Soul Sista Saturday: Nega Gizza

Recently, I was informed by someone who shall remain nameless (though not Nameless--that is someone else) that Soul Sista Saturday may just be boring, that people don't come to Tome to watch videos but to read what I have to write. Well, the majority of people don't come for that either (more on that later), but, since I love this concept so much, I've decided to give it a little context--in the hopes that you will come to love it, too.

For those of you who haven't figured it out or haven't bothered to, Soul Sista Saturday is my little tribute to women of African descent and the music they create--without regard to genre or country of origin. You all are Soul Sistas in my eyes!

This week's artist is Nega Gizza.

Back in 2005, when my wife and I spent a week in Sao Paolo and Rio ("Hipi-Hopi Hiu" to the Brazilian heads), Nega Gizza was the only female rapper with a recording contract. Hopefully, that has changed. As an African-American, I hated the name, but I was constantly reassured that "nega" is an affectionate term for black women down in Brazil. I figured, What the hey? We have "niglette," right? But, while chilling in a sidewalk pub down in Rio, I saw a white woman get her gold chain snatched. She pointed, and screamed, "The nega did it!" I almost ran for my life--watch Bus 184--Brazilian prisons are no joke! Then I saw a sister run past me and gave a sigh of relief. They arrested her promptly. Poor nega.

Though I don't understand more than 10 words of what she's saying, this video's pretty disturbing. I hope you enjoy it.