01x03 - What Have They Lost?

[bunniefuu]

[crackling, hip-hop music playing]

[Rapsody] Along their journey in hip-hop,
women continued to have many gains,

but they also had their losses…

As young entrepreneurs
that helped build the culture,

we watching it unravel
right in front of our eyes.

Our contributions are often just erased.

…including their identity.

When someone else does it,
it's looked at as, like, cool or trendy,

but when we do it, it's ratchet.

It's ghetto.

If you are not fully cognizant
of what is going on,

you can spiral

in a very scary way.

[hip-hop music playing]

[Rapsody] So many women in hip-hop
don't get the credit they deserve

for being hip-hop day ones and innovators.

It's time to put them back in the history.

♪ Get on your mic!
Just get on your mic! ♪

♪ Just get on your mic!
You know the house, right ♪

♪ Lets go to work, to the go to work ♪

♪ You go there, go, go
Work your body… ♪

I came before the rap era.

I played at places
that people have never played before.

I was the first female MC
to play at the Audubon Ballroom

where Malcolm X got assassinated.

Sha-Rock, she's so important to me.

Like, the fact that we know
all of the forefathers of hip-hop,

but we don't celebrate
and know the matriarchs… [tuts]

♪ Get up and get down… ♪

The first time I remember being impacted

was when I heard Sha-Rock
on Funky 4 + 1 More.

It was about her positioning,
her confidence,

and her embracing her femininity,

but from a cool…
You know, like your cousin.

She like your cool cousin.

Sha-Rock, she don't get her flowers,
but she was a unicorn in her time.

I was the first female MC
on cassette tapes.

♪ Do it for the ones go wekazonk ♪

♪ I could do it for the ones
Go right or wrong ♪

People have no idea of a secret.
If you listen to "Run's House…"

♪ Well, my name is DMC
The all-time great [great] ♪

♪ I bust the most rhymes
In New York State… ♪

When you hear me go, "My name is DMC-C,
all-time great-great,

bust the most rhymes…"
The echo chamber changed my life.

[Sha-Rock rapping]

[DMC] One day, I heard Sha-Rock. The tape
of her rhyming over seven minutes of funk.

♪ I'm listed on the column
That's classified ♪

♪ 'Cause I can be a nurse
And I'm qualified… ♪

And she said some crazy, dope rhymes

that is better than 85% of MCs out today.

And she said,
"To all of you, my name is Sha Sha."

And it said --
I was like, "What the hell?"

I stood there in my house

and rewinded that tape over
for three days straight.

I couldn't believe
how incredible this girl was.

[echoing]
♪ Sha-Rock [Rock], don't stop [stop]… ♪

And I was like,
"Yo, Jay, I gotta be like Sha-Rock."

"I gotta have that echo chamber."

[echoing] ♪ The wanted man [man]
From the wanted clan [clan] ♪

♪ Wanted by every fan [fan]
Across the land… ♪

[Sha-Rock] None of our parents
knew about the music industry.

Nobody knew. So we going in blind.

We are the poster children

for about to get ready to get jerked.
You understand what I'm saying?

It wasn't until we begin
to start going out on tour,

and we realizing that we not getting
the money that we was promised.

We're not getting the money
from record sales.

We were told, "You're in debt."

"You gonna have to pay back the time
that you was in the studio

before you can even see money."

We never saw money.

As young entrepreneurs
that would help build the culture,

we watching it unravel
right in front of our eyes

and not getting paid for it.

Everybody got jerked.

We got a call from Debbie Harry
to perform on Saturday Night Live.

What really blew my mind
was seeing Sha-Rock on SNL with Blondie.

And when she introduced Sha-Rock…

Please welcome my friends from the Bronx,
the Funky 4 + 1 More!

[applause on TV]

[Dee] That was, like, a huge, huge moment.

Here she was trying to bring hip-hop
into the forefront,

and then Sha-Rock just…

She was amazing.

