NEGRO POLITICS: Women Incarcerated for Trafficking: Reading Hiphop's Drug Confessions

L'il Kim, rapper and actress

One of my favorite new blogs, HipHlawg, posted a telling cross analysis on drug confessionals and gender expectation in Los Angeles and New York based crack rap. The sacrifices many women make for their male counterparts in trafficking illuminate an often neglected and insidious side of the drug war story. The author traces an increasing female incarceration rate for drug violations, those women who are down, since the early 90s. Hiphop lyrics detail those confessionals.

Thanks to to Lil Kim and them / you know the women friend

 Who carry the work cross state / for a gentleman

 - Jay-Z, “Roc Boys”

 Of course, the thing about carrying work cross state for your gentleman is that it becomes a crime that occurs in interstate commerce, which is to say a Federal Offense. Which might explain the coincidence of the Drug War with the dramatic increase in the number of “women friends” in federal penitentiaries. To put it to a count:

 Between 1979 and 1993, there was a a 2200% increase in the number of women incarcerated in federal prisons.  68% of all female federal prisoners in 1993 were drug law violators, compared to 20% in 1979.

 It’s actually pretty striking how specific rap references to the women who deal for their men are with respect to the federal nature of these offenses. Bitches play mule in the riskiest, most border-crossing of circumstances – on Amtrak (B.I.G.: “I got my honey on the Amtrak with the crack / in the crack of her ass“); on airplanes (The Game: “Where you at? It ain’t a problem to get it there by tomorrow/ ’cause I got a female friend with frequent flyer mileage”); in airports (Jay-Z: “Destined for greatness / and y’all knew this since I doubled the pie / Had shorty in the girdle comin’ outta BWI“) (referencing Baltimore Washington International Airport).

 It’s quite surprising that the lyrics actually back up these social trends. Perhaps the idea of authenticity in crack rap stood the test? by Michael Krimper 23 November 2009

L'il Kim