CLOVER HOPE
CLOVER HOPE is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York. Over a 15-year career in journalism, she has contributed to publications like Essence, Elle, Wired, New York Times, Vogue, ESPN The Magazine, GQ, and Cosmopolitan, among others. While earning a B.A. in Journalism at New York University, she worked at local newspapers like Newsday and Amsterdam News and went on to staff editor positions at Billboard, XXL, Vibe, and Jezebel. Hope is a writer on Beyoncé's 2020 film Black Is King and works as an adjunct professor at NYU.
THE MOTHERLODE
100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop
Abrams Image - February 2, 2021
An illustrated highlight reel of more than 100 women in rap who have helped shape the genre and eschewed gender norms in the process.
The Motherlode highlights more than 100 women who have shaped the power, scope, and reach of rap music, including pioneers like Roxanne Shanté, game changers like Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott, and current reigning queens like Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, and Lizzo—as well as everyone who came before, after, and in between. Some of these women were respected but not widely celebrated. Some are impossible not to know. Some of these women have stood on their own; others were forced into templates, compelled to stand beside men in big rap crews. Some have been trapped in a strange critical space between respected MC and object. They are characters, caricatures, lyricists, at times both feminine and explicit. This book profiles each of these women, their musical and career breakthroughs, and the ways in which they each helped change the culture of rap.
praise for the motherlode
“The book not only explores the careers of women in hip-hop, but it also takes a look at their impact on the musical genre.”
– Essence Magazine
“By centering the women who have often been reduced to a footnote in the rap's history, Hope is making that road to self-exploration a little easier for the next generation of 13-year-olds.”
– Vice
“Clover Hope’s essential new book, The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop, doesn’t just tell the stories of the women who helped shape hip-hop, from the pioneering MC Sha-Rock to Cardi B. It also ends up telling the entire story of the genre through a brand-new lens.”
– Rolling Stone
"This is the quintessential, comprehensive book about women in the rap industry that I've been waiting for. It shines a bright light on a history of overlooked female talent and breaks down the ingenuity of our current generation of stars."
—Issa Rae, creator and star of HBO's Insecure
"This book is achingly overdue. Women in hip-hop, as musicians, journalists, and executives, have always dealt with a staggering and sobering truth. Hip-hop, which we love and hold dear, does not always love us back. With The Motherlode, Clover Hope loves on us. She peels back the layers—the joy and pain—and makes sure our untold stories are now told and retold."
—Aliya S. King, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Keep the Faith
"Clover Hope has offered up here such an engaging, enlightening, addictive book. It's one of those reading experiences where you say to yourself, 'Okay, let me just read one more chapter,' and then two hours later you're sitting there having accidentally read a third of the book swearing to yourself, 'Okay, but for real this time, just one more chapter.' I wish I could read it again for the first time."
—Shea Serrano, New York Times bestselling author of The Rap Year Book
"This book is a lively colorful celebration of the flyest formidable forces that keep rap music flourishing into the future."
—Elliott Wilson, music journalist, chief content officer of TIDAL