♪ So when we on the mic
Y'all shocking the house… ♪

[Sha-Rock] She could have went
after anybody,

but she chose the Funky 4 + 1 More.

-♪ Get funky ♪
-♪ Get funky ♪

-♪ And make money ♪
-♪ And make money… ♪

[Sha-Rock] The reason she did that
is because we look young,

we look innocent,
there was a female that was involved,

and she wanted the world to see

what the Bronx
and New York City was doing.

♪ Turn-turn it out!
Now we're in the house… ♪

That was one more shot to make it big

by being on national television,
Saturday Night Live.

The problem is,
is that that didn't happen.

I've never gotten what I was supposed to.

So that is the main reason
why I fell back,

and I left in '85, '86,

because I didn't want to have
somebody continue to take something

that I love so much
and that I helped build.

[Dr. Joan] Black women's contributions
in hip-hop are treated as moments,

as almost flukes,

and then they're these things
that kind of go away.

We're looked at
as singular and exceptional,

but not part
of the general, um, fabric of excellence

that people usually attribute to a culture
that lasts for 50-something years.

[funky hip-hop beat playing]

[inaudible]

[Angie] There's a lot of women that are
underrepresented and they mattered, man.

They matter because even if
they didn't hit the mainstream,

they planted the seeds for them people
who would go on to do other things,

who would inspire other people.

♪ We bad, we know it
We got our stuff to show it… ♪

They're always saying
it's a male-dominated industry.

There were plenty of women out there.

We can name 'em all and a lot of people
be like, "Oh, I didn't know that one."

Lisa Lee, Glamorous,

Sweet Tee, Wee Papa Girls,

Sugga & Spice, Antoinette…

♪ Now here we blow up your stereo
We might… ♪

The first female rapper to come out
on Def Jam. A title she deserves.

♪ Nobody knows
What's going on in the hood… ♪

[Angie] They were right there
in the street,

and they mattered… to a lot of us.

[Kathy] No matter
how hip-hop continues to evolve,

women are part of it,

but they're still not being given credit
for the rooms that they're in.

[MC Lyte] Hip-hop museums
are popping up all around the nation

because they don't want erasure.

They want people like Sha-Rock
and Pebblee Poo

to be recognized
for the work that they did.

I chose a career in hip-hop

having majored in African history
at Stanford

because I felt like hip-hop was this
incredible sort of cultural juggernaut

full of the unbelievable swag that we have

as the descendants of people
who survived the institution of sl*very.

That, to me, is what this art form was.

So I got my dream job working at Def Jam.

Nikki D actually was the receptionist
as well as an artist signed to the label,

which is also deep
that a female rapper was answering phones

at the label where she was signed.

And I was given the assignment

of essentially typing up the credits
for Method Man's album Tical.

That was all I was supposed to do.
And so I was like,

"Oh my God, I have Method Man's album

here in my office
with one working speaker."

"Let me listen to it."
And there was an interlude.

It was not a song.

It was, "I'm there anytime you need me.
It's me in your world, believe me."

"Nuttin' makes a man feel better
than a woman."

♪ Shorty, I'm there for you
Anytime you need me ♪

♪For real, girl
It's me in your world, believe me ♪

♪ Nuttin' make a man feel better
Than a woman… ♪

I was like,
"Oh my God, this is beautiful."

This is an ode to a woman
in the vocabulary and lexicon of hip-hop.

This was something
about a Black young man,

and a Black young woman
venturing out in the world together…

♪ You're all… ♪

…representing Blackness

in a way
that was beautiful, powerful, fearless.

I was like, "This has to be a record."

I called Russell,

and I said,
"This can't just be an interlude."

"This is one of the most beautiful things
I've ever heard in my life."

"There is nothing in hip-hop

articulating Black love
and Black male vulnerability

and mutual respect for a woman
in a romantic context, ever."

"If it's an interlude,
no one's gonna hear it."

My idea was that it should be
a duet with a female singer.

