Photos: Def MaMa DeF\YouTube Screenshots
Senegal’s female rappers are upending the country’s male-dominated industry. Mamadou Dramé, an academic at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar who has conducted several studies on Senegalese hip-hop, identifies the trend in The Conversation where he explores the genre’s role in popular culture.
Early Senegalese rap was marked by the use of local languages such as Wolof, Serer, Pulaar, and Joola, alongside French and English.
Dramé argues that this helped to attract a wider local audience. Hip-hop’s use as a political tool that shapes opinions has spawned notable female rappers such as award-winning Mamy Victory and Defa, who have collaborated to form Def MaMa Def, as well as Mounaaya, and OMG.
Female rappers are “increasingly asserting their talent and individuality,” writes Dramé.
