VOA慢速英语2018--说唱女性:“纽约女王”

The Women of Rap: The 'Queen of NY'

In the last few decades, hip-hop has risen to become a multi-billion dollar industry. It was a woman who led the production of the first commercially successful rap track. However, the industry remains¹ unquestionably male dominated. Female rappers usually enjoy less success than men.

A new generation of female emcees, however, is building on the legacy² of women in the industry.

Meet Quay³ Dash, a 25-year-old New York rapper. She describes her music as real and raw. Dash has always been one to speak her mind, she says. And she has always had a mouth.

"I’ve always been the one to express myself…,” she says.

Her sound pulls on the “90s golden-era rap music,” which Quay Dash says she listened to religiously growing up. Her music is also inspired by modern female rappers, like Remy Ma.

“...She’s another female rapper that I’ve always looked up to that I was just like, ‘wow, she’s spitting some hard stuff. This is what I want my music to sound like, real explicit⁴, real raw, like you know, a punch to the gut⁵."

Dash says she first decided⁶ to take her music career seriously when she was about 20. The self-named “Queen of NY” became involved with a music collective. Later, she decided to leave the group for other opportunities.

“Things come and go, and now I’m doing my own thing,” she says.

Now, she is a self-managed artist. That means she does everything herself. Her photographer and videographer, Serena Jara, helps her get things done, too, she says.

In her song “Shades on Top Down, Dash raps in one part:

I don’t care where you go, don’t care how you look// I will never like a post or a pic on the book.

The song is part of her first EP, called “Transphobic.” It was released in 2016. It tells of her lived experiences as a black, transgender woman living in America.

“Those five songs that’s on that EP I just wanted to get it out there and have people listen to it and relate to whatever stories or whatever lyric⁷ that I spit on those tracks."

Dash says that the message behind "Transphobic" was one of self-love. For her and others in the trans community, society can be one of their biggest barriers.

“This is a world where society just kills and you have to be strong enough to just get past that…,” Dash says.

Dash says that her music has made a difference her community. “It definitely has made an impact within my community, you know and definitely in the music industry and I’m glad to have gotten it done."

Her music has earned her an international following. She notes her recent tour in Australia.

“I just feel like, everybody was definitely into it. Everybody was giving me my props⁸ and was proud to see a black, transwoman rap and travel the world."

Dash says the general lack of attention female rappers receive is why she does what she does.

“There’s not many females out there getting as much play as male rappers, and I feel like there definitely, definitely needs to be more of a presence in the female rap community. That’s why I’m here making ‘herstory’ by putting out music and being the best I can be in my role."

I'm Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

dominate - v. to have control of or power over (someone or something)

scene - n. a division of an act in a play during which the action takes place in a single place without a break in time

legacy - n. ?something that happened in the past or that comes from someone in the past?

confident -adj. having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something : having confidence?

era - n. ?a period of time that is associated with a particular quality, event, person, etc.?

inspired -adj. ?having a particular cause or influence?

explicit -adj?. showing or referring very openly to nudity, violence, or sexual activity

punch to the gut - expression. felt very strongly

opportunity - n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

EP - n. ?a musical recording⁹, short extended play record

trans - n. ? of or relating to people who feel that their true nature does not match their sex at birth?, short for transgender

impact - n. a powerful or major influence or effect?

tour - n. a series of related performances, appearances, competitions, etc., that occur at different places over a period of time?

props - n. something that is said to publicly thank and give special attention to someone for doing something : credit or recognition?

herstory - expression. ? history told or considered from a female or feminist¹⁰ perspective.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

3 quay   

n.码头，靠岸处

参考例句：

• There are all kinds of ships in a quay.码头停泊各式各样的船。
• The side of the boat hit the quay with a grinding jar.船舷撞到码头发出刺耳的声音。

4 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

5 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。

8 props   

小道具； 支柱( prop的名词复数 )； 支持者； 道具； （橄榄球中的）支柱前锋

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The government props up the prices of farm products to support farmers' incomes. 政府保持农产品价格不变以保障农民们的收入。

9 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

10 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。