Editor’s note: This story is part of That’s My Word, KQED’s year-long exploration of Bay Area hip-hop history, with new content dropping all throughout 2023.
Since Too Short’s Born to Mack dropped in 1987, countless Bay Area rap albums have portrayed pimps as folk heroes who get money and status through the sex trade. But there’s a grim reality behind this aspirational image. Although adult sex workers do consensually participate in the industry, the Bay Area is also an international hub for sex trafficking, including of minors, many of whom have survived abuse and neglect from their caregivers, and often go through the foster care system.
In a discussion with hip-hop artists Maddy Clifford, RyanNicole and Coco Peila, survivor advocate Xenia St. Charles explains how struggling young people get lured into exploitation. Later in the conversation, womanist writer and podcast host Tiara Mbonisi of Big Mouf Woman offers tools women can use to protect themselves in a misogynistic culture. — Nastia Voynovskaya, lead producer
Listen to the track “What’s Pimpin’?” by Still I Rise (MADlines, Coco Peila and RyanNicole).
