ABSTRACT
Since female rappers are only entertainers, should their language, literacy, and rhetorical practices be seriously considered? The topic brings several issues to the fore. Speaking of rap and African American discourse tradition in the same breath trivializes the historic and ongoing Black freedom struggle, doesn’t it? Linking rap and Hiphop discourse to African American discourse conflates African American culture and street culture, don’t it? There’s no real culture to study in rap music for mass consumption, since rap has long become a global industry removed from its primary audience, right? And the global dominance of rap music and Hiphop culture is all about manhood in the new millennium, ain’t it? Briefly, the answers to these questions are no, no, no, and no.
