Lately, there seems to be an infatuation with the girlfriends of hip-hop artists. These women have become overnight celebrities in their own right, whether it be through the art of a TMZ video or a Youtube upload that has virally spread around like an internet wildfire. Not that this is a new phenomenon. I remember the doubt that fans had when Ms. Melody, former wife of KRS-One, decided to put out a rap album. Despite any talent that she may have had (arguable or not), no one wanted to ever give Ms. Melody any props for being anything else but KRS’s wife.

But these days, the girlfriends of rap artists are getting media attention for being just that—girlfriends. No rapping, no singing, no nothing; just the high honor of being the chosen one in the sea of women in which artists dive. So the question becomes, can being someone’s girlfriend transcend you into stardom or will these girls get the short end of the stick when, and if, the relationship fizzles out?

Kanye West is one celebrity whose girlfriends always seem to get their 5 minutes of fame. His latest, Amber Rose, a shaved-head, light-skinned aspiring model with a fierce body and a permanent cigarette attached to her fingers, seems to be the most intriguing of all, especially as the lesbian rumors continue to pour in. Blogs also say that Amber is a former stripper, and if pictures soon surface, I predict her star will rise even more so. But it still remains to be seen whether Amber’s appeal transcends being Kanye’s girl. In the past, former Kanye girls have become partially successful—depending on how you look at it. Alexis Phifer, the most recent ex, is an aspiring clothing designer, and Brooke Crittendon is a current cast member of the BET reality series, Harlem Heights.

In the case of Joe Budden and his girl Tahiry, who was just recently photographed for the cover of King magazine, the scales seem to be tipping in her direction. Unbeknownst to Tahiry, she became the star of Joe Budden’s video blogs–the reality tv-type material that became popular on his Youtube channel. Since the couple started broadcasting their private lives on the internet, Tahiry has become the latest hip-hop darling. But while a possible reality TV and modeling career could be awaiting her, will she ever grow outside of the Joe Budden girl role?

In an era where the role of women in hip hop has been reduced significantly, it remains to be seen whether dating a rapper (yeah, I said it) is the fastest way to come up. Please, let the comments begin…because I smell a part 2 coming.

–KIM OSORIO

Maybe if I pushed my titties up I’d sell a couple records
Or stick my booty out/ Then I’d probably do even better
Cause that’s the way the game goes
It doesn’t matter how nice you rhyme or sing
It’s bi*** take off your clothes.

And look how many do!!! 

That’s the first four bars of one of my rhymes but it’s also the truth.  Trust me, I know!  Folks wonder where all the female emcees went? I’ll tell you, NOWHERE. Unlike the Dinosaurs we were not wiped off the planet by a theory that has yet to be proven.  Nevertheless, I must admit our presence has diminished greatly.  Because it’s easier to fill the quota of femininity with women that will take orders and follow a script than those that can think AND write for themselves. Shortly after the emergence of gangsta rap, things started changing.  Gender roles specifically started becoming very defined in hip-hop music and as the dollars kept rolling in, the rhetoric took deeper root.  With every “bitch,” “hoe,” “trick” etc. that was said a little bit of the female emcee’s piece of the pie was taken until we were completely ousted from the table.  It got to the point where nearly all commercially successful women on the mic were all playing the shadow to a more commercially successful man.  And though they might have gotten props for being able to “rhyme like a dude” be it their flow or the subject matter, they were never fully accepted as an emcee in their own right and welcomed to the table. Nevertheless, it is a man’s world, and it’s common knowledge that it’s nothing without a woman.  So not surprisingly there is no lacking of women in hip hop these days.  I’d actually say there’s more on television than have ever been.  But they’re silent.  They’re there to fill that visual quota of eye candy and the allure of femininity.  The new role of the woman in hip-hop has become widely accepted as that of being a “background chick” or a “down ass chick.”  The days of seeing women standing independently of a dude and holding their own on the mic have long gone as they’ve been replaced by a bevy of broads ready and willing to simply stand by and hold the dude’s mic *wink to get their shine.    (I ain’t holding sh** but a goal in my mind and determination in my gut.) 

You see the norm for women in hip hop these days has become that you can never be too sexy, but you can be too assertive.  You can never be too cute, but you can definitely be too frank.  And you can never have too fat of an a** but you can always be too smart.  Fact is the majority of the men who hold the pen to sign women who rhyme to the same lucrative deals as all the brothas out here simply don’t want to have to deal with the ego check of dealing with assertive, smart, frank women.  So they write us off as difficult, bitchy, and stank at the same time applauding men who exhibit the same traits as focused, savvy, and having vision.  Because in this man’s world when a man steps to another man with a bottom line, it’s business.  When a woman steps to a man with the same bottom line, it’s attitude.

Well, then like Antoinette once said, “I GOT AN ATTITUDE” and after hosting the Black Lily Fim & Music Festival’s Finale Show in Philly this weekend I saw a number of women from all over the nation who do too.  There always be women willing to take the low road but it’s time for the return of the woman with a plan, a voice, and a presence.  And though it seems as though it will always be a man’s world, with the recent advancements in digital technology us ladies who would rather have our clothes on, our eyes open and be labeled as “divas” than be half naked, mouths open, and accepted, as toys can finally create our own settings at the table as not just independent women, but independent artists who have just as much to say as the next man!

–AMANDA DIVA

Fresh off her tour with Lupe Fiasco, Amanda Diva has just released her new single, “Windows Over Harlem,” from her debut EP, “Life Experience.” 

I seen that sh*t! Bullsh*t! The woman is perceived the way…she is perceived. It is what it is, man. You gotta look at what hip-hop is. Hip-hop is not the stories. It’s not a soap opera. Hip-hop is not ‘The View.’ It’s not…’The Oprah Winfrey Show.’ Hip-hop is what it is. We have our certain views on women the way we do. It’s like Playboy. Do anybody got something to say about the way Playboy view women? They take their shirt off and show their t**ties. That’s the first way to get into Playboy. You gotta show Hugh Heffner your t**ties if you wanna get in Playboy. There’s nothing degrading about that, but at the same time, when we show women in videos, they have their clothes on. We don’t play videos on BET with women naked; we can’t get away with that. But it’s degrading what we’re doing, when in actuality, we’re giving these women a chance to shine. Now, if these women would become directors and depict women in a different light, then that would give them a different light as far as the way people view them. A male director is gonna direct it the way he feels. He’s gonna make it the way a woman looks sexy.

Look at this for example. How many ugly women selling records? None! Only the pretty ones sell records. Beyonce, Mary J, Keyshia Cole, the ugly ones don’t sell. I ain’t gon say no names, but they don’t sell records. They just be singing their little hearts out, but they don’t get no sales, cause they ugly. Now, that’s my fault? I can see this on TV now: ‘Snoop Dogg called me, ugly.’ You beautiful on the inside, baby. What I wanna say to go on top of that, to the chocolate women, the dark-skinned women, I love ya’ll.  I got a chocolate daughter at home. I always tell her chocolate is the best thing in the world. Don’t think that light skin is in, chocolate ain’t never went nowhere. Black is beautiful. I love dark-skinned women. That’s why my videos be having dark women in them. I always used to have light-skinned women. Look at it. Show them one of my videos.

 Listen to Snoop’s Ego Trippin’ album here.

Also, read about Snoop’s upcoming soap opera appearance here.

–SNOOP DOGG