Nadia Nakai: Women in hip-hop are judged more than in any other genre

Nadia Nakai has opened up about the battles young female hip-hop artists face in trying to get their music out there, claiming they are judged more than artists from other genres.

Nadia has been doing the most to successfully break free from the "annoying" label of female hip-hop artist to become one of the most recognised MCs in the game.

But she told TshisaLIVE recently that even though she has always seen herself as a hip-hop artist equal to all other musos in the country, often the music industry does not see it that way.

She said that while genres like house and pop did not make a big deal about the difference between female and male artists, hip- hop was still chained by the limitations.

"In this industry obviously women have to work harder but for me the issue is the inequality of rappers in the industry holistically. The one thing that really sucks is that no matter who you are, or what you have accomplished, you constantly have to defend yourself. You have to blow your own horn or no one listens. I feel like, it is not like that for other genres as much. It is so sad."

She added that overall,  hip-hop artists were often criticised more than other artists too,

"It is like no matter what you do, there will be hate. You breath and someone will have something to say and I don't feel house artists or gqom artists get the same treatment."

Nadia is preparing to drop her debut album later this month and said that her goal is to be as authentic as possible with the release.

"My music has evolved in that I am making music now that I like, not that people necessarily think will work for the market. I have grown with my fans and what I enjoy they will enjoy because they understand the space that I am in at the moment."