FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Kitty Pryde Might Have Gotten Booed Last Night, But She's Still Winning

So while what happened last night was unpleasant, it’s important to keep the long view on this. Kitty spit to several hundred people whether some of them wanted her there or not and that fact is more important than a few dudes feeling some kind of way abo

Last night Danny Brown and Kitty (neé Pryde) played Irving Plaza in New York. I wasn’t there, but the word is some dumbfucks, apparently inspired by recent events, decided it would be cool to start a “Suck his dick!” chant in the middle of Kitty’s set. It was not. It would be easy to spend a few hundred words raining fire upon the patriarchy’s grip of rap music, but I’m gonna keep it positive: no matter how certain douchebags felt about it, it’s still very important that Kitty was even onstage last night.

Advertisement

People, like all animals, hate change. When you move to a new apartment, it takes your dog like a week before he gets his bearings again. When you change your cat’s food, she pukes for two days straight. And when you put a white girl who reps her femininity in front of a crowd at a rap show, it makes them uncomfortable. They snarl and bite and get all like, “What the fuck dude?”

Danny Brown specifically requested that Kitty be his opener on tour. It wasn’t a particularly great move from a business standpoint; there are plenty of rappers who would have made more sense. I’m not going to front like I know anyone’s motivation here, but the facts on paper are that putting Kitty on was a bold move.

Women who want to rap have better prospects now than they ever have. The Internet has enabled a flourishing indie rap culture where women can make rap music on their own terms without label reps convinced they need to be Lil Kim to move units. But in this age of microtargeting, this scene could easily get coralled into some kind of Camo Lillith Fair. And it would probably sell a lot of tickets. Meanwhile, rap dudes would continue to share bills with other rap dudes. Nobody has to see anything they don’t like and nobody has to leave their little comfort zone. Danny Brown raps about eating pussy and snorting every pill he can find, but this move against the status quo is way more provocative than his lyrics.

So while what happened last night was unpleasant, it’s important to keep the long view on this. Kitty spit to several hundred people whether some of them wanted her there or not and that fact is more important than a few dudes feeling some kind of way about it.

Skinny Friedman is a writer and DJ living in Brooklyn. He's on Twitter - @skinny412