'Prison To Prison Pipeline': Isis Tha Saviour

Louder Than A Riot

NPR

Music History, Music, Society & Culture, Music Interviews, True Crime

4.4 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 December 2020

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hip-hop loves a hero's come-up, but the culture often has a hard time seeing women as heroes. Two years ago, when Louder Than A Riot editor Chiquita Paschal discovered she had a sister — who rapped — she quickly saw how that double standard can take shape. Chiquita's sister is Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, aka Philly rapper Isis Tha Saviour. In this episode, Chiquita takes us on Mary's hero's journey — from her time as a ward of the state to finding her voice in rap. And together, they delve into incarceration's ripple effects on families like theirs, and how hip-hop can help transform trauma into freedom.

Transcript

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0:00.0	A warning before we begin. This podcast is explicit in every way.
0:05.3	And I said, as you know, in hip hop, we love a hero's come up.
0:10.0	Yeah, we do. We do.
0:12.6	But another thing about hip hop, it has a hard time seeing women as heroes.
0:17.2	Hmm, let's talk about it.
0:19.0	Some of the most successful women in rap are still seen as accessories to the boys club.
0:24.5	Because in hip hop, like larger society,
0:27.2	Massage a nor die lutes black women into tropes for the male gaze.
0:32.0	Always in some sort of supporting role, sex, symbol, sister, mother.
0:38.0	Now that's true. That's true.
0:39.8	And you know the same way that women are written off in hip hop,
0:42.4	they tend to be left out of the conversation around mass incarceration too.
0:46.3	Hmm, which is interesting because the number of women in prison has actually been
0:51.0	increasing at a rate 50% higher than men for the last 40 years.
0:55.9	Yeah. So when we were looking for stories to tell about women in rap and the prison system,
1:02.0	one of our editors, Chiquita Pasco, told us about her sister.
1:06.6	What's up, Chiquita? Chiquita.
1:08.5	Hey, Sydney. Hey, Rodney. Thanks for having me.
1:11.4	Yeah. Thanks for bringing us a story about your sister.
1:14.5	Totally. Let me introduce you to her.
1:16.6	My name is Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, but I also go by my hip hop name, ISIS, the savior.
1:28.6	You are now with the fan.
	...

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