Flip the Script: How Women Came to Rule Hip Hop (Inklings, #6)

Flip the Script showcases some of the best rappers currently making music in the UK. It has taken a significant amount of time for women to get recognition in the genre, even though there have been phenomenal women in hip hop since its beginnings in the Bronx in the 1970s - but why did we take so long in the UK? Flip the Script gets to know the women who have paved the way, the successes and experiences of those that shape the thriving scene we have today. Arusa goes in depth with a number of female rappers who are making waves right now to find out about their relationships with hip hop, why they were attracted to the scene, what their thoughts are on the future of the genre and whether or not they feel a sense of belonging. Using her own research, and with reference to pioneers and critical theory, she explores hip hop's history of misogyny and how women have traditionally been looked over by their peers, and celebrates the brilliant icons who have made this one of the most exciting genres to be part of. A must read for fans of music, feminism, and culture. Hip hop is an art form that originated in the margins, and can be simultaneously devastating and celebratory; an expression of pain, love and desire or an ode to the other, the underdog and the underground. For Arusa Qureshi, it became a safe haven, the genre she turned to in highs and lows. In particular, it was the women to whom she owes her thanks. Flip the Script explores many of the phenomenal women who have paved the way in UK hip hop both at the forefront and behind the scenes, through interviews, research and Qureshi's lifelong love of the form. From the influence of the genre's beginnings in the Bronx to formation of distinctive regional scenes across the country, the barriers women faced to the magazines and club nights that fostered thriving hip hop communities, readers get to know the women who led the charge in one of the country's most innovative and exciting music scenes, and those picking up the torch today. This is a love letter to UK hip hop, and to the women changing the game.