And he said,
"Okay, fine. Who should it be?"

And then I said, "Okay,
the person I think would be perfect

is Mary J."

And he was like, "Okay.
If you can get Mary, I will approve this."

So I called Puffy.

I literally went to Bad Boy,
dropped the DAT off,

and when I got back to my desk at Def Jam,

he'd already left me a voice message,
said he loved it.

He said, "I'll get Mary,
but I wanna do the remix."

I was like, "We have Mary."

He was like,
"Okay. Now, listen, for Mary's part,

I want her to sing the chorus from
the Tammi Terrell - Marvin Gaye record."

♪ You're all I need to get by…♪

He was like,
"You see how they go together?"

I was like, "Oh my God, this is insane!"

♪ Loving your whole steez
It be in there, boo ♪

♪ On top of that
You got the good power-U… ♪

The night that we finished
the Puffy version,

I was there, and Puff was there,
and Mary was there, and Biggie was there.

And we all danced to the track
for, like, 40 minutes just on a loop.

I was just like,
"I can't believe this idea that I had

is now this song that is fire,
that we're all dancing to."

"I'll Be There For You /
You're All I Need to Get By,"

the Mary. J. Blige / Method Man duet
won a Grammy.

I think it may have been
Def Jam's first ever Grammy,

and I'm not even credited on the record.

I should have at least an A&R credit.
I have no credit.

[Dr. Joan] Our contributions
are often just erased,

and that happens
pretty much across the board.

It's very important
for people to understand

that women helped build this culture
from… from the front line, from day one.

[Drew] The Show soundtrack
was a documentary about hip-hop.

My vision was to represent

sort of a cross-section
of the state of the art.

I put it together, and it debuted
at number one on the R&B chart,

at number four on the pop chart.

I was a co-executive producer
'cause this time I knew

"type the credits yourself."

In hip-hop,
Black women weren't only just MCs.

They're producers.
They're cultural curators.

They're working behind the scenes
and on the center of the stage.

We have a massive amnesia
around Black women's intellectual prowess

and their artistic genius.

[Rapsody] Black women's style and flavor
is often unmatched,

but that doesn't stop others
from trying to steal it.

Break down the difference
between rap and hip-hop.

Hip-hop is a culture.

Hip-hop is breakdancing, graffiti.

Rap music is the last aspect
of… of… of hip-hop.

It's fashion. It's a language.
It's a lifestyle.

[upbeat hip-hop music playing]

[Salamishah] Cultural appropriation
is not just a borrowing of

or being influenced by
someone else's culture.

It's a deliberate using of that culture
and not giving people credit.

Or it's a deliberate benefiting
from that culture

without sharing the resources
with the people who created it.

It's me!

♪ Now here's a rap that you should know
Made with Pillsbury crescent rolls… ♪

[Dee] I hated that Pillsbury Doughboy,

you know, rapping in the commercial.

We were like, "Oh, now you wanna…
now you wanna be down?"

"Okay, now you wanna be down."

Watch me get Fred's Fruity Pebbles.

Who are you?

♪ I'm the Master Rapper
And I'm here to sing… ♪

[plucky music playing]

This hip-hop culture of yours is
making a big buzz around the universe.

Black girls and women
are oftentimes the cultural producers,

cultural innovators
of our most provocative,

most exciting trends in hip-hop.

But by the time it becomes mainstream,
not only do we forget the fact

that Black girls and women contributed
and made this possible,

but it's oftentimes seen safer
and more accessible

when a white woman artist
like Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift

adorn the very same things
that Black women get penalized for.

I see you.

[April] I think there have been drive-bys
and creative looting going on

since the beginning of time.

[Saweetie] You see it every day.

That form of robbing,

just taking someone else's idea.

♪ To my homegirls here with the big butt ♪

♪ Shaking it like we at a strip club… ♪

I think it happens to Black women
because of lack of resources,

lack of platform, lack of connections.

