Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop

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Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop
Ladies First Netflix.png
Genre Documentary
Directed by
Narrated by Rapsody
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4
Production
Executive producers
Running time36-48 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Netflix
ReleaseAugust 9, 2023 (2023-08-09)

Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop is an American docuseries co-produced by Carri Twigg, Raeshem Nijhon, dream hampton, [a] and Hannah Beachler. The four-part series is a comprehensive history of the role of women in hip-hop from the genre's inception to present day. Several writers, archivists, and prolific emcees (including Queen Latifah, Saweetie, and Kash Doll) provide commentary throughout the series. It was released on Netflix on August 9, 2023.

Contents

Synopsis

"The series wrestles with a perennial question for Black women across all genres in music: How can women who are so influential in pop culture also be so mistreated and underappreciated?" [1] Rapsody is the series narrator. [2] Commentary is provided by writers such as Kierna Mayo, Brittney Cooper, and Joan Morgan, [2] as well as various rappers including Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Sha-Rock, Rah Digga, Roxanne Shanté, Monie Love, Yo-Yo, Remy Ma, Da Brat, Kash Doll, Latto, Coi Leray, Tierra Whack, Rapsody, Chika, and Saweetie. [3]

Episodes

No.Title  [4] Directed byOriginal air date  [4]
1"Shaping Hip-Hop" Hannah Beachler & Naeshem RijohnAugust 9, 2023 (2023-08-09)
The first episode centers the contributions of women to hip-hop since its inception, including interviews with pioneers Sha-Rock and MC Lyte. [5]
2"What Are They Up Against?"Hannah BeachlerAugust 9, 2023 (2023-08-09)
This episode shares the double standards female emcees have experienced and the barriers they face to build legitimacy in the music industry.
3"What Have They Lost?" dream hampton & Giselle BaileyAugust 9, 2023 (2023-08-09)
Episode three focuses on the erasure of Black women's contributions to hip-hop, exploitation in the music industry, as well as incidents of violence and abuse that have been ignored or dismissed.
4"What's Changing?"Giselle Bailey & Carri TwiggAugust 9, 2023 (2023-08-09)

Production

Ladies First was developed by Carri Twigg and Raeshem Nijhon of the production company Culture House, who wanted to create a series about women in hip-hop. [5] Hannah Beachler also served as co-director and co-executive producer alongside dream hampton. [1] [5] Additional producers include Troy Carter, MC Lyte, Nicole Galovski, Justin Simien, and Jennifer Ryan. [3]

Although hampton initially declined to participate when approached by Twigg and Nijhon, she eventually agreed to produce because the duo "was willing to complicate" the narrative of how "revolutionary" the genre can be with its "broken gender politics." [6] The documentary includes the triumphs of women trailblazers as well as the history of abuse and misogyny endured by women in the scene. [6]

The series is named after the song "Ladies First" by Queen Latifah. [5] The producers had difficulty finding a network to greenlight the series, until it was ultimately picked up by Jamila Farwell of Netflix. [5]

Release

The series was released on Netflix on August 9, 2023, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. [6]

Critical reception

Ladies First received positive reception. In a mainly positive review, Kyndall Cunningham wrote for The Daily Beast , "the series doesn’t tread new historical territory or extract fresh insights or experiences from its interviewees; rather, it seems more focused on creating a definitive record about where female rappers stand and how far they’ve come. For any young music fanatic trying to understand our current cultural moment, it’s a good start." [1] Shelli Nicole wrote in a positive review for Vogue , "You don’t have to be familiar with the work of the women in Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop in order to watch the docuseries and find yourself in it. It’s a love letter, a sharing of history, and even a business plan by a group of Black women for the Black women—of all generations—who are watching." [7] El Hunt gave Ladies First 4/5 stars in the Evening Standard and wrote: "At times, Ladies First’s sequencing could be tightened up, and it would perhaps work better as a feature-length documentary rather than a mini-series...The fact that this is likely down to the breadth of insight offered by its fascinating line-up of contributors makes it an easy enough flaw to excuse. With so much male-dominated hip-hop history to set right, Ladies First has a big task on its hands, and largely pulls it off." [8]

Awards and nominations

Notes

  1. ↑ She stylizes her name in all lower case.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Cunningham, Kyndall. "'Ladies First' Is a Crash Course in How Women Shaped Hip-Hop". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 "MC Lyte and Dream Hampton Want to Remind You That Women Shaped Hip-Hop". ELLE. 2023-08-09. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  3. 1 2 Inman, DeMicia (2023-07-25). "Netflix Shares 'Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop' Trailer". VIBE.com. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  4. 1 2 "Ladie's First". The Futon Critic . Retrieved August 20, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 LeDonne, Rob (2023-08-09). "'Women helped build this': celebrating the ladies of hip-hop". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  6. 1 2 3 Andrews-Dyer, Helena (2023-08-14). "With 'Ladies First,' dream hampton complicates the history of women in hip-hop". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  7. ↑ Nicole, Shelli (2023-08-17). "A New Netflix Docuseries Takes on the Unsung Legacy of Women in Hip-Hop". Vogue. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  8. ↑ Hunt, El (2023-08-08). "Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop review: resets the record". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  9. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (2023-10-16). "Critics Choice Documentary Awards: 'American Symphony' Leads With Six Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  10. ↑ "IDA Documentary Awards 2023 Winners & Nominees | International Documentary Association". www.documentary.org. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  11. ↑ "Nominees Announced for the 55th NAACP Image Awards | NAACP". naacp.org. 2024-01-25. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
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