Rapper C Cane champions equality

Rap artists can rally us to #ChooseToChallenge

 January 05, 2021

Share your #ChooseToChallenge rap with the world?

What's your #ChooseToChallenge message? Keen to show solidarity in calling out things that aren't right for women?

Watch the #ChooseToChallenge music video above from C Cane ft. Janet Taras, produced by K4CIE.

Listen to the IWD 2021 #ChooseToChallenge rap above by C Cane ft. Janet Taras, produced by K4CIE.

Create your own #ChooseToChallenge rap

Award winning rapper C Cane invites you to submit a #ChooseToChallenge rap throughout the year. 

We all know C Cane's IWD 2021 rap ft. Janet Taras from Speaking Rights rap is pretty amazing right? But we also know there are loads of fabulous rap artists who can create awesome works to amplify the #ChooseToChallenge message - from well-seasoned professionals through to complete novices. Rap is a powerful medium - and it's load of fun.   

So C Cane put the call out inviting rappers worldwide to rap back and forth with her helping forge awareness about the need to #ChooseToChallenge. Or, as mentioned, submit your very own new rap. Tag your rap on social media with #IWDrap #IWD2021 #ChooseToChallenge

Previously C Cane ft Speaking Rights' Janet Taras kicked off an IWD rap - watch last year's rap, hear the call out, read more.

So whether you're a superstar rap artist or novice, post your #ChooseToChallenge rap and share it with us so we can feature your message to the world. 

Oooooh, freestyle it ladies!

Catch the brilliant #IWD2021 freestyle #ChooseToChallenge rap with the ever awesome C Cane - and guru of grime Cassie Rytz (hey, get the go on #cassierytz and see her rap it). 

And for more C Cane, here's one of our oldie goldie favorites from BBC Radio 1Xtra.

Rap is a great medium for key messages 

IMAGE: Award winning rapper C Cane says: "I #ChooseToChallenge anyone that's got the guts to stand up and stop anyone that's prejudice to women."

Rap is a highly influential medium to reach and engage people worldwide with key messages about women's equality. It's also a great call to action.

IWD's Women Creatives Mission invites rap artists worldwide to submit a rap supporting the #ChooseToChallenge theme to help spread positive messaging and encouragement for women's equality and forms part of worldwide awareness raising activity seeking to engage communities in choosing to challenge and call out gender bias, smash stereotypes, fight discrimination - and crush the oppression, repression and suppression of women.

Additionally, featuring and celebrating the work of women rap artists is key - especially in an arena considerably dominated by male counterparts with their complex language choices and controversial concepts. Rap is a medium where all genders can be celebrated, and important messages heard.  

Rap's journey is complex, historically through to present

Much time can be spent explaining the journey of rap and its impact on women, but a quick google search should prove fruitful in covering some of the biggest issues. 2020 was a particularly controversial year for women in rap - and much progressive feminism discussion ensued.

From the birth of rap in the 1970's, widely credited to DJ Kool Herc and his friend Coke La Rock, the genre includes rhyme, rhythm, and spoken language, usually delivered over a beat. Rap bridges the gap between spoken poetry and instrumentation. It is fairly widely accepted that the birth of rap music can be traced back centuries ago to the West African griots, oral historians conveying rhythmic stories of the past over drum beats. Caribbean folk artists also related stories in rhyme, laying the foundation for rap music as we know it today.

The rise of women rap artists 

The first rap video ever broadcast on MTV and the first number-one song in the United States to feature rap vocals was Blondie's "Rapture".  

The 1990s saw an explosion of women MCs and while there was plenty of content antagonizing women, a few stepped forward to shift the tone of rap music for good, paving way for many talented female rap stars.

Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, and Yo Yo kicked off the scene while Da Brat and Lauryn Hill were some of the first women to be officially recognized by mainstream standards, with platinum records and Grammys respectively.

And for some, the message of women's equality has been strong.

Today many talented women artists are widely celebrated - and there's room for many more!

So submit a #ChooseToChallenge IWD 2021 rap

Post your rap on social media tagging it with #IWDrap #IWD2021 #ChooseToChallenge and submit a link. We'll be featuring #ChooseToChallenge raps all year long so send in your rap.