However, I was not aware that Jean Grae (aka Tsidi Ibrahim) was there. I was probably not the only one. She might not have been there; she was not on the program, because she was one of the “Special Surprise Performances.” She was not surprised, though; she’s being doing this for a long time, and, as Byron Hurt points out, it’s hard to for female hip hop artists to succeed in a world where women are objects, not agents.

Grae called herself The Easter Bunny for two weeks, because it was so funny when she got announced at shows. And because she knew she’d get almost no name recognition anyway, because she’s not willing to strut it in stilettos at the whip crack of the record industry. She wants respect as an artist, but she does not disrespect strippers, either. She also made this really heavy rape-crisis hotline advertisment: be forewarned that this may be triggering, and is definitely sad.

For more info on the lovely Miss Grae, check her official blog for a description of how she feels about Brooklyn wildlife – “Fucking raccoons. Fuck off”and the NY dating scene:

“Sigh, ahhhhh.. being single in the city. You would think in New York we would have a large selection of mates to possibly select from. Well where are they? If anyone knows where to find non-psycho, job having, attractive, financially stable, humorous and witty men to date.. please stop holding on to that information, you bastards.
I was contemplating speed dating, cause its funny..
Then I thought about doing my own dating show. Of course, it’s just ME going on date after date. Cause it’s funny.
Then I thought about combining the two. This is probably what will happen.”

To see the sassy Grae with her Reds and her Gray Goose, check out this interview (and part two) provided to youtube by underground hip hop dot com.

For some of Grae’s music, check out this performance. (Sorry — my embed-a-video doohickey is apparently down.) This woman is funny, wise, chill, and down to earth while simultaneously real, singular, and a confident, brilliant artist. For her bio, check out this helpful Wikipedia article.

Grae doesn’t take herself too seriously, either- she put out an album called “Attack of the Attacking Things” in 2002. I hope she gets some respect and recognition sometime soon.