“LoDo: Can you tell me a little more about yourself and Tika?

Nadia Piet: My name is Nadia Piet, founder and CEO of The Tika, in a loving relationship with the phenomenon known as Hip Hop, world citizen and travel fanatic but currently residing in The Netherlands.
The Tika is my website and platform dedicated to Hip Hop’s music, culture and consciousness.

Years ago, I started a personal blog to express my love for Hip Hop .. and the rest, should one day be Hip Hop history. For now it’s not, so reeewind; along the line I got deeper into this culture, the elements, the history, the aesthetics, the skills, the mindset, the pioneers and the poison, the qualities and issues. Being a genuine computer nerd (and web designer) and living far out the city, I was looking for websites and brands that expressed this passion, would provide me with information, contribute to the culture and supply for the true Hip Hoppas needs. It surprised me how in a landscape of mainstream exposure and thoouousands of Hip Hop blogs, there was no place for me to go that I could relate to and would cherish, redefine and express the essence of Hip Hop music and culture. So, convinced that there would be more like minded people out there that would benefit from this as well as wanting to properly represent the Hip Hop culture to complete outsiders, I got up and been steadily building The Tika empire ever since.

We now have a team of authors to articles on the site, released the first merchandise item (The Boom Bap Addict Tee, http://shop.thetika.com), make bookings (Slum Village in Amsterdam), drop weekly Tika Truths (TheTika.Com on Facebook), occasional Tika Tapes and I’ll keep making power moves, growing the Tika Tribe & Team, on a daily basis. We have a long way to go and I am very grateful and nurture of the growth and ongoing support.

L: Okay so you are a self-proclaimed hip hop head.....but why hip hop? Why do you love hip hop and what does it mean to you?

NP: I could talk about this for days, obviously, and wouldn’t be able to say it was one element that pulled me in. When I was a kid I made my own radio shows on my family’s tape deck and 10 years later I discovered I actually recorded Gangstarr, right after Britney Spears, as well as spinning Eminem on my disc man. The realization came years later though, half way through high school, when I got in touch with the local Hip Hop crew Zolarsem who introduced me to the culture and a friend played me some Dilla beats and introduced me to the music. It was done, I felt right at home and the more I learned, the deeper I fell, in love.

It’s the beats, rhymes and life. I fell for Dilla’s sound the first time it entered my earholes and started out with Tribe, SV and continued from there on. I love poetry and writing and therefore love the rhymes, the clever wordplay, the metaphors. I love learning and therefore love the cultural references, name dropping and all the knowledge Hip Hop has put me onto. I love the no-nonsense ‘keep it real’ approach and positivity and therefore could relate to the qualities true Hip Hop culture promotes and manifests.

I honestly don’t think it could’ve been any other way. If it wouldn’t have been that day, it would’ve been another. Me and Hip Hop are one, Hip Hop is what guides me through life and I don’t know where I would’ve been without it.

L: As a female hip hop head, I’ve always thought the true “golden era” of hip hop was when women were at the forefront of the ‘mainstream’; although we’re starting to have a ‘comeback’ of the female mc we still aren’t seeing the diverse (with respect to lyrical content, personality, style) mainstream representation like we used to see. In our series on Women and Hip Hop we’ve been talking about issues that have affected this change including lack of “balance” within hip hop culture, label control of creative content, and the “extinction of the crews”.

NP: I think we currently have little to no representation of female MC’s, opposed to so called ‘female rappers’, in the mainstream at this time.
However, I think female MC’s have never been on the forefront but always been a minority in mainstream as well as underground Hip Hop. Behind the scenes though, in management and media executive functions, you know what’s up.
Nowadays, they force feed people females such as Nicki, Iggy etc. towards the spotlight, who are being ‘sold’ as female rappers, but are in reality pop or R&B singers and don’t represent Hip Hop as a cultural expression. People simply hop to what’s hip and take on a predestined, often ‘overly sexualized “dolled up”‘ persona from whatever label is offering them their ‘big shot’ as you described in part 3. With all due respect, I can’t get with this.

There are def some bright lights such as Gavlyn, Jean Grae, Rhapsody, Nitty Scott, MC Melodee, Miranda Writes and locals that are coming up and are correctly representing Hip Hop from the female, but in the first place righteous, perspective and that is what we should focus on, to support and grow. That, and get some clarity and solutions to the imbalance in Hip Hop.

L: Hip hop has been accused of being “misogynistic”, but many times what really happens is men are accused of talking about things men want to talk about that other men want to hear....there’s no female perspective because many times there’s no woman present to give the female perspective. How important is it for you to be the “female voice” in the room full of men?

NP: Personally it is not very important for me having or being the ‘female voice’ in the room full of men.
I think we are all humans and go through the same or similar bullshit, struggles, highs & lows, tribulations and a lot of things come correct from whoever tells it best. The thing that separates and therefore also connects us is mindset. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, where you’re from, who you’re affiliated with, etc; it’s based on perspective. If you just spoke my mind and managed to put my exact feelings into a sick rhyme: you’re my (wo)man, regardless of who you is. It is only when singing along where this becomes a problem and it’s the ‘he’ or ‘she’ said.

Especially in a room full of Hip Hoppas not gender nor nationality but skill, sincerity and knowledge of and love for the culture is what connects and reflects you. However, I believe everyone needs role models and this current generation is not getting it. Personally I have mad respect for Erykah Badu, who may not be a rapper but I believe is a proper representation of Hip Hop culture. Then we have all the queens from back in the day, Latifah, Lauryn, Lyte which I admire deeply but we need new queens to rise and lead the young world!

I think one of the reasons of females being a minority up in this is how Hip Hop’s ideal for a woman is so far off society’s ideal. If you fit in as you go, you won’t be able to make it back to Hip Hop. You’ll find that all women that represent, live and love Hip Hop have felt like outsiders or misfits growing up until they discovered a culture in which their characteristics were accepted as qualities. You and I are no exception.

L: I think you hit the nail right on the head, summed about exactly how I feel. When I’m listening to an artist I need their lyrics to transcend simple labels like male/female, black/white, young/old. If you’re a female artist and you’re dope then you’re dope. So we’ve touched on a lot of the “problems” specific to women in hip hop. So often we hear the “problems” in hip hop.....yet the discussion always seems to fade away from there. What do you think are ways we can positively change the female perspective and “turn the volume up” on the female voice in the hip hop culture?

NP: “Be the change you wish to see” - Gandhi
I love my quotes and why would I try to put in words what someone else perfectly embodied in only 7?
I believe to lead by example and inspire those around you. Life is a journey and you learn as you go, move fearlessly and do good.

Thank you Lauren for putting together this series of articles and thank you for allowing me to voice my beliefs here. If you are down with Hip Hop culture and consciousness, check www.thetika.com, join the Tika Tribe and spread the word. Anybody who wants to connect is more than welcome to add me on Facebook. Keep holding it down!

Nadia Piet, Founder and CEO The Tika Enterprise
- To cherish, redefine and express the essence of Hip Hop music and culture
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