Hip-Hop at 50 Still Has a Long Way to Go

Photo-Illustration: Vulture. Photos: Getty Images

Did you hear? Hip-hop turned 50 this year! Of course you heard. Because the internet has been wallpapered with fawning, congratulatory pieces exploring the history of the genre for months now. There have been awards-show tributes. Lifetime-achievement awards. Brand deals. But one thing is crucially missing from the mass celebration: meaningful critique. “How can we say hip-hop was ever progressive if it was always so deeply homophobic and misogynistic? How?” asks scholar Jason England, assistant professor of English at Carnegie Mellon. “Hip-hop has always had a radical posture. That doesn’t mean it was radical in action. You cannot deny just how problematic the music has always been, and in that way, it is deeply American.”

Kiana Fitzgerald, author of Ode to Hip-Hop, points out that women are making the most exciting, broadly appealing hip-hop today. Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat — all are doing it better than their male contemporaries. But at what cost? Says Fitzgerald, “The saying within the Black community is ‘You have to be twice as good to get half as much.’ That’s even more the case for women rappers, especially Black women rappers.” Cardi B has to be a stand-up comedian on top of rapping. Megan Thee Stallion has to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Doja Cat sings, dances, raps, and is a weird art girl. The men? Guys like Drake and Travis Scott? They’re just mumbling.” Subscribe below and listen to the full episode of Into It to hear why it’s time to demand better from the hip-hop genre as it enters its sixth decade.