Turning 50 Archives - Ms. Magazine

Surviving Hip-Hop: The Ms. Q&A with Drew Dixon

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 22:08:15 +0000

Our hip-hop series "Turning 50" concludes this week just as the official anniversary of hip-hop's 50th birthday kicks off the weekend.

Ms.' final conversation is with Drew Dixon—a producer, writer, activist, entrepreneur and former A&R executive. She's been featured in multiple documentaries, including Max's On the Record in 2020 and Ladies First this year on Netflix. The conversation featured here honors her role in U.S. culture: as a survivor of sexual harassment and assault, an activist, a truth-teller and a musical pioneer.

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Southern Hip-Hop Feminists Got Something to Say: The Ms. Q&A on Hip-Hop’s Reverse Migration

Wed, 02 Aug 2023 22:33:48 +0000

Aisha Durham and Regina Bradley are both hip-hop feminist scholars who focus on the South. Both spoke with Ms. contributing editor Janell Hobson to discuss the upcoming 50th anniversary of hip-hop, the origins of Southern hip-hop, how women continue to shape the genre—and, of course, their favorite feminist hip-hop anthems. (This article is part of "Turning 50," which recognizes the women who shaped hip-hop.)

"Hip-hop started in New York but it didn’t end there," said Bradley. "You probably wouldn't have a robust hip-hop scene today without the Southern sound."

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Women Are Hip-Hop’s Culture Bearers: The Ms. Q&A With Elaine Richardson and Kyra Gaunt

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 22:00:18 +0000

Elaine Richardson—or Dr. E—a professor of literacy studies at the Ohio State University, founded the Hip-Hop Literacies Conference. Kyra Gaunt, an assistant professor of music and women's, gender and sexuality Studies at the University at Albany, State University of New York, is the author of the groundbreaking The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop (2006). She is currently writing a book on the impact of YouTube and music technologies on the sexualization of young Black girls. Richardson and Gaunt spoke with Ms. contributing editor Janell Hobson to discuss the upcoming 50th anniversary of hip-hop.

(This series is part of "Turning 50," which recognizes the women who shaped hip-hop.)

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Developing Hip-Hop Feminist Scholarship: The Ms. Q&A With Tricia Rose and Gwendolyn Pough

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:47:20 +0000

In our continued coverage of hip-hop feminists for our “Turning 50” series, we highlight two important voices and pioneers in hip-hop feminist studies.Tricia Rose, a professor of Africana Studies at Brown University, was born and raised in Harlem and the Bronx in New York City. Her groundbreaking book, Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (1994), explored the emerging culture of hip-hop and helped to establish the birth of hip-hop studies. Her work addresses Black feminisms, Black women’s sexualities, and systemic racism.

Gwendolyn D. Pough, a professor of women’s studies and rhetoric at Syracuse University, is renowned for her scholarship on hip-hop feminism, begun with her seminal work, Check it While I Wreck it: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere (2004).

(This series is part of "Turning 50," which recognizes the women who shaped hip-hop.)

The post Developing Hip-Hop Feminist Scholarship: The Ms. Q&A With Tricia Rose and Gwendolyn Pough appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

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Resisting Erasure: The Ms. Q&A With Dee Barnes, Hip-Hop Legend

Wed, 12 Jul 2023 22:00:40 +0000

"No one's going to protect or lift up our legacy," said Dee Barnes, the first Black woman hip-hop journalist and a member of the duo Body and Soul. "We can't wait on the men."

(This series is part of "Turning 50," which recognizes the women who shaped hip-hop.)

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The Hip-Hop Feminist Syllabus

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 18:05:04 +0000

The Hip-Hop Feminist Syllabus is a comprehensive resource list of sources relating to hip-hop’s impact on gender, race and feminism on the occasion of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary in 2023.

(This series is part of "Turning 50," which recognizes the women who shaped hip-hop.)

The post The Hip-Hop Feminist Syllabus appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

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Five Decades of Women in Hip-Hop: A Feminist Anthem Playlist

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 19:16:25 +0000

Part of "Turning 50"—an exploration of women in hip-hop and their role in the feminist movement—here are 10 notable songs and five momentous albums from the last five decades, with in-text explainers from editor Janell Hobson.

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Turning 50: Writing Women into the Story of Hip-Hop, Five Decades After Its Founding

Wed, 05 Jul 2023 17:07:42 +0000

A feminist history of the past five decades of hip-hop ought to be told. Far from being secondary players, women and girls have been integral to this cultural phenomenon.

(This series is part of "Turning 50," which recognizes the women who shaped hip-hop.)

The post Turning 50: Writing Women into the Story of Hip-Hop, Five Decades After Its Founding appeared first on Ms. Magazine.

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