So someone who does come in
with the resources and connections,

they're able to enhance
or spread the idea then take credit,

which is not fair at all.

♪ Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce ♪

-♪ At the pole-pole ♪
-♪ Bounce that a*s, bounce that a*s… ♪

When someone else does it,
it's looked at as, like, cool or trendy,

but when we do it, it's tasteless.
It's ratchet. It's ghetto.

[April] And a lot of those ideas
come from our hoods,

the hood stars that don't get the credit.

[Kash Doll] I remember coming up
and hearing about my skin tone

and my big lips
and, you know, my cheekbones.

And now this is what everybody buy.

What the f*ck?

Now y'all into… y'all tanning
and get lips injections and…

[frustrated muttering]

It's the f*cking audacity, for me,
when you think about it.

[Rapsody] Who created it?
Where did it come from?

When you can give credit to it
and celebrate it, beautiful.

But if you taking ownership
and, you know, making it your own,

you know, you're erasing a whole people
and a whole lineage

and a whole culture, that's different.

[hip-hop music playing]

[Angie] You look at what Misa's done,
what she did with Lil' Kim,

what she did with Mary,
and then what she would do for the culture

really changed the game.
Like, she changed the game.

I created a blueprint that people follow,
that other artists reinterpret,

and fashion brands
have also taken a piece.

You know, I always say
I wish stylists got, like, royalties.

I would be a trillionaire.

Jesus. [chuckles softly]

[Rapsody] After the culture vultures
rip off our aesthetic,

the industry is quick to rip off
our pockets that feed us and our families.

I can say this. Everything's not going
the way we so called, quote unquote,

would want it to be or how it should be.

We're not gonna sugarcoat
anything anymore.

We've been quiet long enough.

We are
the biggest selling female group ever,

ten million albums worldwide.

We have been in this business
for five years.

-[T-Boz] Five years!
-And we are broke as broke can be.

[Dr. Joan] In 1996, when TLC wins a Grammy

and then says quite blatantly

that they are broker
than broker than broke,

I think that shocked a lot of people,

um, particularly people
who were not familiar

with the kinds
of historically exploitive deals

that artists often sign
in the music industry.

When I signed, I didn't really know
what was in my contract.

I was young. I think I was, like, 20.

They're owed 60%
of all her recording earnings.

What's happening with Megan
is not unusual, unfortunately,

when it comes to 360 deals.



an all-rounded contract,

means that anything
you produce in my association,

I get some kind of split in.

Essentially, a recording contract
is like a really bad payday loan.

And you get a piece of it to live off of,

and it's sort of assumed
that it's not enough.

I think there's sort of an idea
that they wanna keep you hungry.

[MC Lyte] He was like, "Okay, so they want
half your publishing."

"So if you're okay with that,
then you can just sign."

And I was like,
"Well, I'm not okay with that."

So I called up the record label head,

and I said, "Hey, I don't want to give up


He said, "Okay, then there's no deal."

And I was like, "Oh."

"Well, then, okay."

[Rah Digga] Record deals at that time,

I wanna say you were probably arguing

for anywhere between 13 to 16 points,

which is literally pennies on every album.

And that was considered a good deal.

You would negotiate some big advance

where you would get half of it
before you start the album

and the other half when you finish.

The gag is you always go over budget,
so you never get that second half.

[Drew] So they give you
this big chunk of money

that feels like a lot of money,

but you don't know
that's the last you're gonna get

until you turn in the album,
which could take a year, two years.

If you do the math, they're probably
making less than minimum wage.

The music business
inherently is predatory.

[BAHAMADIA] The authentic expression
for women

is always… derailed by the machine.

Yeah, I think it's a combination
of corporate greed

and us being marginalized.

Well, you know, contracts and stuff,

it's kind of hard to handle business
when you're stuck in, um, contracts.

Tryna tell me I can't put out no music.

[Kash Doll] I couldn't release any music.

