The best female rapper may be right here in Athens according to a poll on ryanseacrest.com.
Asking viewers to vote for who they believed to be “The Queen of Rap,” local musician Bailee Moore has claimed the role as No. 1.
The poll went live last Thursday and is set to continue for a week. Moore, a junior studying marketing, has promoted the page to her more than 6,000 Twitter followers, snagging her the No. 1 position in the poll over prominent female rappers Nicki Minaj, Lil’ Kim and Missy Elliot.
“I think there are a lot of people out there that have a lot more talent and experience (than me), especially Nicki Minaj and all those people,” Moore said. “It’s just as shocking to me as I think it is to everyone else … I don’t think I’m better than them, I just think it’s awesome.”
This is not the first time that Moore has been featured on Seacrest’s website. In July 2012 she was featured for her music video “Halo at Home.”
However, fellow musicians in the Athens area, including Hil Hackworth, emcee from Athens hip-hop group Dysfunktional Family, aren’t happy with Moore’s success.
“I’m betting Nicki Minaj and whoever other rappers are on there are not pushing their fans to go vote,” he said. "As far as Athens hip-hop goes, I wish she would claim she's from Cleveland and get her name out of here, because I don't like sharing the same town with her and it's an insult to me."
He added that Jean Grae would be a more respectable candidate for the poll, but she has since fallen to No. 2, right behind Moore.
David Alexander, a DJ for Dave Rave, said that Moore’s success is a testament to how effective social media use can be and added that what might be popular nationally is not always a sell in Athens.
But Moore is used to criticism from people all over the world. Her YouTube viral video “White Girl Raps Fast,” has received a number of positive comments, but has also received offensive ones as well.
Most of the comments are assertions that the video is fake or that it’s “not that fast,” but the most vulgar are comments on her appearance or sexual allure. One of the comments that has received most of the attention, though, insisted that Moore is better than Nicki Minaj.
“There are people that just don’t like women rappers,” Moore said. “There are always going to be those people.”
wh092010@ohiou.edu
