Spatializing Black Girlhood

Rap Music and Strategies of Refusal

in Girlhood Studies
Author:
Asilia Franklin-Phipps State University of New York at New Paltz, USA franklia@newpaltz.edu

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4976-0364
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2022.150107
Keywords:
aesthetics; culture; gender; race; resistance; respectability
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Abstract

In this article, I begin by taking seriously the cultural contributions that Black women and girls make to hip-hop, thereby shifting the sociocultural and political landscape. Black girls and women do this in a variety of ways, but here I focus on how Black women rappers model and perform multiple embodied refusals that expand the possibilities for Black girls. Inspired by the cultural force of the current moment in hip-hop that is increasingly dominated by young Black women, I reflect on how Black women rappers reconstitute space through performance, music, and performances rooted in practices of refusal.

Contributor Notes

Asilia Franklin-Phipps (ORCID: 0000-0002-4976-0364) is an assistant professor in the Department of Education Studies and Leaderships and an affiliate in the Art Department at the State University of New York at New Paltz. She graduated from the University of Oregon and holds a PhD in critical sociocultural studies in education. Her research interests are affect, space, and pedagogy as entangled art, popular culture, race, gender, and pedagogy, both in and out of schools. She is a dedicated fan of many genres of popular music, including rap music. Email: franklia@newpaltz.edu

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Girlhood Studies

An Interdisciplinary Journal

Cover Girlhood Studies
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
16
Keywords:
aesthetics; culture; gender; race; resistance; respectability
Print Publication Date:
01 Mar 2022
Online Publication Date:
01 Mar 2022
Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022

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