I fought, like, two and a half years
to get out of that contract.

I was putting out music,
and they were taking it down.

Cease and desist.

I didn't know that a piece of paper
was that strong until this happened.

[Kash Doll singing]

There's often not a lot of sympathy
for the artist

because there's this perception
that they're living large,

but it's all designed to really make them
as un-empowered as possible.

What I will say is
there's condensed contracts

and extended contracts.

In a condensed contract, there's
a lot of things that can be hidden.

Always go to the source
and ask for an extended contract.

[Chika] One thing I always knew
was to read the fine print

and read them contracts.
Like, what are you doing?

Read the words on the page.

I was presented with a lot of deals
that were incredibly predatory.

I got deals that had,
like, life insurance policies in them

and saying that,
like, the sole beneficiary

would be my manager at the time.

And so let's say that I'm not doing
something to my manager's liking

and they get me whacked, just k*lled off,

they would get all of the money
from my life insurance policy.

My family would be left with nothing.

♪ Watch these rap…
Get all up in your pockets ♪

♪ Then bounce with accountants… ♪

[Rah Digga] I would say the biggest
component of me getting my record deal

was participating
on the Fugees album The Score.

I'm about four months pregnant
in that video.

♪ L rocks the Nubian twists… ♪

Next thing you know,
the Fugees just take off.

Like once I started showing
and showing and showing,

like, I couldn't stop the work
because I had to get a deal,

so I was still performing.

I was performing
in the Lyricist Lounge circuit.

The pressure of getting that deal
before the baby came was serious

because, I mean, honestly, money.

I was just thinking
if I could just get to the record deal

and get to the advance,
I'll be straight for life.

My girl Rah Digga
representing the Outsidaz.

[Rah Digga] I meet Q-Tip, and by now,
I'm about eight months pregnant.

I just turned to him like, "You know,
I got about 30 days to get a record deal

before I have this baby."

I'm just here repping. But what happened?

I always tell people,
you know, Q-tip literally saved my life.

It's like, I probably told
a thousand people I need a record deal,

but he heard me.

This kid right here made it all possible.

He took it home with him
and had a conversation with Sylvia Rhone.

Like, "Yo, I got a girl here.
I think we got something special."

"Not to mention
that she's out here doing shows

at eight months pregnant.

♪ All started way back rockin' SOB's ♪

♪ All pregnant as hell
Now we on MTV, yo! ♪

I didn't understand managing.

I didn't know
any of the facets of the industry.

And I was courageous enough.

I was like, "If I don't fight for myself,
who's gonna fight for me?"

I was a single mom of two at the time.
You know what I mean?

I'm like, "This is not just about me
and rap. This is about the livelihood."

"I'm the matriarch of my family."

♪ I gotta fly
I need a jet, sh*t ♪

♪ I need room for my legs ♪

♪ I got a baby
I need some money… ♪

Cardi B, like, just… [chuckles]

…breaks a lot of norms.

The pregnant MCs,
people were not like, "Yay!"

Like the way we did for Rihanna.

Historically, that hasn't been
the fanfare greeting, uh, Black women

who are rappers
when they say they're pregnant.

When I started my career,
kids were totally out of the question.

And signed to a label,
as a… as a female artist,

you were taught and told, "You have a kid,
that's the end of your career."

I got pregnant at a very young age,

and my son's three now.

I got pregnant at 16,
and I'm a single mom.

They were like, "When is the baby due?"

And I was like, "I don't even know."

My mom wasn't around,
so literally I am still raising myself.

They found out in February.

I had him March 18th.

I was back on stage April 1st.

The record company would tell me,
"You should be a little more ladylike."

"You should be, uh,
a little more feminine."

And I was breastfeeding on tour
when it wasn't even a thing.

So if you don't think I'm a girl… ta-da!

I just took him everywhere I went,
everything I did. I would be performing,

and he would be right there
on the side of the stage.

People would be like,
"Where's Roxanne Shante?"

