.
Sure, there are a string of other female rappers, but only a few of merit. And, they exist on the fringe of society's radar. Other, then “Paper Planes” and flipping off America at the Superbowl what do you know about M.I.A.? Kreayshawn had her moment with “Gucci Gucci”, but still where has that gotten her?
If Azalea Banks wasn't always coming for people before she got famous, she could have become big. But, no she has to attack everyone. It doesn't matter how good you sound, look, or write music. If you are rude people will not buy your music. Please no one bought “212” and that song is literally my life description about how I feel about haters.
The only other woman then Nicki making a go at it is Iggy Azalea, who I'm sure most people are too white for. I'm fairly sure Iggy is too white for herself. So, far she's got “Fancy” dominating the world, but we shall see how we feel about her in a year. It's too early to tell if we love Iggy or if she's another passing bought in the night.
Now for a list of women who rapped, but you didn't know it.