Y'all Making Me Crazy," is the most recent in a long series of efforts, from artists including Drake, Kendrick Lamar, YG, and Future, to challenge the supremacy of rap in hip-hop by putting women at the forefront of the genre. But while she's never quite come as close as many of her contemporaries to securing commercial success, the young rapper certainly possesses enough strength of character and ambition to take such a stance. Rappers routinely claim to be doing this for themselves, as in "I did this shit for me," but Myson's music also speaks to a community and a cause—one that should appeal to anyone who has ever felt marginalized because they're a woman. On "Y'all Making Me Crazy," Myson raps in defiance of those who question whether women should be in hip-hop, and calls out her detractors: "I ain't playing with you niggas, you aint right," she snaps. "I'm gonna keep telling the truth, and just keep trying to make it right for all the girls who have been through it." There's not just a need for this type of music in the world right now. If anything, we're short of a certain type of artist and a certain type of art—in part because people aren't willing to accept artists that speak candidly about themselves in an unflinchingly personal manner. For people like Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, their words are a form of self-expression that they feel no shame in sharing; they're as comfortable sharing the details of their sex lives with millions as they are singing about their struggles in search of acceptance. But it's easy to see why many don't always see that sort of talk as artistically necessary or desirable. It makes them uncomfortable. They don't understand what women (or men) who are honest in their conversations and their lyrics are getting out of it. If you can't share your sexuality with others, why would you want to? There's a certain way to write rap, and women are starting to figure out what that looks like. This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Myson, whose first major breakthrough came in March, has always been willing to take the conversation outside of her lyrical world. The title of her debut album, A Seat at the Table, hints at her desire to contribute to the conversation on a larger scale, as she did with the project's powerful video "Gangsta," which told the story of the Black Lives Matter movement through the eyes of her friend Eric Garner. Her debut is peppered with references to the same issues—police violence, gentrification, and race—that the women rapping on K. Michelle and Cardi B's latest work allude to. She doesn't just have her friends at the table; she's made her own with fellow MCs and rappers such as Joey Bada$$, Rico Nasty, and Phora. On "Y'all Making Me Crazy," she raps of how "the people that can't stand wit' me are the people that ain't on our shit," and continues, "They wanna hate, but they fuckin' with the wrong chick/Suckas talkin' like they some type of man/When I know there's plenty of girls that could do the same." With this type of attitude and ambition, Myson can only go so far without the industry support she needs. Still, it's a promising sign that major hip-hop acts are reaching for more diverse voices. This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. The same could also be said for the direction of hip-hop itself. Just when we thought Drake couldn't release an album without someone calling for a boy-code intervention, he went ahead and made a whole album about a former lover. Just when we thought the music video for Kanye West's "Famous" would just be about his wife, Kim Kardashian, Kim shows up, only to be kidnapped by Donda (West's mother, whose voice Kanye himself plays in the song). Rap is opening up. Artists are being more and more honest about what they want from the industry and from their career. The fact that the genre's most successful acts are finding it increasingly easy to collaborate with women should speak to the desire for change—at least among those who've made the money. The current crop of rappers is proving that it's about far more than money, and this will only help. When rappers like Drake and ScHoolboy Q start paying women as much as they pay their male counterparts and working with them on their projects—as Kanye and J. Cole did this year—it'll show that making music and making money aren't mutually exclusive. These changes won't come over night, and they won't be a result of these two artists or any artists that have done the right thing so far. They're a result of a combination of awareness, awareness, and more awareness. For men and women like Kanye and Kim Kardashian, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, and Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, the fact that they're being vocal about their success is a good sign that the rest of the world will catch up. But women in rap need to do what they can to help move things along. We've waited long enough. These women are ready to do what the women before them couldn't or wouldn't do. They're ready to reap what they sow. This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Gabrielle Blair Gabrielle Blair is a freelance writer and editor with an adoration for all things hair. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io