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# What Is Hip-Hop Feminism?
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/what-is-hip-hop-feminism/
- Published: 2013-08-09T21:27:30.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:34:52.000Z
- Description: Short answer: it's awesome. And it's currently on view at Cue Art Foundation. Curated by Katie Cercone, the exhibition Goddess Clap Back: Hip-Hop Feminism in Art brings together various artists who, in their work, subvert the tropes of mainstream hip-hop: the unabashed consumerism and celebrity wors
- Author: Jillian Steinhauer
- Tags: Art, CUE Art Foundation, Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 06:59 (2012, 2013, part 2)

Short answer: it’s awesome. And it’s currently on view at Cue Art Foundation.

Curated by Katie Cercone, the exhibition [*Goddess Clap Back: Hip-Hop Feminism in Art*](http://www.cueartfoundation.org/2012-goddess-clap-back.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) brings together various artists who, in their work, subvert the tropes of mainstream hip-hop: the unabashed consumerism and celebrity worship, the heteronormativity, the machismo bordering on misogyny. This is hip-hop, queered. The ideas and visuals given form by these artists are not only refreshing — they’re necessary.

That all may sound heady or self-serious or depressing, but some of the best work in the show — including pieces by Kalup Linzy and Rashaad Newsome — has a light touch. One of my favorite finds in this vein was [Michelle Marie Charles](http://michellemariecharles.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), who makes videos that would probably be as at home on a website like [College Humor](http://www.collegehumor.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) (if the humor were more diverse) as they are in a gallery. The two I saw — “Explicit and Deleted” (2012) and “Naturally Nandie” (2013) — are both spoofs, the former of your average hip-hop song and video, the latter of hair tutorial videos.

I’ll admit, a spoof of a hip-hop video filled with women dancing around doesn’t sound all that new; yet given that we live in a day and age when [these](http://www.policymic.com/articles/56069/a-feminist-takedown-of-robin-thicke-and-anyone-who-thinks-there-s-something-blurry-about-sexism?ref=hyperallergic.com) [things](https://hyperallergic.com/styling-booty-race-class-and-divas/) are considered acceptable — clever and funny, even! — let’s not underestimate our need for such work. Plus, the greatness of “Explicit and Deleted” (above) isn’t only in the video: it’s in the combination of images and words. Here’s the first line of the chorus: “Girl, I love you so / for all your emotional attributes such as your titties.” Add to that the fact that nearly everyone in the video is cross-dressing; Charles’s crazed face as the leading man surrounded by boobs and booties; the interjection of a 25-second incisive social commentary; and the purposefully low production values, and it all adds up to a pitch-perfect satire.

“Naturally Nandie” is similarly successful, though I suspect fewer people will be familiar with its original subject matter. Charles plays a woman offering a tutorial on how style your hair in an up-do, but about halfway through, things get weird: she starts talking about “interactive” hairstyles and placing war action figures on her head. “I’m gonna add this guy who looks a little bit like Jesus — he looks a little bit like what Jesus would look like if he had weapons,” she says comfortably. Is she improvising or working from a carefully written script? Either way, Naturally Nandie soldiers on unfazed.

[Goddess Clap Back: Hip-Hop Feminism in Art](http://www.cueartfoundation.org/2012-goddess-clap-back.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) *continues through August 10 at Cue Art Foundation (137 West 25th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan).*