Price: $14.95
Page Count: 152
Publication Date: September 2012
ISBN: 978-1-927335-00-0
“Instead of simply just engaging popular battles of the baby- mama and the wifey tropes within popular rap lyrics, this book digs deeply and sifts through the layers, complexities, and dy- namics of hip-hop womanhood and, more specifically, mother- hood in hip-hop culture. This collection aims to “discursively unsettle” ideologies of compulsory heterosexuality, the tropes of limiting modes of “good” mothering, particularly in the con- text of everyday respectability politics, and successfully throws stereotypes on the table for examination through insightful essays on the experiences of rappin’ mamas. Thoughtfully compiled, beautifully written, and deeply theorized through a lens of feminist praxis, this collection features contributions by some of today’s brightest scholars. It is a must read and must teach for Women’s and Gender Studies, Hip-Hop Stud- ies, and every other study that wants to get at the heart, soul, and materiality of mothering within and beyond hip-hop.”
—Rachel Raimist, pioneer hip-hop feminist filmmaker
Acknowledgements
ix
Introduction: Motherhood Between Invisibility and Trope
Maki Motapanyane
1
Chapter 1
“Mama Tried”:
Narratives of Good Mothering in Rap Music
Travis L. Gosa
22
Chapter 2
Mom Be Pimpin’:
Exploring the Mother-Whore Dichotomy in Hip-Hop
Nicholas Powers
36
Chapter 3
Making Room for “Dear Mama” in Rap Music
Erik Nielson
50
Chapter 4
Shine: A Queer Cosmology of Mothering
From Audre Lorde to MeShell Ndegeocello
Alexis Pauline Gumbs
66
Chapter 5
360 Degrees
Ruth Henry (MC OASIS)
86
Chapter 6
Seven Generations – Mothering, Indigeneity and Hip-Hop:
A Conversation with Lindsay “Eekwol” Knight
Shana L. Calixte
109
Chapter 7
“Mommy, I’m in Anomolies too!”: A Conversation
Between Two Members of an All-Female Hip-Hop Collective
Shantelena Mouzon (Helixx C. Armageddon) with Sharon Miller (Pri the Honeydark)
125
Chapter 8
Mothering the Northside:
Hip-Hop Mothers North of the 49th Parallel
Maki Motapanyane and Mark V. Campbell
140
Contributor Notes
175
Maki Motapanyane is Assistant Professor of Women’s Stud- ies at Mount Royal University. She has published in the ar- eas of feminist theory, transnational feminist research, and cultural studies. Her research is focused on femi- nism in Africa, and gender and international develop- ment. She is the busy mother of two school-aged children.
