Music Video Monday… Invincible – Sledgehammer

by Devil’s Food Cake

Welcome to women in hip-hop week at TMC! Let me just say, when Fairy Cake suggested this last week, I nearly screamed with joy. We all know that it’s a far too common fact that women in the genre get forgotten or passed over, more often than not for men who do half the job. So consider this a sort of celebration of some awesome, totally under-appreciated women in hip-hop.

First up, it is, of course, Music Video Monday. Now, politics aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, and all too often we find that musicians, if they attempt to address political subjects at all, either go for the safe, uncontroversial topics (eg. the Bob Geldof route) or do something insincere and totally contrived. Enter Invincible, a Jewish American rapper based in Detroit, who is, to be frank, a total breath of fresh air.

With her sharp beats and incredibly astute rhymes, Invincible has removed herself from the hackneyed, tits-and-ass, money-fuelled orgy that so many of her contemporaries seem to, literally, sing for. Intensely political she minces none of her words when it comes to issues she’s passionate about, be it the marginalization of poorer communities in Detroit or the human rights crimes committed by the Israeli government in Palestine. Plus, she’s gay. Forgive me for being more than a little in love right now.

How sharp was that? I’ve had it on repeat since I found it. And what can I say? I love a woman in a keffiyeh. Hope your appetites are whetted for the rest of the week – it’s gonna be a big one.