Brycen Saunders, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Since its inception last year by former Spelman student, Eboni Ellis, the Women in Hip-Hop Collective at Spelman College has been dedicated to redefining women’s roles in the industry. Created out of a lack of representation with women in Hip-Hop at Spelman, the organization wanted to create a safe space and network for women in that space. As the first organization of its kind on Spelman’s campus, the group wants to make sure its voice is heard loud and clear. The Maroon Tiger sat down with current President Kennedy Prothro and Vice-President Kaelin Keller to gain further insight into this flourishing coalition.

What is the mission and focus of the Women in Hip Hop Collective?

Kennedy – Our mission is just to create a space for people who either love hip hop, or their interested in working hip hop or the music industry. There are students who are definitely interested in working in music, but there’s not a lot of spaces to express that.

Kaelin – Not only with opportunity, but what I think is so special is that it is a community as well. We don’t have these spaces where we can talk about art formally at Spelman. To have a venue for this opportunity is special. It’s not only for people who want to be in the industry, but also for people who enjoy it as well.

As a relatively new organization, what do you envision for your organization? In both the short and long term?

Kennedy – Short term, we want to make sure people recognize that if you are a creative person than you can come to us for unity and a safe space. Long term, we’re looking to put on large events such as meet and greets with large artists and masterclasses. We want what we’re already doing, just on a larger scale.

Kaelin – Something that I didn’t know that I wanted for the organization before I got into it is that I want to make Spelman’s attitude towards hip hop less conservative. We get thrown into some loops and with time, hopefully we can break down those barriers and change the perception of hip hop. Even if there are these messages that aren’t as polished as Spelman would like, we’re smart enough to critique it. We want to be able to discuss every single part of hip hop.

With women in hip-hop, there is a constant debate regarding the marginalization of female artists. Typically, women are only allocated a small sector in this industry while men are given free reign. What adjustments need to be made in order to combat this discrimination?

Kennedy – We definitely want to make sure that we’re promoting the message that women need to be in hip hop more. We definitely want to push that women need to rap, we need to produce, we need to be managers because hip hop is very male dominated.

Kaelin – As far as women who are in the forefront, I think in order for that to change the conversation has to change. The mentality is that there can be only one woman at the top, but there’s so many women out here making music that we aren’t even looking at. There’s always exciting women that are coming out and the way that we consume music has changed so much and the conversation needs to change too. All these women can eat, just like all these men can eat.

Any additional thoughts on the current state of women in hip hop?

Kennedy – There’s a lot of work to be done. It’s still incredibly male dominated. In fact, sometimes my boyfriend and I will go to different places and make beats and it’ll clearly be me making the beat and they’ll be like, “Yo bro, that’s a dope beat,” and it’s like I’m right here. So we have a lot of work to do with people’s perception of what women are doing in hip hop on every level.

Kaelin – What a female rapper should be. Girls are out here changing that definition. You don’t have to be sexy. You can be grungy. You can be hard. I think a lot of people think of that as negative, but it’s just another box that we’ve been put in. Basically, in order for me to like you, you have to be sexy and I’m ready to break down those barriers.

Advocating for women’s rights and recognition in this industry, the Spelman Women in Hip Hop Collective is an organization to watch.