Event Description
Image courtesy of Carletta G Photography.
“Black Women Queering the
Mic: Missy Elliott Disturbing the Boundaries of Racialized Sexuality and
Gender” elaborates on how Grammy award-winning rapper Missy Elliott (“Get
Ur Freak On”) has disturbed the boundaries around what is understood to
be “appropriate” for black women within and outside of hip-hop culture.
Dr. Nikki Lane discusses how Missy “queers” hip-hop, or questions
heteronormativity, and exposes its fault lines. This queering, Lane argues,
allows Elliott to boldly place her body, voice, and art at the center of a more
expanded vision of hip-hop where anybody can grab the mic. Lane concludes
with how Elliott dares us to listen to the beautiful art black women
can make when they “synthesize” their experiences of race, gender,
and sexuality.
Free and open to the public