Recently, I ran across an article written by Steven Horowitz of HipHopDX in which he delves into the return of the female rap movement.  He explores the effect that Nicki Minaj has had on combining hip hop and more mainstream music along with discussing the contributions of newcomers like Azealia Banks and Iggy Azalea.  Check out some of what he had to say below:

On Nicki Minaj:

At the onset of her career, she had it all – the body, the lyrics, the co-sign – but she instead predicated her image on eccentricities: alter egos, accents, rhymes about being an alien. It’s that embrace of the bizarre that made her such a captivating figure and pushed her into pop territory, where weird is welcome. Regardless of how her music has evolved, she came from a place that took a tired template and mutated it, taking chances rarely seen across the gender divide.

Her effect on mainstream culture has rippled through the Hip Hop community. While some refer her ascent to the top of pop’s ranks as “bullshit,” it’s cracked the back door open, and even inspired the demand, for a stronger female voice in mainstream Hip Hop.

On the proliferation of female hip-hop/rap artists during 2012:

Vastly talented emcees such as Jean Grae, Bahamadia and Invincible have stayed active and earned their respect over time, but since the start of 2012, a crop of newbs including Azealia Banks, Kitty Pryde and Iggy Azalea have pilfered pages from the Minaj handbook and used otherness as a catalyst to accrue mainstream attention.

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