Does Australian Hip Hop Have A Sexism Problem?

In the second part of the Conversations With L-FRESH The LION series of interviews, the Australian rapper discusses the issue of sexism in the Australian hip hop community and asking the question why female MCs aren't as prominent as men in the scene that he is a part of.

You can watch the video, featuring interviews with members of KillaQueenz, The Last Kinection and Universal Zulu Nation, here.

While the overarching theme is that there is sexism inherent in the Australian hip hop community – among others – a couple of female artists have said that their fellow performers have a responsibility to present themselves in a certain way.

“If you want to be a female MC, firstly you've got to deal with the fact that it's gonna be confronting,” Universal Zulu Nation's DJ MzRizk says. ”You're gonna have men in the audience telling you to show them your breasts and things like that. And I think a lot of the time it depends on how you present yourself.”

Elaborating on that point, fellow Universal Zulu Nation member Mirrah says she deliberately dresses and acts in a way that doesn't attract unwanted attention.

“A lot of people say there's a lot of sexism in the game and yeah, there can be, but I think, as an individual, as a woman, from my experience… just don't act like that, don't dress like that, I don't dress like a hip hopper.”

Not that the women interviewed are interested in victim-blaming; when speaking on the issue of equality and of calling out sexism within the hip hop community, Mzrizk says women who speak out are often shut down quickly.

“The minute a woman starts saying 'that behaviour is wrong, dudes, don't do that', they're labelled a psycho. 'Oh, what a crazy bitch' and things like that. So we're never gonna win. Unfortunately, and I hate saying it, we do need the support of men. I'd love to live in a world where we didn't have to educate fans of rap music to respect women, it should just be a natural thing.”

Last week, L-FRESH The LION discussed the issue of racism within the Australian hip hop scene, calling on comment from the artists feature here today as well as the likes of Jimblah, Urthboy and more. You can watch that video here.