5 Women In Hip Hop You Should Know
Women have had a vice grip on the rap game for the past couple of years.
Between Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion dominating the charts, and the array of up-and-coming new talent from various regions on the map showing promise, there is no shortage of talented women in this once male-dominated genre.
The ‘Ladies First Cypher’ at the BET Hip Hop Awards 2021 encapsulated this rise for women over the past couple years perfectly, bridging hip hop’s monarchs (Brandy, Erykah Badu) with some of today’s leaders.
As the BET Hip Hop Awards 2021 inch closer, here are some up-and-coming women that deserve your attention.
Enchanting
Neck and hand tattoos, a set of pearly whites, and an ability to sing just as well as she raps — Gucci Mane found him a gem with his newest signee, Enchanting.
Born in Hanau, Germany and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, 22-year-old Enchanting follows former 1017 First Lady, Asian Doll and rapper/singer Kierra Shiday as yet another Texan to sign to Gucci’s So Icy label.
While she’s yet to release a debut project, Gucci is warming her up, pairing her on features such as “No Luv” on the So Icy Gang, Vol I album, Pooh Shiesty’s “IDL” and more.
Monaleo
Monaleo’s hit track, "Beating Down Yo Block," is an urban radio underground smash that has only been growing since she released it.
Using a remastered sample from the famous Houston anthem, "Knocking Pictures Off Da Wall" by Yungstar, the Houston native recaptures the down south feel in one of this year’s best singles.
The complimentary video has two million views and counting since its release in March of this year, going on to place on the airwaves as her official radio debut. Even legendary singer Mary J. Blige was on Instagram singing lyrics to the song.
Although she landed a spot on Rolling Loud's performance lineup this year, the Prairie View A&M University student is just getting started and should be on your watchlist too.
Omeretta the Great
You might have just seen Omeretta the Great on the tenth season of VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, but the 25-year-old Atlanta native has been grinding for years.
Omeretta grew a following by relentlessly releasing music on SoundCloud and Instagram — with her most popular songs being “Reality” and “You Ain’t Bout It” — eventually going viral for her Nicki Minaj MEGATRON challenge back in 2019.
Now, with millions of followers on various platforms, fame is catching up to the talented and hardworking rapper.
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Kali
You may not have heard of Kali, but her viral hit "Do A Bitch", which has over 12 million Spotify streams between its original version and remix with Rico Nasty, has been near inescapable.
But the road to her current success wasn’t so smooth.
Initially feeling discouraged after only making it to the second round of the Netflix rap competition show Rhythm + Flow some years ago, the now 20-year-old recorded "Mami," which went viral, but also faced complications due to clearance issues.
That's when she made "Do A B-tch," which, after posting a snippet on TikTok in November of 2020, has nearly 370,000 videos on the platform.
Her debut This Why They Mad Now is out now.
Dess Dior
Dess Dior is a rapper from Savannah, Georgia with a flow as smooth as they come.
Born Destiny Bailey in St .Louis, the 23-year-old began rapping as early as 12 before eventually moving to Atlanta to take her career seriously.
Things started taking off for Dess on YouTube, gaining a fanbase off hits like “Stop Playin” and “Bandz”. Dior also has her own entertainment company, Show LUV Entertainment, LLC, in the process and landed a performance at Rolling Loud in 2019 as a relatively new act.
