To All the Women Who Independent: Webbie Brings Real Feminism to Hip-Hop

Are we on the verge of a major feminist shift? One that finally does away with the Sex and the City-brand post-modern feminism that preaches that sexuality is your best-kept tool and your not-so-secret weapon?

Probably not, but it’s nice to see someone trying to switch up the paradigm, especially someone in the hip-hop community. Especially a male in the hip-hop community. That male is Webbie, a rapper who kind of looks like the Nerdy One from Boyz II Men with an extra 50 pounds and a Southern Rap makeover. His song, “Independent” wins the First Annual Fergie Award for spelling the song’s title over and over and calling it a hook/chorus; meanwhile, his video looks like it was shot by the same guy who did the commercials for your local mattress superstore. While I won’t take the time to actually argue for the quality of “Independent”—musically, it’s a B at best—I am incredibly surprised and delighted that it’s soaring up the iTunes charts.

While Ne-Yo and The-Dream, very talented artists and songwriters, put out visually intriguing videos that sing praises of the sexualized female form, it’s beyond refreshing to hear a hip-hop song—a hit song!—about the beauty of a woman with a college degree and lofty professional goals. While Akon warbles about how much he’s “in love with a stripper” and hits platinum status, Webbie sounds truly revolutionary for falling in love with girls that are doctors and lawyers. Hopefully, he's doing more than preaching to the converted. I’m going to hope this is the beginning of a major trend, at least in hip-hop culture, but I’m not doing to hold my breath. I think that Webbie should be commended for putting forth the effort and creating music that’s I-M-P-O-R-T-A-N-T.