Self-proclaimed "country girl" Pap Chanel is ready to "break the door down" in hip-hop alongside her fellow femcees. The Milledgeville, GA, native burst onto the rap scene back in 2018, eventually ushering in her "Pretty & Paid" female unity movement and album series of the same name. Today, the "Paptivities" rapper's empowering message remains the same as her hopes for the future: seeing women in rap continue their current takeover. For hip-hop's 50th anniversary, Chanel stresses the importance of their contributions to the culture.
What are you most grateful for in today's era of hip-hop?
I love the fact that the door is wide open for us female artists right now. It's crazy because, over the years, we just always been put in this category like, oh, we rap about the same thing. I feel like the men sometimes be hating on us because we come with the full package: we got sex appeal, we got attitude, we got everything that people want. We bring life into the world. So when they see a female that can rap come up in this motherf*cker, they like, "Oh, oh, oh sh*t." Like people take a step back from it. So the fact that the doors are wide open now, everybody is accepting of what we can bring to the table. It's a beautiful time to be alive, and I'm proud to say that I'm gonna be part of this historical moment, because the ladies are winning.
"If we work together, like I said, there's no telling what beautiful things could come out of it."
Who are some women in hip-hop who deserve more of their flowers?
I definitely feel Nicki Minaj deserves more accolades, because she held a career up for a long time. I would also say Trina . . . I feel like she really spoke for us down South female rappers. She paved the way for us, because down South music has a different background than a lot of other regions. [She] was one of the people that popped off and went big on big with it, so I feel like she needs [praise] for that.
What do you hope to see for the future of hip-hop?
It's a lot of us women winning right now, but I would love to see multiple women winning at the same time. Even though the doors are wide open for us ladies, I feel like another thing [we] need to work on is that when you see another lady winning and they open the door for you to do you, you take a win as well. 'Cause if I could do it, you could do it. So I feel like we need to love on each other more . . . support each other and make sure that we keep this historical moment going, because it all is up to us now. 'Cause if we work together, like I said, there's no telling what beautiful things could come out of it.
