(AllHipHop News) A lot of female artists in Hip Hop have had to deal with constant questioning on whether they write their own lyrics. That attention on women penning their own words extends to other genres as well. Country/pop singer Taylor Swift addressed what she sees as a double standard when it comes to the lack of scrutiny on male entertainers’ songwriting ability.
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Swift spoke with Time for the magazine’s cover story, and the “Shake It Off” performer defended herself and other female entertainers. During the discussion, she brought up two rap stars that have had to deal with accusations they did not write their own material.
And we all know it’s a feminist issue. My friend Ed [Sheeran], no one questions whether he writes everything. In the beginning, I liked to think that we were all on the same playing field. And then it became pretty obvious to me that when you have people sort of questioning the validity of a female songwriter, or making it seem like it’s somehow unacceptable to write songs about your real emotions—that it somehow makes you irrational and overemotional—seeing that over the years changed my view. It’s a little discouraging that females have to work so much harder to prove that they do their own things. I see Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea having to prove that they write their own raps or their own lyrics, and it makes me sad, because they shouldn’t have to justify it.
Recently, the idea of emcees using co-writers became news when one of the culture’s all time greats was honest about getting help for at least one of his classic songs. At a recent concert, Hip Hop legend Nas explained to the crowd why he needed his brother Jungle to provide lines for his Stillmatic track “One Mic.”
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