Issue #36

By Niema Jordan
Published: June 4th, 2008 | 7:15pm

THE DREAM GIRL

Aima the Dreamer

Photograph by Matt Reamer

AIMA THE DREAMER AKA AIMA PAULE
Hometown: Born in Chicago but creates in Oakland, California.
Age: 27
Sound: Conscious and thoughtful rhymes over dance worthy hip-hop and experimental beats.
The power of music: Aima has a vision for her music. “I want to use MCing as a bridge between communities of all different races, genders, age, sexual orientation, class, and anything else that we use to separate ourselves,” Aima says. “I want to use MCing to communicate my story, my life, and create an idea of a better world.” As a member of rap duo Mamaz, Aima isn’t avoiding the mainstream by any means. “I would love to bring my message to every radio, TV, broadband, iTunes, and whatever other form of communication that reach the people,” she says. “I want little girls singing my songs and little boy learning how to respect women.”
What’s next? A tour in France and the debut album from Mamaz.
URL: aimathedreamer.com

THE VETERAN

DJ Zita

Photograph by Ben Mayorga

DJ ZITA AKA MARITEZ APIGO
Hometown: San Francisco and Oakland, California
Age: 32
Sound:Classic hip-hop, smooth R&B, and the best in dancehall.
Pump up the B.A.S.S.: DJ Zita, who only spins vinyl (no iPods here), is well known in the Bay Area for the way she rocks two turntables. With a goal of building the talents of female DJs, Zita, Pam the Funkstress, and Neta founded a crew called Bay Area Sistah Sound (B.A.S.S.).  The collective fills a void in the Bay Area’s hip-hop scene. “If there is a female DJ at an event, it’s one woman spinning with a group of men, usually promoted by men,” Zita says. “We figured we could be doing this ourselves.”
What’s next? Look out for her July: Where My Ladies At?! A Tribute to the Queens of True School Hip Hop.
URL: djzita.com

THE CONSCIOUS ENTREPRENEUR

Invincible

Photograph by Apollo Brown

INVINCIBLE AKA ILANA WEAVER
Hometown: Detroit
Age: 27
Sound: Soulful hip-hop with complex lyrical content.
Carving a space: “I learned English by listening to hip-hop,” says the Midwest-based MC who was born in Champagne, Illinois, but moved to Palestine as a 1-year-old. Now she uses hip-hop culture as an educational tool for others. An MC and an activist at heart, Invincible works with Detroit Summer’s Live Arts Media Project and the U.S. Palestine Youth Solidarity Network in addition to performing at youth empowerment conferences.

The lyricist, who’s also a member of the all-female collective Anomolies, started her own label Emergence Music and is using cooperative economics to build her label. “Hip-hop is a way to learn business and cooperative economics,” Invincible says. “It’s about building community in general through the music. I’m not just an entertainer.”
What’s next? Her debut solo album ShapeShifters.
URL: emergencemusic.net

THE NEW SOUND

RYE RYE

Photograph by Courtesy of RYE RYE

RYE RYE AKA RYEISHA BERRAIN
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
Age: 17
Sound: Hip-hop, house, dance, and club.
The Game is changing: The young M.I.A. protégé is out to make music on her own terms. And she doesn’t plan to use her body as a form of marketing. Despite popular images, she says more female MCs are going the same route. “The new generation is not about exposing your body; it’s about making fun music,” Rye Rye says. “You don’t have to be sexy; you just have to have fun.” When asked about the state of women in hip-hop and her hope for progress, Rye Rye says she thinks women will be more noticeable in the future. “Females are coming up with more uniqueness and their own styles,” she says.
What’s next? Working on her debut album.
URL: myspace.com/tharealryerye

GOLDEN RAPPER–NEW ERA

Sontiago

Photograph by Matthew Robbins

SONTIAGO AKA SONYA TOMLINSON
Hometown: Born in Pennsylvania but now lives in Portland, Maine.
Age: 32
Sound: Lyrics and beats that challenge and adhere to old-school hip-hop constructions.
Living in the moment: When she was younger, Sontiago played the clarinet and the piano, so the arts are extremely important to her. So important that she works with young girls to help them develop as dancers, poets, and lyricists. “I want to see the arts continue beyond my generation,” she says. But as she encourages the youth, Sontiago isn’t one to dwell on the past. “I don’t see hip-hop going back to a golden age. We were at a pivotal point in history, and it’s hard to mimic that,” Sontiago says. But she doesn’t plan to give up on the craft. “The keys to success are persistence, practice, and persistence.”
What’s next? European tour and another album.
URL: myspace.com/sontiago

