Ladies Who Launch "Local Boston female rappers showcase their talent at release party" [Press Release]

 

Questions about the presence of female urban music talent in Boston should end today.

Twenty-six female rappers and r&b singers have joined forces as the Major Ladies of Boston to release the compilation album “Murder She Wrote,” with a record release party at Church tonight. Organized by producer, photographer and Smokehouse Media boss Jay Hunt, the project grew out of the original five-member Major Ladies of Boston crew that recorded the Red Sox [team stats] anthem “M.L.B.” in 2008.
“It’s not like I’m Diddy or Russell Simmons,” Hunt said at Cybersound Studios last week. “Anybody who has enough respect and a good rapport with the scene could have done it. It’s just filling a void as far as the female presence and the respect. We need to be empowering, and I have the ability, so I’m gonna try to bring people together.”

The project shatters notions that women can’t work cooperatively and provides a platform for female performers who often go overlooked — or are viewed simply as eye candy.

“It’s challenging as a female in a male-dominated scene to really make your presence here,” said Cambridge crooner Nancia. “We need to support each other, we need to come to each other’s shows and really show Boston and the rest of the world that females are not just icons or sex symbols. We’re artists, we have a craft, we’re talented and we’re here to execute. We’re not here to chill and look pretty.”
Boston emcee Carmen Cobain, a member of the Hitmakerz squad, hopes the collaboration will help catapult Hub females to the forefront.

“Boston is known to be competitive,” said Cobain. “Whether it’s the female game or the male game, there’s always that competitiveness, which kind of makes people not want to work together. Ultimately this could be a huge thing. Instead of all the ‘OK, I don’t like you because you’re my main competition,’ we could take it over.”

Boston singer Shea Rose says the local situation reflects a national trend, pointing to the all-male lineup at JAM’N 94.5’s recent Summer Jam concert.

“I think it’s lacking in the industry in general for women to have a voice and be represented,” Rose said, “because there’s no way that you should go to a major concert and there’s 10 guys on the bill and all the women are doing is dancing behind them. So it’s great for us to start within our communities and make it a national effort. We need to infiltrate as a whole.”

The ladies also hope the project will put the focus on their music, not their visual appeal.
“As females they expect a certain thing from you,” said Medford rapper/singer Boo Gorjus. “They expect you to be like Lil’ Kim taking squat shots. But we’re more than thongs and lingerie and boobs. It’s really sad, because they don’t take you seriously.”

Boston rapper/singer Letia Larok said the project is not about male-bashing, it’s about proving the female talent people are searching for already exists.

“I think right now is a perfect time for females to come together, because a lot of people are wondering where are all the female emcees,” Larok said, “and they’re here. They’re definitely here.”
“That’s why this was a good idea,” added Roxbury rapper Iyadonna. “Because people ask ‘Where are the females?’ Well this is the answer.”

Major Ladies of Boston album release party, at Church, tonight at 7. Tickets $10. Go to facebook.com/MajorLadiesofBoston for the full lineup.