Last Week Around the -ISTs
Schieffer's Out of Gov Race
![True Stories Can Be Stranger Than Fiction [Extra Extra ]](http://austinist.com/assets_c/2009/01/nightskyline-thumb-110x110-53663.jpg)
True Stories Can Be Stranger Than Fiction [Extra Extra ]
We may not be hip-hop experts, but we do know how rare it is to find artists in rap and hip-hop genres who also happen to be women (you can count them on one hand).
It's 2009, and it seems that not much has changed from the birth of the scene: the men get the label love, and the women are left trying to catch a break and get heard. The guys use offensive and misogynistic lyrics and their albums sell, while Queen Latifah seems to be the last female rapper whose empowerment piece got any radio play. How does it feel to be a woman making her way in a genre of music that tends toward the misogynistic?
"It takes a lot more to gain respect with just lyrics," one of the female MCs states in Say My Name, a SXSW World Premier documentary feature. First-time director Nirit Peled focuses on the growing female presence in the realm of rap and hip-hop, with stops in the Bronx, London, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, LA and Detroit.
Featuring performances by and interviews with Erykah Badu, Estelle, MC Lyte, Monie Love, and other female musicians, Say My Name looks into the experiences of women who are trying to find their place in hip-hop. Battling gender inequality, race and class barriers, these women persevere so that art can be created.
Say My Name clocks in at 75 minutes and is part of this year's Documentary Feature competition. Check the SxSW film schedule to see other screening times.
It's 2009, and it seems that not much has changed from the birth of the scene: the men get the label love, and the women are left trying to catch a break and get heard. The guys use offensive and misogynistic lyrics and their albums sell, while Queen Latifah seems to be the last female rapper whose empowerment piece got any radio play. How does it feel to be a woman making her way in a genre of music that tends toward the misogynistic?
"It takes a lot more to gain respect with just lyrics," one of the female MCs states in Say My Name, a SXSW World Premier documentary feature. First-time director Nirit Peled focuses on the growing female presence in the realm of rap and hip-hop, with stops in the Bronx, London, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, LA and Detroit.
Featuring performances by and interviews with Erykah Badu, Estelle, MC Lyte, Monie Love, and other female musicians, Say My Name looks into the experiences of women who are trying to find their place in hip-hop. Battling gender inequality, race and class barriers, these women persevere so that art can be created.
Say My Name clocks in at 75 minutes and is part of this year's Documentary Feature competition. Check the SxSW film schedule to see other screening times.
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YES.
Major grammatical kudos for getting MCs right.
Nearly everyone else would apostrophize it.
I wish they would have came to Austin to get my $20K take on it. lol. I've been the only female rapper on every hip hop stage on my SXSW schedule with more than 16 bars of shine time.
Battling gender inequality and race isn't the half of it. I'm still Austin's ONLY premier professional female hip hop/rap artist past 4 years and running.