For years now, some of the latest and greatest hip-hop tracks have been carried by female rappers. Rap and Rappers are held to a higher standard than Pop and Pop Stars when it comes to doing things yourself. Singer-songwriters get praised, as they should, but rappers don’t have the same luxury, To not write your own raps is to not be a rapper. Let alone being a female rapper. You deal with all of the sexism of the industry, double standards with lyrical content, as well as being shut out of fanbases solely because you’re a woman. While female rappers continue to face these obstacles within the industry, they have transformed hip-hop through innovation, competition, and regional influence, proving that women are not simply participating in rap culture but actively shaping its future. Trailblazers and haymakers such as Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Missy Elliott, Lil’ Kim, and many others helped establish a place for women in hip-hop. Their success paved the way for a new generation of female rappers who have become some of the genre’s most influential voices. Through chart-topping releases, high-profile rivalries, and the continued evolution of regional rap styles, these artists have demonstrated that women are not simply contributing to hip-hop’s success—they are helping define its future.
I was blessed enough to see Doechii last year, and she put on an impeccable show. The entire concert, and her Grammy-winning 2024 album Alligator Bites Never Heal, works to mix traditional hip-hop sounds while experimenting with different flows and instruments. One of my favorite tracks, ‘BULLFROG’ has a simple yet classic Hip-hop sound you can easily imagine DMX, Busta Rhymes, or Foxy Brown sliding to do a verse on it. She’s aggressively over-confident and unafraid in her lyrics, and it’s easy to see how a song like this could easily become a decade-defying, beat-em-up anthem. Live, she mixed this song and others with classic elements of Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.”, Jay Z’s “Can I Live”, Doug E. Fresh’s “La-Di-da-Di” and Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin’”. Alligator Bites Never Heal is an homage to classic hip-hop as much as it is a piece of it. Doechii positions herself within a larger rap lineage rather than presenting herself as an artist detached from the genre’s history. She can have songs like “BULLFROG” and a few tracks later, “NISSAN ALTIMA” is her speed-rapping over an electro-rap beat. The album’s willingness to jump between aggressive rap tracks, introspective moments, experimental production, and humor recalls the eclectic nature of classic mixtapes, where artists were expected to demonstrate range rather than commit to a single sound. Throughout her album, you can vividly see the inspirations as well as the work of her own creation, a uniquely Doechii sound that can be silly, entertaining, relatable, or depressing. She wants to fight becoming stagnant as an artist with TikTok clips, and by veering away from repetitive short-form trends, she sure did it.
As a southerner with a dad from New York who’d say, “whatchu’ know about this?” any time Nas would come on, I’ve been well exposed to the differences in regional sounds throughout Hip-hop. Whether it’s GloRilla’s thick Memphis accent, or ScarLip growling on “This Is New York”, modern female rappers are holding their own when it comes to representing their homes. We can see this clearly not only with accents but with their styles, as well.
Atlanta is one of the most dominant cities for mainstream hip-hop, and the home of trap music. Trap music is a rap subgenre that explores poverty, crime, hustling, and ambition, while also being a musical style with heavy 808s and fast hi-hats. Rappers like T.I., Young Jeezy, and Gucci Mane worked to define the sound and bring the themes to mainstream audiences, and Latto works to honor that. While early Atlanta trap centered largely on male perspectives of street life, artists like Latto have expanded the genre’s storytelling possibilities, demonstrating how women can participate in and redefine Atlanta’s trap tradition while maintaining the sound’s core identity. Now, you’ve got everyone running around calling themselves “Big Mama”, me included.
Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion’s brought that nasty (positively) Houston freestyle game back that rap, not just female rap, lacked for so long. Freestyling is one of the best and classic ways to see the skill level in being a rapper. Rap has different demands than other genres, having an affinity for self-written songs and versatility in flow, but freestyling is something that garners automatic respect if done correctly. Before her fame with her hits, Megan Thee Stallion built her own audience by participating in Houston’s freestyling traditions, rapping over old school beats, some new school ones, and delivering blow for blow what would take lesser rappers months to write. In 2021, Megan released a compilation album, Something For Thee Hotties, in which she put some of her greatest freestyles to stream and more importantly, highlighted the significance freestyling has— and should have more of— on the rap community.
While many of the greatest female rappers are brewed in New York City, New York drill is clear to see in Ice Spice. She keeps the same hard-hitting production that’s necessary for drill music to blast through the speakers, but has catchy, conversational lyrics, making her own stylized version of the genre. It’s easy to see why she blew up on social media, especially as more regional sounds that can typically be harder to get into, like drill, can have a virality to reach an international audience.
With the success of artists blowing up on TikTok, it’s clear why studio executives are pushing for easy-to-share viral snippets— it works. Take Doja Cat. She’d had a slight buzz in niche internet communities with her song “MOOO!” in 2018. It was a silly song with her dressed up as a cow with French fries in her nose, but she skyrocketed to success after her 2019 hit “Say So” had a dance routine created to it. She’s blown up ever since, and years later, creators like Ice Spice and Sexyy Red have their songs blow up on the app in virality again, more so due to catchy hooks and shocking lyric content. If you can make a trend to it, it can blow up. But, instead of making reproduced dance hits, female rappers are working on how to use TikTok for marketing purposes to build an audience, then develop a sound that works for them.
Upcoming rapper Trim, who’s blown up on the app after her hits “BOAT” and “Coconut Water” went viral, has gotten hate online because she is ‘biting’ or copying the same flow as Nicki Minaj. Minaj has a tainted legacy that has left fans divided, with her marriage to Kenneth Petty, her political shifts, and her fall outs with her rap peers. Petty competition has plagued the female rap community, through artists and listeners alike. Rap ‘beef’ is a staple of the genre, from Biggie to 2pac, to Jarule and 50 Cent. Throughout the years, it’s created some of the best music we’ve gotten with diss tracks and comeback albums alike. However, female rap beefs often carry a different weight than their male counterparts. For years, the industry treated female rap as though there was only room for one superstar at a time. As Nicki Minaj rose to become one of the most commercially successful rappers of her generation, comparisons between her and every emerging female artist became inevitable. Rather than celebrating influence, fans frequently framed similarities in style, flow, or delivery as evidence that newer artists like Trim were copying her. The criticism aimed at Trim is only the latest example of this phenomenon. While male rappers are often allowed to wear their inspirations openly, women in rap are more likely to be accused of imitation, creating an environment where every newcomer is expected to prove not only their talent but also their originality. This is not to diminish Minaj’s well-deserved impact on the genre. Her success helped create opportunities for a new generation of women in rap, proving that female artists could dominate charts, sell out arenas, and become cultural icons. Yet her legacy also highlights the genre’s long-standing tendency to pit women against one another. In many ways, the current generation of rappers is still navigating the expectations created during Minaj’s reign.
Female rap and rappers are unfortunately still constantly overlooked, and trying to narrow down a list of who’s come before and who’s yet to hit the studio is nearly impossible because of the insane amounts of talent from artists like Da Brat all the way to Ms. Lauryn Hill. Whether the specific sub-genres of trap, Neo-soul, or drill, women have made their mark and will continue to do so. Every year can be a great year for female rap if you’re willing to listen.
