By Jannah G. Johnson, Special to the AFRO
2018 has been a year of women taking control of their narratives, of their sexualities and of the rap game. With female heavy hitters like Cardi B, Nicki Minaj and Remy Ma, this has been the year of female rappers dominating the charts and DMV women aren’t about to be left out of the conversation.
Hitmaker Rico Nasty, reality star Talone, and raunchy MC Sneaky Tee have all made their marks as women in the DMV who demand to be both seen and heard with bouncy beats and aggressive lyrics.
Rico Nasty
The 21-year-old MC was born in New York but raised in Prince George’s County, Maryland and attended boarding school in Baltimore. Born as Maria Kelly, Rico Nasty is most well-known for popularizing her rap style, known as “sugar trap,” and the name of her third mixtape. The upbeat, bubbly, high pitched, almost girly tone of her voice sharply contrasts with her hard, rough and tumble lyrics and techno bouncy beats.
Rico Nasty
Rico has been rapping since she was 15 years old and although at 21 she still is very young she is nothing if not skilled and prolific. Kelly has dropped six projects; five mixtapes and her debut album “Nasty.” Within the 14 track album Kelly showcases strong, aggressive lyrics showing that although her style is “sugar trap” she is anything but sweet. The album features collaborations from up and coming rappers Lil Gnar and BlocBoy JB and Kelly will be performing in Maryland at the Baltimore Soundstage on July 29 and August 1 at the Fillmore Silver Spring as part of her upcoming “Nasty Tour.”
Talone
Born and raised in Washington D.C., this 25 year old rapper is known mainly for her outspoken personality that was first showcased on “Bad Girls Club,” a reality TV show about young women living in a house together and all the challenges that come with it. Born Brynesha Seegers, Talone is most well known for her song “For Granted” a sing-songy bop where she spits about her bad luck with love and the tendency of men to take women for granted. When asked by One Air radio what about her D.C. upbringing influenced her rap style the most she immediately responded, “the hate.”
Talone
“In our city, when it comes to the music, instead of everybody trying to come together and build it’s everyone trying to diss each other. That’s why other people aren’t really looked at…it isn’t like Atlanta where they get everyone together and show love. In D.C. it’s like, ‘I’ll step on your toes to get where I’m going.’ I’m not really with that.” With a strong following of a combined total of 386 thousand fans across her social media platforms Talone clearly used her reality television debut as a jump off for her music career and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Sneaky T
This 23 year old MC, born Taylor Johnson-Henderson, is best known for her raunchy lyrics and proximity to the late, beloved Baltimore rapper Lor Scoota. Many young women find Henderson’s lyrics both intriguing and enthralling as she uses her sexuality as tool to empower herself. She frequently raps about harnessing her feminine wiles to “use” men and “take their coin.” With 50 thousand followers on Instagram and many more within the streets of Baltimore, Tee has become an icon for young women in the city who can often be heard quoting her breakout hit, a cover of rapper Desiigners hit song “Panda” in which Henderson is heard yelling “Snatchies b*tch, gimmie him.”
MC Sneaky Tee
With a penchant for freestyling over songs with catchy beats and a bouncy rap voice that perfectly accompanies her cocky persona, Sneaky T does not plan on pausing to catch her breath as she releases hit after hit, such as her “Yip remix.” Her upcoming mixtape “Snatch N Beats” will cover hits like the popular “Boo’d Up” by Ella Mai and “Barbie Tings” by Nicki Minaj. Young Moose, another prominent Baltimore rapper, will be featured on a cover of Rich The Kid’s hit “New Freezer,” a collaboration that many fans have been anxiously waiting for since Moose’s release from jail back in 2016.
Powerful women from the DMV are popping up and demanding to be heard. The tide in rap is shifting and women are ready to take on the rap industry and are rapidly staking their claim in the male dominated genre.
