As you may know, sample just aired the annual Hip-Hop Honors Awards Special, and BET is set to air their own award show on Oct. 23. You may also have heard that neither has nominated a single female rapper for anything.

The absence of women from these award shows is disappointing, but hardly shocking; female emcees no longer have a high profile. Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown and Remy Ma are better known for their tabloid troubles than their music these days. Long-awaited records by Eve and Shawnna have yet to materialize, and while hip-hop groups in the '90s from Flipmode Squad to The Firm often included a token woman, crews these days are almost always no-girls-allowed boys’ clubs.

Many of the great emcees of yesteryear have gone MIA and not many new artists of any prominence have come to take their place. Still, while obvious go-to awards show favorite Missy Elliott wasn't up to much this year, she did have that single from Step Up 2: The Streets, and both Trina and Li'l Mama had relatively well-received new albums. As I've written about before, Jean Grae finally released Jeanius, and it was one of the best records of the year, period. You'd think BET could have scraped together something. And VH1's show honors artists who've made historic contributions to the genre, so they were definitely allowed to dig into the past.

This problem is way bigger than hip-hop; because we live in a racist and sexist culture, there are limited spaces for black women in pop culture across the board. It's unsurprising that the music industry is not clamoring for female rappers — hip-hop as a genre prizes aggression and a quick wit. Put these qualities together in a black woman and it's way too threatening to a white supremacist patriarchy. Black women have and will continue to push through anyway, but it's not for lack of obstacles. … continue reading

The 2008 Black Entertainment Television Awards were last night and, as expected, it was quite a spectacle. In what BET promised to be the “hottest ticket on television,” musicians, actors, athletes and others gathered to celebrate the achievements of the most accomplished black celebrities of the past year.

They arrived in droves, and they arrived in style. (Well, all except for Lil Mama, but I won’t even get into that.) Behold, some of the most fashionable ladies to attend the awards:

Gabrielle Union, Keri Hilson, Rihanna

Once inside, the festivities began, though not quite as smoothly as some would have liked. If you happened to tune in late (or not at all) don’t worry about missing Usher’s opening performance; it appears as though he slipped and fell during his dance sequence. Oh well, karma’s a bi-yatch, isn’t she?

Other than the homophobe du jour, there were performers who actually deserved some recognition. Alicia Keys brought the women of SWV, En Vogue, and TLC on stage with her, and they managed to completely bring down the house with TLC’s hit “Waterfalls,” and I was simultaneously reminded of why I miss '90s music so much. (Seriously, you want to watch that video. It was totally badass.)

T-Pain led all nominees with five, but females were actually fairly well represented; several were nominated for at least two awards and all gender-neutral categories contained at least one female nominee. That is more than can be said for the Grammy Awards, the CMT Awards, or the ACM Awards. But, out of the eight categories shared by men and women, only one woman prevailed: Erykah Badu (with Mr. Roboto) for Best Video Director.

A full list of nominees and winners can be found here, but I’ll (happily) round out the list of victorious women for you. … continue reading

Although Janet Jackson is suffering from the flu this week (get well soon, Janet!), she has to feel pretty dang good about her rise back to the top of the pop class. Yep, Janet Jackson is No. 1 again! Jackson's new album, Discipline, hit the shelves late last month and debuted at Billboard's top spot. Will it stay there? Who knows, maybe not, but what a nice turn of events for Jackson.

Though the reviews have been rather mixed, there is no question, based on the record sales alone, that the album holds some quality tracks, and the ones that have gotten airplay so far have been well received. Obviously, she has very loyal fans, as well, but she's always had those fans, and that fact alone didn't drive her last two releases to the top of the charts. Those two, Damita Jo and 20 Y.O., debuted at Billboard No. 2 but slid very quickly in the following weeks. This time around, the label pre-released several tracks. So, I'm going to give the album tracks some credit here.

Several of the more positive critical reviews have compared the feel of the CD to such Jackson classics as Control and The Velvet Rope, though I've read no review that suggest that this CD is as good as either of those. But, hey, the comparison is nice anyway, right? I've been rolling around listening to the CD on the Harman/Kardon, and I have found the album to be sexy, with the right blend of pop rhythms on some tracks, trance/dance rhythms on other tracks, fun lyrics when the music calls for it, and some lyrics much too sexual to blast from open car windows while sitting at a red light next to a car of church-going ladies. Oops ...

What's interesting is that this isn't simply an innocent little pop album. There are a few very provocative tracks on the album. Having said that, there are also several tracks that stand out as being what I enjoy most about pop music in general (the simplicity with nice beats) and Janet Jackson in particular (sexy with her blend of naughty and sweet). … continue reading

I've already confessed my love for dance movies, as well as the primary reason why I love them. It's the choreographed dance sequences. Ya dig? Well, surprise, surprise: I also enjoy videos featuring women doing their damn thing. Missy Elliott has been doing her damn thing for over 10 years, and her videos are almost always unique in one way or another.

Her latest is in 3-D. Girls? Bounce? Missy style? All that in 3-D? My, my, my. Two songs are given the 3-D treatment: "Ching-a-Ling" and "Shake Your Pom-Pom."

Take a look — here's the video, first in 2-D and then in 3-D for those of you who have a pair of specs handy.

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Yes, friends, it has come to this. I am blogging about a bag of chips. No, I have not been stricken by an acute case of the munchies. I swear. Really, I swear. That’s just patchouli. Would it make you feel any better if I said that this is really a post about Missy Elliott, masquerading as a post about chips?

Missy recently signed a deal to be the new spokeswoman for Doritos Collisions, the chips with two flavors in one bag. The campaign’s high concept (seriously, I swear it’s patchouli) is that Doritos Collisions are like music mash-ups. They’re two great flavors/songs that go great together. Or at least that’s what the marketers say. Me, I’m both amused and perplexed by the new TV ad. Does everyone else see the cowboy, or have I wandered into a David Lynch film again? … continue reading

Yeah, I can't believe it's headline news either. But TMZ.com busted Michelle Rodriguez earlier this week — exiting a bookstore and sauntering down the street without causing any sort of ruckus. Also, she was walking with a "gal pal," aka another woman in close proximity. Believe it or not, the clip is posted all over celeb websites (watch it here).

So. What did we learn from this?

Um. Maybe, Michelle Rodriguez knows how to read. Wait. Why is this surprising? Because some people expect girls, especially pretty girls, particularly hot young stars, to be illiterate? Or because Rodriguez likes to have a good time and sit down with the occasional book? Surely a mix of the above qualities in one woman isn't that astounding. Just ask Missy Elliott, Aishwarya Rai, or Julia Stiles.

… continue reading

Good news: 2007 is likely to be a "banner year in the world of female rap," according to a recent Reuters article. Eve, Missy Elliott, Foxy Brown, Trina, Shawnna and Remy Ma all have albums due out this year.

Last year wasn't so great — make that the last 16 years. Since 1991, only 13 female rappers have made the Nielsen SoundScan year-end charts. And in 2004, the Recording Academy decided there was no good reason to have a "best female rap artist" category, so they combined it with the male rap artist award. The problem seems to get worse every year, with labels failing to invest in new female rappers and tickets going unsold.

Shawnna (who, by the way, happens to be the daughter of Buddy Guy) has some advice for her would-be peers: … continue reading