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Jean Grae Attacks

Jean Grae hates the term "femcee" and Hip-Hop's penchant for intentional mispellings .

by Douglas Passion | 2002.10.19

Jean Grae's album "Attack of the Attacking Things" is currently available in marvelous records stores everywhere.

You're one of the women in a genre populated by horny teenager males. Is there any way a female emcee is not going to be judged on her appearance?

It's interesting; I don't present myself that way. I don't push first that I'm a female emcee. Obviously, I'm a female - I don't have to say it. I just think there's so much to talk about and so many topics in emceeing generally that hasn't been done or isn't being touched upon that when I present myself, it's not image-wise. It's definitely the music. And I think if you portray yourself and represent yourself in that way, you shouldn't a problem. Of course image is a big thing, but I'm trying to change the game a little bit and get everybody to listen up first.

At the same time, when I go to hiphop sites and there's a mention of Jean Grae, there's always inevitably three of four comments saying 'oh, she's cute'.

[In low-pitched male voice] Oh word? What she look like, son? Yo, I'd do her.

They don't say 'check out the new RJD2 album -- he's hot'.

[Still in low pitched voice] I saw him last week; I would totally do him. [Resumes regular voice] Hey, boys will be boys. And that's all good and fine unless it's brought directly to my face. You can't really stop the hormones. If you don't want to cop the album because you don't think I'm cute, then I kind of don't want your sales anyway. Or if you're going to sit home and have fun with 'Hands On Experience' and some lotion, go right ahead - don't tell me about it and don't give me a pound.

Do you think a female emcee can ascend to stardom without viewed as sexually attractive by that male audience?

We'll see, we'll see.

That's denying then, that Jean Grae can be a sex symbol?

Oh, good Lord, don't say that. Good Lord, no sex symbol status. I hope not. I kind of think it's all in the mind of the listener. If you choose to put me there, that's great and that's fine, but I'm not going to put myself there. Although, when I did pose in a bikini in a vat of vanilla pudding for The Source, I wasn't really thinking about the sex symbol thing.

But guys like Jay-Z and DMX purposefully go the other direction and become sex symbols for women, homothugs, etc.

[Laughter] I am a female and there's nothing wrong with feeling sexy and being sexy at times, I just think there's a time and a place for everything. Obviously, if I'm going out or it's a fashion spread in a magazine, they hey, give me some sassy clothes. I'm a girl; I like to play dress up. But if I'm getting on stage, it's normally going to be some sweats and a t-shirt. Listen - don't stare at my tits.

In hiphop, you hear the phrase 'she's good - for a girl' pretty frequently. Do you think women artists are patronized?

Yeah, I do. But I also think, in a lot of ways, we've kind of been doing it to ourselves as well. I really don't like to represent things that are necessarily all female showcase or an 'all-female deejay extravaganza'. If we're not being such separatists, it would start to be easier to be considered as equals. I always try to present myself as such. There's no getting on stage 'Where my ladies at? This one's for the ladies.' Obviously, you're looking on stage - I'm a girl. We don't have to take about it; let's get on with it.

Are you tired of discussing your gender?

Pretty much.

On not one, but two songs on your album you utter the phrase 'It's not gangster, it's right.' What's the importance of that idiom?

It was that vein of three, fours years -- the whole 'keep it real' bit. You know what? Real to so many different people is so many different things. However one person is living their life may not be considered 'real' to for another one. I live right and I do right by my standards and morals and that's what's important to me. The 'gangster' bit was actually coming out of people saying 'What What is switching over to Jean Grae - what is she, gangster now?' Obviously, you guys aren't rally listening, I'm saying exactly the same things I was saying. When 'Baseball' came out, I was like 17,18 - I sound young and my voice sounds a lot lighter. I think in the few years it's taken for me to release something, I've definitely had a lot of growth experiences and I'm definitely a lot more cynical towards the world in general. It definitely comes through in the music.

I would have thought it was the other way around - you came out as What What following Nore's success. She's the 'Super Thug'.

Yeah, that was another reason. [Laughter] It was getting a little tired.

But did it give you a new pronunciation - 'Wha' Wha'' instead of 'What What'?

Oh, God, no. It was always What What - and never with the w-h-u-t. like Whut? Thee Album. Not Redman. I'm totally against the spellings of some hiphop names…the 'Da' instead of 'the'.

So should we take this as major beef-starting words against the whole Duck Down crew?

[Laughter] No, no, no, 'cause they're family - no, I can't say anything. Although I have made fun of Evil Dee for Da Beatminerz but it's okay.

It's not just them -- the Smif-N-Wesson albums have some egregious spelling errors too. Or Fabolous - some young kids are not going to know how to spell the word 'fabulous'.

I can't even talk about that anymore. If you are going to spell something wrong, must you spell it wrong in every song? Do you have to keep repeating it? I'm a big grammar and spelling fan. It's a pet peeve and it really grates on my nerves when people do that.

You mentioned the cynicism in your music. Speaking to you now, you don't seem to have as much pain or bitterness.