"How come we never see
a lot of pictures of her out?"

Because I would go
straight from the stage,

back to the baby, to my hotel room,

go down the road,
whatever the next show is.

[Salamishah] Today we can say
that there's progress.

You know, Cardi B shares and celebrates
her pregnancy before our eyes.

A couple of months ago,
a lot of people were saying,

"You're gambling your career.
You about to have a baby."

"What are you doing?"

And, you know, I had a baby.
I carried the baby.

And now I'm still winning awards.

I think you're seeing a lot more women
take a stand when it comes to motherhood.

This younger generation,
they're so fearless. They're embracing it.

[Rapsody]Women will never stop
standing up for ourselves,

but it's harder and harder

when they keep sh**ting us down
mentally and literally.

Being a woman in hip-hop on any level,

whether you are a writer
or music exec or makeup artist,

was dangerous work.

And there are many assaults

that have been committed
that have gone unreported

or reported and then categorically denied
and not supported.

I see that there are
more women in senior positions

than there were, perhaps,

when I was in the industry
in the '90s and the early 2000s.

I am not optimistic
about how empowered those women are

to really take on
the toxic, patriarchal status quo.

You know, I love music,
but I hated the record business.

The thing about gender discrimination,

as a woman, is it's invisible.

You know, it's like
an odorless, poisonous gas

that we've all been inhaling
from the beginning.

You don't notice it
because who notices the air?

You just breathe it, and you accept it,
and you don't know that it's choking you.

I was the only Black person
in the A&R department, the only woman.

By this point, I'd realized
I can't stay in this industry.

I can't start a label. I am a woman.

Unless somebody powerful is f*cking me,

I'm dead in the water here.

[Kierna] Women and the crimes against them

just float away
as though they've never happened.

[Brittney] When you're talking
about hip-hop,

that's culture that Black
and brown people created together.

And so we then have to say
that the culture that we love,

and the places that raised us,
and the people that we did this work with

also, often, were
the sites of our harm, right?

That we were sexually harassed
or had to do unspeakable things

in order to get in the studio
or get the shot,

but because people weren't interested
in contending with our talent

unless they could have
some kind of dominance over us.

[hip-hop music playing]

I'm Dee. You're watching Pump It Up.

♪ Pump-pump-pump it up
Pump-pump-pump-pump it up… ♪

Let me see something.
You can't do nothing?

[Dee] I was 19 when I did Pump It Up.

Fox was a new network,
and they wanted to do a hip-hop show.

[man] Let the world know
you're down with our posse.

[Dee] I think, looking back, they wanted
to do it for that commercial dollars.

[man] …joining the posse.

So they went out on a search,

auditioned a lot of… a lot of girls.

When they asked me again.
I didn't even hesitate. I said yes.

And the show went national.

And it was, like, overwhelming.

Like, I didn't know
what I was walking into.

How did you make that transition

from being a homeless teenager
to one of Rap's most respected artists?

The show was different
because, number one, it had a female host.

♪ Have faith in you
And the things you do… ♪

[Dee] I did make sure
that we had women on there.

Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Monie Love.

It's always been like,
"I've gotta do my part

to make sure they're shouted out."

"Push them forward as much as possible."

-Throw a party they'll never forget!
-You can count on it!

Barnes seeks damages of over $10 million,

and claims that last January,
at a Los Angeles club,

Dre assaulted her, grabbing her hair,
slamming her face and body into a wall,

and kicking her in the ribs.

No comment from NWA's label,

but when we interviewed NWA last March,

the group was quite willing
to comment on the Barnes incident.

That's what she get.
I hope she get it again.

She got beat down. The person…
the host of that show did something,

and she know what she did
and got beat down,

and I hope it happen again.

See you around, buddy boy.

I'm not gonna
get into the incident that much,

but I just know that Dream,

she put all the cards on the table.

[somber music playing]

She wasn't shying away from what happened.

