Sister Souljah

Sister Souljah, activist, emcee, and author, is a Hip Hop icon and archetype. The publication of No Disrespect in 1995 marked a shift in women's narratives in Hip Hop discourse. Hip Hop's everywoman, Sista Souljah was firmly rooted in Hip Hop and African American aesthetics. Black nationalist rhetoric undoubtedly influenced Souljah's discourse. Souljah's grounding in Hip Hop aesthetics, however, offered a fresh, slightly feminist perspective on Hip Hop aesthetics. She built upon a foundation laid by early women Hip Hop artists such as Roxanne Shante, Queen Latifah, and Monie Love. The Coldest Winter Ever, as a post-modern, feminist Hip Hop text, is also an important cultural marker in terms of African American women's engagement of Hip Hop culture. Her realist portrayal of Winter written in Wrightian, realist tradition provides a female voice within the 90s male-dominated Hip Hop discourse. Souljah utilizes call-and-response modalities to engage African American men. Her protagonist, Winter, struggles to navigate through the post modern, post industrial urban landscape. Souljah addresses African American relationships and sexuality, as well as misogyny to Hip Hop culture and the postindustrial crack economy.