Rapper ENNY’s song, Keisha's and Brenda’s, brings the important issue of sexual assault to the forefront.
Rap’s job is to raise the culture’s consciousness. Since its inception, it has served as a conduit for important cultural movements and conversations, sometimes done calmly and sometimes aggressively. Often people associate rap’s biggest movements like the Stop the Violence movement with male emcees, but rap’s female emcees have never shied away from delivering thoughtful and challenging content. Queen Latifah’s “UNITY” and Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop That Thing”, come to mind, as well as Eve’s “Love is Blind”.
Music streams and metrics are influencing artists now more than ever to compromise value for money. ENNY isn’t one of them. Ever since her first single, “Peng Black Girl”, she’s stayed true to delivering positive messages through her music. Her newest single, “Keisha's and Brenda’s”, takes the cake. Brash and direct, ENNY takes aim at one of the black community’s most persistent issues: sexual assault. The title appears to be a subtle nod towards 2Pac’s song, “Brenda’s Got a Baby”, and Kendrick Lamar’s, “Keisha’s Song” as evidenced by her social media posts.
ENNY’s decision to open with the speech from fellow Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, reflects her awareness of how race and sex intersect in sexual assault. Both women are Nigerian and so they understand the pervasiveness of rape culture in both the African and African American communities.
Her opening verse directly addresses the power dynamic in rape by addressing men who chose not to speak out against the issue.
“Like I cannot walk through the shadow of death
And act like I don’t even know
Cause I want some checks and respect and to blow,
Minding your business, protecting a code,
Like check your bredrin, he’s in the wrong.”
ENNY also addresses how this code of silence affects not only women but men as well.
