Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries decided to celebrate Women’s History Month in a new way this year by honoring his favorite female rappers.
“In every field of human endeavor, women excel when given a fair shot. It’s true in politics, business, science, academia and Hip Hop,” he explained. “With [Donald Trump] in the White House, Hip Hop is a great escape.”
Jeffries pushes for change in Washington, D.C. that will benefit his community back home, but he’s also an avid music fan whose taste ranges from old school favorites like Salt-N-Pepa, to indie darlings like Young MA. For the first 10 days of Women’s History Month, Jeffries is celebrating one female artists who has dropped a hot verse on a memorable track.
So far Jeffries has shown love to Eve and Monie Love, and he promises to highlight several artists from his hometown of Brooklyn and the neighboring borough of Queens.
Though highlighting female emcees is a fun way to celebrate their contributions to the culture, Jeffries is also using this exercise to fight for artists’ rights.
“In honor of these women and the entire creative community, I am championing the Music Modernization Act in the House of Representatives, which will help ensure that artists, songwriters and creators will be fairly compensated for their music,” he wrote on Medium.
He continued, “Shirley Chisholm demonstrated that women can excel with might and power in Washington. On these groundbreaking Hip Hop collaborations, often while competing against other rap icons, the phenomenal female MC performances on the TOP TEN list show the world what Black Girl Magic is all about.”