“Tu t’en es pris à la mauvaise go!” [You’re messing with the wrong girl!] Transgressing Gender Norms on the Gabonese Rap Scene

This essay examines the career paths and creative work of the few women who are part of the rap music scene in Libreville (Gabon). The study focuses on questions such as the amount of masculine control that they experience, their identity strategies, and the significance of their artistic work in the broader context of evolving gender relations. The findings suggest that as they negotiate membership in Libreville’s rap circles, these women rappers invent and redefine a number of categories of feminine identity, such as the “tomboy rapper,” the “emancipated woman,” and the “African” woman. Between reproducing accepted standards and transgressing existing social orders, women rappers adopt global feminine models that interrogate gender inequalities via rap music..