[Syreeta] Dream Hampton is a writer,
is a filmmaker

who literally kicked in doors,
raving full force.

[Kierna] You know,
Dream's presence felt outsized.

It felt larger in a lot of respects
than the guys.

And so she had already carved space
for myself

and for the other women
who would come behind me

to not just do the work

but really consume air.

[Dr. Joan] Part of what makes women,
female hip-hop journalists so important

is that we show up and do the critique.

We love hip-hop enough
to hold it accountable.

Whereas, frankly, a lot of those guys

just wanted to like it enough
to be considered down.

I was always just grateful
that there was a woman out there

that… that wrote about it

from a woman's perspective.

[tense music playing]

She got it all out in print.

And to this day, I…

[voice breaking] …I thank her for it.

[breathes shakily]

[Kierna] One of the things that really
troubles me when I think about hip-hop,

consciously think about it,

and I think about the 30 years
that I've witnessed in the culture,

it's really troubling to think about
where some of the men ended up

versus where some of the women.

When I think about
Dee Barnes in particular,

and I think about Dr. Dre,

you know,

it's actually

so f*cked up

that it's easier not to process it.

I don't begrudge Dr. Dre
his genius or his accomplishments.

That said,

Dre was allowed to…

do what he did,
and then recreate his public image

in a way
that has never hindered his career.

Dee's career stopped,

and we never talk about her
in any other context

than the one violent moment
that was committed on her.

She's frozen in our minds as a victim

and as a footnote

to Dre's… success.

[Dee] My whole contribution to hip-hop,

with that show,
I mean, you think about it…

first woman host of a hip-hop show?

On a network television that was Fox?

Nineteen?

My contributions to hip-hop
have been erased.

Rapper Tory Lanez has been charged
with sh**ting artist Megan Thee Stallion.

The DA's office says
Lanez shot Megan's feet

during an argument July 12th.

[Kathy] You're watching her limp,
and there's a blood trail following her.

All caught on camera.

And, immediately, the response was,
"She made it up."

[solemn music playing]

[Syreeta] Similar to the violence

that's happening in the world
amongst Black people, right?

We get shot at,

um, on tape,

so everyone can see it,

and still need a co-sign.
That's exactly what happened with Meg.

I was shot.

In both of my feet.

[sighs emotionally]

Um…

And it was super scary.

And it's not funny.

There's nothing to joke about.

She showed this vulnerable side
to her that, um,

she was made fun of for.

[solemn music continues]

[Cardi B] And this week should've been
a happy-a*s week.

Happy-a*s week.

Mind you, she don't have a mom.
She don't have a dad.

She don't got nobody to cry to.
This should be the happiest week.

And instead,
people are f*cking harassing her

and calling her a liar.

Why would somebody
lie about getting shot? Why?

Why didn't you say, "He shot me"?

[voice cracking] Even though this person
just did… just did this to me…

Mm-hmm.

…my first reaction
still was to try to save us.

-Like, I didn't wanna see anybody die.
-Mm-hmm.

[Brittney] This country cannot sustain,
at the level of conscience,

a real accounting for the levels
of brutality and violence and disregard

that is enacted on Black people
and particularly on Black women.

It is really important and remarkable
that Meg Thee Stallion spoke her truth

about being a victim of violence,
a victim of domestic violence.

Man,

the world a crazy place.

And I don't feel like we're heard.
Like, when it is a problem, you know?

It's like you rather protect yourself
before you even get there,

so that you don't even
have to go through it.

Black women are the most deprived
in terms of economic resources,

emotional resources,

resources of safety and protection,

but they are asked to do
all of the heavy lifting.

[solemn music continues]

[Kierna] It makes me emotional
thinking about it, you know,

because we're still
fighting the good fight.

Megan still got shot. That happened,

which is some crazy sh*t.

[Megan Thee Stallion rapping]

[Salamishah] We're in a new moment
that we should mark and acknowledge

in which you have artists
like Meg Thee Stallion

being comfortable with talking about,
um, their mental health issues.