MEDIA MAVEN

DJ B-Girl

Photograph by Marshall of Manik Skateboards

DJ B-GIRL “CHILLZ” AKA MIA BEARDSLEY
Hometown: Born in Seoul, Korea, she now lives in Seattle.
Age: 31
Sound: Experimental rap and trip-hop with an old-school feel.
Stepping up: In the midst of building her own media company, DJ B-Girl has put a lot of thought into the role of women in the music industry. “There are a lot of women in control behind the scenes,” the entrepreneur says. “But they are sometimes just going with the flow and aiding the process of repetitive destructive imagery and ideas being spread to our communities through the mass media.” Enter B-Girl Media, the record label that DJ B-Girl “Chillz” hopes to expand into an independent media channel. “I’d like to portray a more honest and realistic picture to our communities and youth.”
What’s next? “Cultivating B-Girl Media, new releases by two new artists, and reppin’ the two-oh-six.”
URL: bgirlmedia.com

THE BEAT MAKER–RHYME SAYER

Run_in_Watta

Photograph by Jenny Bouchier

RUN_IN_WATTA AKA JULIA BOUCHIER
Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta
Age: 32
Sound: Thought-provoking songs with a soulful backdrop and effortless and yet skilled rhyming.
Talent not gender: “[Producing] was just another way of proving to my self that I’m not just good for a girl, I’m good, period,” says the Canadian rapper and producer. “If you hear my production, you can’t tell whether I have boobs. Talent and hard work speak for themselves.”

Despite the negative messages in the media about women and the inequality in hip-hop, Bouchier keeps her mind on the positive. “I’m not worried about how my figure looks like to make beats or do shows,” she says. “I can’t speak for other women, but I’m on the rise, and there is no limit for what I can do. I don’t put my self in that category — women in hip-hop. I am hip-hop.”
What’s next? Creating music as a producer and rapper.
URL: myspace.com/runinwatta

THE PARTY ROCKER

DJ BackSide

Photograph by Amaka Nwigwe

DJ BACKSIDE AKA RITA FORTE
Hometown: Oakland, California
Age: 26
Sound: Old- and new-school radio favorites with blends and remixes that are sometimes nontraditional but make a ton of sense like “Whoop There It Is” mixed with “Soulja Boy.”
The Catch 22: With a little more than five years in the game, DJ Backside has observed several issues in the hip-hop scene. “Female DJs and female MCs are rare, so we will always be picked apart and scrutinized — at the same time praised, sought after, and revered for doin’ something of rarity,” says DJ Backside, who coined the phenomenon “diamond-in-the-ruff syndrome.”

DJ Backside describes herself as being on the fence with hip-hop. “Some of the songs coming out in hip-hop these days are just thoughtless and elementary,” she says, noting that these kinds of songs are not new. “But it seems in recent years, those songs are getting most of the promotional dollars and support from major record labels.”
What’s next? BackSide Blends and The Western Breed compilation DVD.
URL: myspace.com/djbackside

THE MISSING PIECE

FM Supreme

Photograph by myspace.com/fm_supreme

FM SUPREME AKA JESSICA DISU
Hometown: Chicago
Age: 19
Sound: Raw passion from the lyrically inclined.
It’s about timing: A staple on Chicago’s youth slam scene, Supreme has dedicated a lot of time and energy to cultivating her craft. “I think that to survive in this game, a true MC needs patience and perseverance,” the poet-rapper-scholar says. “In due time, positive MCs will get the recognition they rightfully deserve.”

Until then Supreme is planning her next steps, which include creating a production company, getting a distribution deal, and earning her doctorate so that she can teach hip-hop and African-American studies. “[I’ll] write a few books on the correlation of the two and speak on my experiences as an African-American woman entertainer and academic. Hopefully with my influence as an artist, I can continue to break barriers and educate.”
What’s next? A mixtape titled The Go State of Mind.
URL: myspace.com/fmsupreme

THE PERFORMING ARTIST

Queen GodIs

Photograph by Sean Palmer

QUEEN GODIS
Hometown: Brooklyn
Sound: Lyrical and soulful reflections.
Multi-talented: “I consider myself a performing artist first,” says the rapper, poet, and actress. Queen Godls’ debut, Power U, spawned her off-Broadway piece “Birth of Power You,” and she continues to merge genres to create works that promote female empowerment. For Queen GodIs, hip-hop isn’t just music or a culture. It’s an entity. And together they have a relationship that goes through the cycles of any other partnership. But no matter what happens, she goes back.
What’s next? A show with the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, which travels every year around the U.S.
URL: myspace.com/queengodisbiz

Permalink:
http://www.venuszine.com/articles/music/features/3494/10_hip_hop_artists_to_watch

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GET THE HIP-HOP ISSUE: Venus Zine’s summer issue is available from June 1–September 1, 2008, and features Missy Elliott, Santogold, MC Lyte, Yo-Yo, Remy Ma, and many other leaders in hip-hop. Order the issue here or purchase a copy at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters.Indigo, Newbury Comics, Waldenbooks, and record stores.