The beat will drop — but the pitch will not.
On Sept. 19, the Brooklyn Academy of Music is hosting a free night of live hip-hop boasting some of the fiercest females in the industry. “Pass the Mic: A Night of Women Emcees” will feature old-school trailblazers Roxanne Shante and Toi “Sweet Tee” Jackson, alongside young artists Nitty Scott and Raje Shwari. And while all the performers are coming together to celebrate women in hip-hop, both generations are also ready to rep their era.
“A lot of artists will never be able to appreciate hip-hop like we were able to,” said Shante, who is perhaps best known for her ’80s hit “Roxanne’s Revenge,” which was released when she was just 14. “It took more than a click, more than a ‘copy and paste’ for you to tell the story.”
Shante said that some of today’s artists don’t appreciate the true beauty of hip-hop because they haven’t gone through the same struggle she did.
“Everything is so easily earned,” she said.
But Raje Shwari — who describes her style as a fusion of hip-hop and “Indian flavor” she calls “Bollyhood” — said young artists still have to work hard to get heard. She said traditional record labels didn’t understand her sound, so she had to promote herself via social media to get her voice out there and find an audience.
“Now you can have a global and international space because of the digital revolution,” said Shwari, who has collaborated with Jaz-Z, Nas, and Timbaland. “That digital revolution and social media allowed me to bring my audience together.”
Brooklyn emcee Nitty Scott also found fame via the internet, first turning heads in 2010 with a viral video of her freestyling over a Kanye West song, before scoring a slot performing at the Black Entertainment Television awards the next year.
Toi “Sweet Tee” Jackson, another pioneer who is known for her 1980s singles “On the Smooth Tip” and “I Got Da Feelin’,” said that the industry is definitely more welcoming to women now — but she hopes her fellow females persevere if they get discouraged.
“You just have to be persistent in what you’re trying to do,” said Jackson.
“Pass the Mic” is part of a two-day celebration of hip-hop at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in collaboration with the Source magazine. On Sept. 20, BAMcafe will host an evening of global hip-hop acts, including Malian rapper Amkoullel, Senegalese group Gokh Bi System, and Chilean-American outfit Rebel Diaz. Meanwhile, BAMcinematek will show hip-hop-related films all weekend, including Notorious B.I.G. biopic “Notorious,” and “The Man with the Iron Fists,” a martial arts flick directed by Wu-Tang Clan member RZA, who will also do a live Q&A after the screening.
“Pass the Mic: A Night of Women Emcees” at BAMcafe [30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street in Fort Greene, (718) 636–4100, www.bam.org]. Sept. 19 at 10 pm. Free.
