This is what feminism looks like.  It’s listening to and believing in women.  It’s questioning why we (as a society) do things the things we do.  It’s women daring to love ourselves and other women; radical behavior in the face of a  culture who’s economy capitalizes on our own self-hatred.

If events like Ladies Of Sound show us anything, it’s that the future of DJing is female.  My dear friend DJ Crykit came all the way from Vegas to attend said event at The Beat Junkies Institute of Sound in Los Angeles, and with her brought one of the most important questions of the night.  She asked our panel how, as female DJs do we deal with playing music that violently degrades women?  I am still thinking about the ramifications of this idea and feel compelled to bring it up to our community at large.  

You don't need to lose shit, baby. You're fine as hell just the way you are.

"You may be 18, but to an 8 year old you are an OG." -Chuck D

I was swaying back and forth, hitting all the notes, feeling myself.  But a few lines in, I noticed the look of sheer terror on my mom’s face.  ‘Dang’, I thought in my little baby head, ‘Am I f-ing up right now?’  (In my memory, baby Ry has a gangster inner monologue.  I don’t remember if I finished the song.  All I came away with was feeling like I had done something truly wrong.

That was the last time I sang.