Member-only story
How the “Bruised” Soundtrack Makes History
The First All-Female Hip-Hop Album — And Why This Is A Moment
Gearing up for its November 24th release, the soundtrack for the highly anticipated movie “Bruised” was released this past Friday. The music project makes history as the first all-female Hip-Hop Album featuring Cardi B, City Girls, Saweetie, Flo Milli, Rapsody, and more. The movies’ leading actor, the iconic Halle Berry, and rapper Cardi B intentionally selected each song featured earning them both the title of executive producer(s) for the soundtrack.
While we celebrate a Hip-Hop first, we can’t ignore how historically the media has been consistent in creating a narrative about women and their ability (or lack thereof) to work collaboratively. This narrative is rooted in a determination to showcase women as difficult. While we have seen many gender-related barriers and biases decrease over the years, gender stereotypes continue to create problems in the progress of women’s careers. This is proven as Hip-Hop continues to be a male-dominated genre and industry. Furthermore, when men feud (regardless if it stems from collaboration tensions or not) it’s charged to the game of Hip-Hop. Afterall, Hip-Hop is beefing and diss tracks. Women instead are labeled catty, drama-filled, and again “difficult to work with”.
