The female rapper wasn’t a feature of Tunisia’s typical masculine, Chaubin-list hip-hop scene until the revolution that defeated Jin’s Al Avidin Ben Ali in 2011.
Now, there are some politically conscious female voices rising in the rap scene. Gender Studies scholar Jyhene Kebsi has published a research paper on how their lyrics highlight the multiple inequality that women in Tunisia and the world must overcome.
How have male Tunisian rappers treated women in general in songs and videos?
The gender politics of male rap in Tunisian is complicated, but we can talk about one of the trends. There are men who supported female colleagues and collaborated with them in songs, but their portrayals tend to bring women together into one of two groups. Madonna or prostitute.
Read more: Senegale female rappers don’t interfere with obstacles – who is the rising voice?
This is evident in the use of indecent words that are intended to break down the “fallen” women they rap. Their sexual references can be seen as a way to debate “easy girl and immoral women” who challenge patriarchal norms.
This contrasts with the love and debt they express towards their mothers and sisters. In contrast to Western rap, the mother figure is the heart of Tunisian rap.
The holiness of mothers in Tunisian Muslim culture can be seen in songs full of gratitude to those who brought them into the world.
This reliance on male-centric division between “great” and “no worth” women spreads toxic masculinity that supports harmful gender stereotypes.
This enhances male social domination and female body policing. That being said, it is very important to emphasize that sexism is not limited to the Arab rap scene. As I explain in my paper, many Western male rappers objectify, humiliate and degrade women in their songs.
Who are the four female rappers you argue with?
The four Tunisian female rappers I have analyzed are Sabrina, Medusa, Queen Neslin and Tuney Girl.
There is a general perception that Medusa was Tunisia’s first female rapper. In fact, Sabrina began playing rap in 2007, with other Tunisian female artists joining the rap scene after the 2011 revolution.
Medusa is Tunisia’s most famous female rapper and the West. The move to France boosted her international profile. Tuny Girl and Queen Nesrine have not achieved Medusa or Sabrina’s fame, but have released a powerful feminist song that criticizes the status quo in post-revolutionary Tunisia.
These artists rely primarily on digital media to share songs with the public through social platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. Unfortunately, all four of them are women, so they face opposition.
Rap is considered a masculine musical genre. The first entry of Tunisian women into this male-dominated world was not easily accepted. Female attitudes towards rappers have evolved thanks to the women’s gradual success in attracting a larger fanbase.
However, these four artists share a strong resistance to sexism. Most importantly, while knowing patriarchal pressure, they are conscious of many different forms of oppression that intersect so that women are more equal than men.
This is evident in their songs, which reflects a strong perception of intersectionality.
What is intermittent?
Black feminist Kimbare Crenshaw coined the term “intersectibility” in 1989 to explain the double discrimination that black women face: sexism and racism. So she used the term to discuss multiple forms of inequality that exacerbate herself and create interlocking obstacles that shape the experience of discrimination among black women.
Intersection emphasizes the experience of multiple forms of discrimination when these categories of social identities interact and form each other.
Songs like Hold On see the intersectionality of songs like Medusa raps about illiteracy, political struggle, and motherhood.
I watch floating misery / illiteracy spread and take us from one extreme to the other / Where is the freedom that activists struggled with? /I’m a free Tunisian who exposed my chest to a bullet /I’m a mother and a martial artist mother who hasn’t gotten his revenge.
Or, in her song Arahdli, Sabrina raps about various social illnesses.
Leave me alone / The police will catch you and catch you / A corrupt nation / Don’t believe that unemployment and poverty will not make you happy.
I discovered that what Medusa, Sabrina, Queen Nessrine and Tuney Girl have in common is, as Crenshaw says, reject the “single axis framework.” A one-sided story that alleviates women’s problems only to men and patriarchy.
Instead, these artists highlight the effects of gender inequality, political corruption, unfair laws, ineffective local policies, the collapse of the Tunisian economy, and the damage on the intersection of the country’s vulnerable positions in the world’s geopolitical landscape.
Their songs unite with the realization that the lives of Tunisian women are shaped by all these overlapping structures of force, and are exposed to alienation and discrimination.
Their songs therefore identify hidden, interrelated structural barriers to their freedom. Misogyny is just one of the factors that need to be considered along with other local and global issues when discussing gender politics in Tunisia.
What other new trends do female rappers lead?
Women are at the forefront of Tunisian rap innovation. Take the Lully Snake. She is a Tunisian-Algerian rapper based in Tunisia. The 24-year-old artist was previously a breakdancer. Her passion for hip-hop culture and her love for our artists like Tupac, Cool G-Rap, Queen Latifah and Foxy Brown have started to wrap her.
Like all female rappers in Tunisia, she considers her rap entry to be a long and difficult journey. From 2019, her first song was released in 2024 only.
Lully Snake first uploaded his debut song, Zabatna Kida, on Instagram. Its uniqueness lies in the combination of rap and mahraganat, Egyptian street music that emerged in the Cairo ghetto. Her success allowed her to continue rapping in both Tunisia and Egypt alongside other Western languages and Maghrevian dialects.
Lully Snake’s experiments prove that female rappers are innovating while spreading the message that empowers women. This ultimately concentrated the Tunisian wrap.
