Ep25: Who Are the Women That Shaped Hip-Hop? Clover Hope tells us about her new book The Motherlode.

In this episode, historian and writer Clover Hope tells us about her new book, The Motherlode, a comprehensive history of women rappers. Clover tells us about the role of women in the birth of hip-hop. We talk about the first female rapper, MC Sha-Rock and other women who were crucial to building the genre. Clover tells us about her process of researching these stories. We talk about the music industry for women in hip-hop and what women rap about that men wouldn’t. We talk about how bold this music is and some of the reactions to women rapping about sexuality and empowerment and what the word feminism means in the rap world. We also talk about the drought of women in hip-hip in the 2000s, the impact of the internet on the industry, how social media has helped some artists break out, and what the future looks like. The Motherlode features really great illustrations by Rachelle Baker. It makes an awesome coffee table book and is available now. For more info go to: http://www.cloverhope.com