Pushed Aside or Pushed Ahead?

As I was thinking about and prepping to begin my paper, I realized one of the major ideas that I have to make sure to question in my paper is that of how much agency do female rap artists exert when they are in a "crew". Are they merely seen as an equal member of the crew or are they seen as lesser and in need of a "crew" to make it? In Rose's article, she says that crews are a way for the artist to actually gain some sort of acceptance within their space so, in a way, they are exerting agency. But, I still believe that these artists do no gain as much power as if they were to strike out on their own. Eve had to begin in the Ruff Ryders Crew to gain some notoriety and then break off into her own name. The problem was her notoriety fell as she started to move more and more away from the Ruff Ryders crew (this falling could also be in relation to the breaking of the group and the lesser amount of DMX records).

I think this may be the final type of "female rap artist" that exists. So, to recap, we have the solo female genderless rap artist, the solo female hypermasculinized rap artist, and the "crew" female rap artist. Is this the only break down? I doubt it. The best break down? Probably not. But it works for now.