It was almost genetic for Will Youmans to be socially conscious when he’s onstage, spitting out lyrics to an audience.

Youmans, 28, and a native of Detroit and Dearborn, grew up in the kind of family that got involved. With a Palestinian-born mother, as a kid he was always going to protests or helping to recruit members for Arab-American organizations.

And as a hip-hop artist, he brings that to his music.

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Enter Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five. Over drums, bass, and an infamous synthesizer, the first man to call himself an MC, Grandmaster Mele Mel recited the ills of his community and hardships he faced living within it on “The Message”. Mele Mel was an instrumental part in the song being released as well as broadening the spectrum of Hip-Hop content and awareness. This was in 1982.

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Hip-hop is dead. That’s what rap legend Nas claims in the title of his latest album. He just might be right. According to Nielsen Soundscan, album sales in all genres declined by nearly 5 percent in 2006, largely attributable to the increasing popularity of digital downloads. Rap sales, however, plummeted by more than 20 percent, the most of any genre. Ironically, this downturn comes at a time when hip-hop seems to be catering to commercial tastes as never before, often at the expense of artistic innovation.

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On October 24, Kimberly Osorio, The Source’s editor in chief from 2002 to 2005, won $15.5 million in a workplace lawsuit against the hip-hop monthly. Along with colleague Michelle Joyce, she’d filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission shortly after being fired for poor performance; she alleged constant, pervasive sexual harassment and insisted she was fired for speaking out. A Manhattan jury threw out her discrimination and sexual-harassment complaints, but found that Osorio was indeed fired in retaliation for complaining to and about her bosses, David Mays and Raymond “Benzino” Scott[…]A few days after the verdict was announced, Osorio sat down with The Village Voice.

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Typically, women in hip-hop have been portrayed as video vixens (i.e. Karrine “Superhead” Stephens), oversexed divas (think Lil’ Kim and Trina), or asexual tomboys (a la Lady Sovereign). Occasionally, they get to be girlfriends of a thugged-out Big Willie type, but only if they’re “bootylicious” (like Beyoncé). However, those limited stereotypes are but a small representation of the role women have actually played in the culture.

This week, S.F.-based independent label Outta Nowhere Entertainment hopes to alter the public perception of women in hip-hop with the release of “Queendom, Vol. 1,” the first in a projected series spotlighting female emcees and DJs from across the country and the world.

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There’s definitely a revolution of sorts going on as Hip Hop purges itself from the negativity and the all too often, over the top minstrel-like stereotypes that have plagued it for the past few years. Leading the charge are women. Last week during a Hip Hop panel discussion at UCLA in Los Angeles, the panel which included everyone from West Coast pioneers like Alonzo of the World Class Wrecking Crew and Arabian Prince of NWA on down to new comers like Brother Los of Company of Prophets to academics like Professor Sam Aleen to B-girls like Zulu Queen LA Nivens, the question was asked about women in Hip Hop.

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