7 Hot Tracks From a New Generation of Female Rappers

Dear listeners,

In April 2018, the same week that the Bronx superstar Cardi B released her debut album, “Invasion of Privacy,” Complex magazine published an essay by the writer Kiana Fitzgerald that explored a longstanding question: “Why can there only be one dominant woman in rap?”

The answer, naturally, was sexism. It was the same old story: The rivalry between Cardi and Nicki Minaj just felt like a new generation’s Foxy Brown vs. Lil’ Kim. Male rappers, Fitzgerald argued, “have free rein in the genre and — consciously or subconsciously — want to keep it that way.” She added, “when women are pitted against each other, they’re occupied and out of the way, ensuring they take up as little space as possible.”

It’s remarkable how much has changed since then. In the six years since that essay was published, an entire vanguard of female rappers has come to the fore, proving that more is more. Megan Thee Stallion and Ice Spice have become household names — and done so with markedly different styles that rep their respective hometowns of Houston and New York City. The St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red has transcended her initial co-sign from Drake to become a solo star on her own. Latto, from Atlanta, has commanded airplay with catchy hooks and lively bars; the Memphis-born GloRilla has found success with a harder-edged approach, leaning into the gravelly grit of her signature drawl.

Today’s playlist celebrates the many female voices in the current rap game. And I do mean current: It’s composed entirely of songs released in the past few months, a testament to the fact that one of the most notable trends in music right now is the steady plurality of female rappers on the charts.

It’s 7 p.m. Friday, it’s 95 degrees,

Lindsay

Listen along while you read.

1. Megan Thee Stallion featuring Yuki Chiba: “Mamushi”

A devoted anime and manga fan who has never seemed happier than when she was presenting at the Crunchyroll Awards in Tokyo earlier this year, Megan Thee Stallion pays studious homage to Japanese culture on “Mamushi,” the fourth in a series of serpentine singles from her recently released third album, “Megan.” (The song’s title refers to a venomous viper native to Japan — a character Megan embodies in the steamy music video.) In addition to that breathy earworm of a chorus, the bilingual “Mamushi” features a slick verse from the Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba.

▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube

2. Ice Spice: “Popa”

Though last year she made memorable guest appearances on pop hits from Taylor Swift and PinkPantheress, the Bronx star Ice Spice sticks to her drill roots on “Y2K,” the debut album she released last month. Saucy, straightforward and occasionally indulging in her signature scatological sense of humor, “Y2K” eschews any grand artistic statements and instead emphasizes the off-the-cuff flow and shrugging, nonchalant attitude that make her stand out.

▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube

3. GloRilla: “TGIF”

“It’s 7 p.m. Friday, it’s 95 degrees,” Memphis’s GloRilla raps in the opening moments of this current hit, setting the scene for a party anthem that captures the intoxicating feeling of a summer weekend just begun. Rihanna is such a vocal fan of “TGIF” that it prompted her to DM GloRilla a question she admitted was “wild hypocritical”: “when the album drop?”

▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube

4. Sexyy Red: “Get It Sexyy”

Fresh off a pair of collaborations with Drake, the audacious St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red scored her first solo Top 40 hit with this bouncy standout from her 2024 mixtape “In Sexyy We Trust.” Tay Keith’s brassy, bass-heavy production complements her braggadocious energy.

▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube

5. Tierra Whack: “Imaginary Friends”

Philly’s Tierra Whack first commanded attention in 2018 with “Whack World,” a 15-minute collection of bite-size tracks (and music video ideas) that showcased her boundless, cartoonish imagination. Earlier this year, she finally released a proper debut album, “World Wide Whack,” a moody, tuneful LP that oozes with her singular personality. Like much of her best work, “Imaginary Friends” is at once fanciful and melancholic: Here, Whack summons the inner strength to laugh in the face of loneliness.

▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube

6. Latto: “S/O to Me”

This vulnerable, nimbly rapped confessional — which may or may not contain some jabs at another artist on this playlist — closes out “Sugar Honey Iced Tea,” the just-released third LP from the Atlanta-based hitmaker Latto. “To the next girl with dreams of making some bold moves,” she spits, after enumerating her own struggles breaking into a male-dominated industry, “the love they never showed me is the love that I’ll show you.”

▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube

7. GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B: “Wanna Be (Remix)”

Finally, let’s close with a trio of the hottest female rappers of the moment sharing the mic on this remix of GloRilla’s fiery single “Wanna Be.” After a reliably hilarious opening verse from Cardi B (“My toes white like Matthew McConaughey”), Meg and Glo trade lines dismissing their imitators with purring confidence and clever wordplay. What’s better than one rap queen? How about three on the same track.

▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube

“7 Hot Tracks From a New Generation of Female Rappers” track list
Track 1: Megan Thee Stallion featuring Yuki Chiba, “Mamushi”
Track 2: Ice Spice, “Popa”
Track 3: GloRilla, “TGIF”
Track 4: Sexyy Red, “Get It Sexyy”
Track 5: Tierra Whack, “Imaginary Friends”
Track 6: Latto, “S/O to Me”
Track 7: GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B, “Wanna Be (Remix)”

Bonus Tracks

Speaking of female rappers, the one and only Missy Elliott brought her first-ever headlining tour to Brooklyn on Monday night. Jon Caramanica reviewed the show (and named it a Critic’s Pick) and Joe Coscarelli spoke to Elliott about the tour’s many inspirations (Bootsy Collins, “The Fifth Element” and Liberace, to name a few).

And this week’s Friday Playlist spotlights quite a few new high-profile duets: Lady Gaga teams up with Bruno Mars; Post Malone hitches a ride with Chris Stapleton; and Chloe pairs with Mars’s Silk Sonic counterpart, Anderson .Paak. Listen to those songs and more here.