They're part of a generation, um,
that feels more comfortable doing so,

but also maybe part of a generation
that feels like they have to

because if they don't speak about it,
um, they'll be swallowed by it.

[singing]

I don't know. We've got a lot of pressure.
Everything's designer bags

and who has the richest f*cking boyfriend
or who drives the fanciest car.

[Latto] I know I'm not the only one
that has moments, you know,

mental breakdowns and, you know,
I'm not the only one.

Team No Sleep was cute
until it's really Team No Sleep.

I used to say yes to every request
when I first got hot,

but I had two mental breakdowns.

It was a very vulnerable, um,

you know, moment for me.

And I feel like when people
go through that, they need to share it.

[Chika] I don't mind talking about
when I'm going through it.

And even with Megan,

all of the things that we've had to
publicly witness her go through,

like, the trauma of it all,

like, those are things
that people used to praise artists

for being able to ignore.

♪ And the whole world is conversating
'Bout your waistline ♪

♪ And mental health days make you guilty
'Cause you waste time ♪

♪ I'm fighting everybody demons
But can't face mine ♪

♪ Bass line, use all that pain and anger
And just make rhymes… ♪

We, literally, as artists
and musicians and hip-hop artists,

we enter into this world where it's like,

if you are not fully cognizant
of what is going on,

you can spiral in a very scary way,

and ultimately no one will answer for it.

[Dr. Joan] It's really important

that artists are talking
about mental health

because, in hip-hop,
that was not a conversation for anyone.

And so for them to be able to say,

as artists and people
who have public platforms,

that they're struggling
with mental health,

it does a lot to disrupt
this enduring stereotype

of Black women as strong Black women,

who can kind of just show up and take it
and keep pushing and keep going.

♪ Such a hard time
Now they tryna be me ♪

♪ 'Cause I make that sh*t look so easy… ♪

It's always important to protect yourself.

Protect yourself mentally
emotionally, financially, physically.

♪ I don't look nothin' like
What I been through, man ♪

♪ I just know where I'm going ♪

Protect your peace.

[Rapsody] Given all that women in hip-hop
have contributed and sacrificed,

they paved the way for change
and future that is now.

What does winning look like?

It's so many fire women right now.
Like, what?!

[Syreeta] Black women in hip-hop
are controlling their narrative

in a way we've never fathomed.

Nobody can undermine my success
because "I'm a woman."

I really love that Black q*eer girls
are having a moment.

Whatever I am,
you finna let me in. Period.

"Oh my God, b*tch! We just came out."

♪ Sticky situations lead
To sticky conversations ♪

♪ Grab the sticky
Leave you icky, icky ♪

♪ Paper sticky, you can date me
Spend it fast like you impatient ♪

♪ Let you touch it
Feel the sticky, icky ♪

♪ Bad and boujee, I'm not basic ♪

♪ From the street I caught them casing
Since before my face was famous ♪

♪ Runnin' in tied laces ♪

-♪ Boom boom ♪
-♪ You losin' the race ♪

-♪ Zoom zoom ♪
-♪ You front and chase ♪

♪ Do a dash in they cameras
They flash, picture me rollin' ♪

♪ And writin' a wraith
Pattin' my pockets like pattycake ♪

♪ Pattycake, pattycake ♪

♪ How much money do it take
To buy this pedi? It's insane ♪

♪ Big Bs like the bees
Yeah, I made him say my name ♪

♪ And he cashed out on it proper
Made the teller break the bank ♪

♪ When I'm done
He tell me "thanks" ♪

♪ Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am ♪

♪ My card get declined
Swipe it like it was a scam ♪

♪ You's a little bitty with the panties
Broke boys scram ♪

♪ I spend more all my life
Than you got in your hand ♪

♪ Sticky situations lead
To sticky conversations ♪

♪ Grab the sticky
Leave you icky, icky ♪