A lot of music at the time…I feel like rhyming for me has to be very personal. If I'm not speaking exactly what's on my mind or getting that out, I'm not really doing my job. I consider it 'talk therapy' for me. So I'm not going crazy and I'm not going insane - as soon as things happen I right them down and I get them out. It was sort of a crappy time, a crappy period. It was really good for me to get everything out. It's nice to know that people can relate to those songs the most. It would be nice if more people did that. When I listen to music, I don't want to listen to it unless it's making me feel some sort of emotion. That's the first thing I try to carry over in my music. Right now I'm at a happy time - so maybe happy beats for the next album.

You say a lot of personal things on your records. Do you think you'll ever look back and say "maybe I shouldn't have divulged so much"?

Oh, no. I think the worst I ever did was Len's album. There's a song 'Love Venom'. The verse is about this guy who had just dumped me -- it was a pretty horrible verse. And at the end, I shouted out his cel phone number. Lots of people called and he had to have his phone shut off. And I don't regret it. We're actually friends now.

So you're not someone people should have on their bad side?

Probably not. Mental note - don't piss Jean off. I warned him, I told him…but he didn't want to listen.

What inspired the cel phone thing?

He wasn't picking it up when I was calling it and it was pissing me off. So I figured I'd get other people to call it. And they did a wonderful job.

As an artist who is fairly underground, how did it make you feel to learn you had listeners who would call a number you put on a record?

It's really wonderful. I really do appreciate the listeners. The hardcore fans remember things that I don't totally don't remember, like making references to verses - and I'm like 'I have no idea what you're talking about, I'll take your word for it.' But it's a good thing, it's nice.

What pushed you into being an emcee?

Everybody that was in my, to use the hiphop term, cipher was either emcees or poets. No one looked at it when we were hanging out like 'hey, this is my female friend.' Those are my peoples. I never would really spit in a cipher or anything, I'd go home and write and I was more trying to do creative writing and short stories and spoken word. I was a little more into the production at that point. I just started writing and figuring out 'hey, you know, I'm kind of nice, I could possibly do this.'

Musically what were you listening to at the time?

It was a happy little Tribe Called Quest/Organized Konfusion time. Everything else that came out around that time was definitely really good. It was just a good feeling and a good time to be around hiphop. Like the '92. '93,'94 era…Wu-Tang and Nas and Reasonable Doubt. All that music was coming out. Groups that I was listening to before, via my brother's record collection, would be KRS and G Rap and Ultramagnetic. And Kool Keith was someone who [made me say] 'it's okay to be a little off, and kind of do you own thing'. Well, okay, maybe not a little off. Off.

Saying Kool Keith is a 'little off' is giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Yeah, but this was 'Poppa Large' time. So he was only a little off. Just a straightjacket, hanging upside down lightbulbs kind of off.

Do you feel that same type of vibe in hiphop now?

No, I don't. It's definitely much more of a party trendy pop era. And I don't see anything wrong with that when it's time to be in the club. I definitely don't want to hear any hard-pressed issues when I'm in the club - I just want to fuckin' dance. I've haven't been really listening to a lot of hiphop lately, especially when making the album. I kind of wanted to tune everything out and just worry about me. When you listen to people too much, you record something and you're like 'that sounded a little too much like what I just heard on the radio'. I think it's interesting that a lot of the generation that's listening to the music right now doesn't know how to distinguish between between what is pop…and rap music. I think there's going to be a change.

Some of the stuff is good. I recommed 50 Cent's album for some thug shit.

I like 50 Cent. I really like him. I love artists who just don't care. Sometimes the ignorant records are really really good. But he's nice. And he got shot nine times. I'm a hater of shit that sucks. I don't think Nelly is a prolific artist, but I'll fuckin' dance my ass off to "Hot in Herr" when it comes on in the club. You know what I don't understand? The Taliban. 'Look, our leader wears pink'.

Their album is also called Ground Zero. A flashback to your old days.

I just think that is the most ignorant shit ever. There's a difference between Nore ignorant, 'in the ocean where the sharks be at,' and the Taliban. Definitely a fuckin' difference. Sometimes I weep for my people.

We all understand the tradition of emcees using dictator's names. It probably is a little soon for Taliban.

I was giving it at least, like, two years.

It not like their crew was named 'Taliban' before September. You don't think Jewelz Santana was aware of Middle Eastern politics prior to then?

In that new book, Road to Kabul, he does have a mentioned footnote.

You don't seem to have that whole hatred complex that a lot of underground artists have.

The curse of the underground is hating people who actually try to make a career. Kids who loved Mos Def totally hate him now. Kids who really, really liked Pharoahe and Organized Konfusion -- now they're like 'I don't feel him now'. Now that people can eat, you don't fucking like them anymore? It happens a lot.

Is there more hostility coming from the underground towards the commercial side than vice verse?

Definitely. Those commercial cats don't care, they're doing their only thing. I can respect that. I think a lot of underground cats need to stop worrying about what the next man is doing. Just worry about you.

When underground heads find out Jean Grae dances to Nelly, will hell break loose?

I really don't care. I'm a grown woman. Underground has this whole thing like 'ooh, we don't like to party, we don't like girls'. But you know what, stop it. If it's good music and you feel like dancing to it, what's the harm in liking it?

What is the attraction of virgins to underground hiphop?

I don't know. Maybe a whole bunch of other nerds listening to music so you sort of feel at home? There's a big geek-a-thon going on. That's not my thing. I'm a party head, I like to go out. Sometimes you have to get off the Internet and walk outside. It would be good.

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