500 Female Emcees: Meet Rapsody-The First Lady of North Carolina

RapsodyHailing from Wilson, North Carolina, Rapsody is the protégé of Grammy Award-winning producer 9th Wonder and is seen by many as new force in hip hop. Her lyrical mastery sets the bar high for all emcees, male and female alike as she is blazing a serious trail for a new generation of emcees.

Rapsody is the first lady of North Carolina super crew Kooley High where she first her teeth and one of the first artists signed to 9th Wonder’s Jamla Records/It’s A Wonderful World Music Group.

Paying homage to her hip hop godmothers MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, and Lauryn Hill, Rapsody represents much more than just the female side of hip hop culture; she is an emcee who represents hip hop culture beyond the lines of gender, proving that anything the boys can do, she can do, too, and better. Her virtuosity and dexterity behind the microphone highlight her presentation, and her humble demeanor attests to her constant pursuit of improvement with every beat and rhyme.

After proving her impeccable craftsmanship with features on 9th Wonder’s “Dream Merchant 2,” Skyzoo’s DJ-Drama hosted “The Power of Words,” and numerous Kooley High releases, Rapsody made her solo debut on December 7, 2010 with “Return of the B-Girl,” a 20-track project boasting production by 9th Wonder and DJ Premier among others, as well as features from Big Daddy Kane, Mac Miller, Skyzoo, Rah Digga, Phil Ade, and more. A published review praised the record: “A poet-turned-rapper, Rapdiddy (as she’s dubbed herself) has always possessed outstanding wordplay, but B-Girl finds her effortlessly nimble delivery — capable of both gritty and biting or sassy and sultry — continuing to improve.”

Rapsody has shared the stage with hip hop legends and rising stars alike, including Raekwon, J. Cole, Wale, Colin Munroe, Tanya Morgan, Suede of Camp Lo, Blu and Exile, and The Clipse, but it’s her ability to captivate diverse audiences with her explosively dynamic live performance that sets her apart and has earned her much-deserved accolades from major media sources including Vibe, XXL, HipHopDX, and more.

Her style is polished and distinct, and her wordplay and flow are unparalleled in both delivery and execution. As she continues to strive to contend with her hip hop predecessors like Jay-Z and Mos Def, Rapsody is already undeniably one of the strongest and most promising forces in today’s hip hop culture. Check out her album ‘She’s Got Game‘..

Rapsody – Believe Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kSoVSgWK9o

RapsodyThe Drums w/Heather Victoria

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_eO3ytC-BU

RapsodyIn The Town

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf9Rs9Stt8s

Rapsody Betty Shabazz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jGKHlD0cgg

Breakdown FM Interview w/ Hip Hop Legends Kid-N-Play: From Their Rapping Days and Beyond

Click HERE to Listen to Breakdown FM interview w/ Hip Hop Legends Kid-n-Play

http://www.alldayplay.fm/episodes/episode-29-kid-n-play

We caught up with Hip Hop legends and long time friends Chris Reed and Chris Martin aka Kid-N-Play who were the surprised guest for a special taping of Jamie Foxx’s Foxhole Comedy Tour in Sacramento and the debut of a new film company No Brainer. Foxx had an all-star line up of comedians and athletes ranging from Kevin Hart to Ron Artest to Danny Glover to Lloyd and with each appearance the crowd went nuts. However, the biggest applause went to Kid-N-Play who took the stage with a vengeance and reminded folks just how fun Hip Hop.

They dropped a bevy of classic songs and ended it by doing their trademark kick step dance routine which wasn’t a bad feat considering Play has titanium rods in his leg and ankle from an accident he suffered a few years ago while walking his dog named ‘Girlfriend‘. In fact lets clear up this crazy rumor that folks have heard. Play broke his leg when his dog chased another dog and got the leash entangled in his leg causing him to take a nasty spill. People heard the word Girlfriend and erroneously concluded that his mishap was the result of some sort of domestic abuse thing. It was nothing of a kind-not even close.

We sat down with the duo and covered a wide range of topics. We talked about their movie careers and the significance of the House Party film series. Many of us note that it those films opened the doors for rappers who made their way into acting and later producing and directing. In short Queen Latifah, Will Smith, Ice Cube and many others owe a bit of gratitude to Kid-N-Play. It’s interesting to note the roles Kid-N-Play did was written for Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXEsSrmabA0

Comedian Martin lawrence is one of the many stars who was part of the House Party series

The pair talked about the many legendary entertainers who they worked with and came through House Party including the late comedian Robin Harris, Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell. There’s been talk of reviving the series with a whole new cast. We’ll keep you posted as to how that unfolds.

They also talked about the enormous talent that is coming up from today’s generation of artists especially along the dance tip. Kid noted that he was impressed with the ways folks have flipped things.

We talked about Kid’s comedy career and how he made the transition from rapper to stand up.

Play who had the dubious distinction of being kicked out of 5 different high schools while coming up in New York, today is teaching college courses on two different campuses in North Carolina.  One of his classes he teamed with producer 9th Wonder who now teaches his own Hip Hop culture class. Play also noted that he’s been filming and doing documentaries. He noted that there’s a big void in relevent and intelligent news stories for folks in the hood and he’s been trying to fill that void with his own project Brand Newz.

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Breakdown FM-Holding It Down in North Carolina-Little Brother Gets Wreck

Holding It Down in North Carolina-Little Brother Gets Wreck
by Davey D of Breakdown FM

original article: Saturday, November 05, 2005 

Listen to the interview by clicking the link
http://odeo.com/audio/324556/view
 

North Carolina natives Little Brother (Phonte, Big Pooh and 9th Wonder) have been doing their thing for a long time. They have become household names within underground circles, but now that is starting to change. Seems like nowadays everyone is talkiing about these guys…

What’s so dope is they have alot to say. Unlike so many of their peers within the rap game, they don’t feel a need to put forth any false images or hold up a particular persona. As Phonte noted during our interview, Little Brother are grown men who strive to talk about grown folks things. Hence the honesty and frankness in our conversation and the dopeness of their album-The Minstreal Show..

In this interview you will hear Little Brother speak to all sorts of issues ranging from how they garnered their success to how they manage to stick to together and keep the core essence of their music in tact. They talk about their new record deal with Atlantic Records and the types of things they insisted upon before signing. They also talk about the impact the music and pop culture is having on young people.
Phonte says if we keep feeding our youth a steady diet of audio junk food which includes materialism and the glorification of negative street life, should we be surprised and shocked when kids grow up and go buckwyld..

They talk about making grown folks music and how Hip Hop has has not reached its full potential in terms of delivering for an older audience that wants a whole lot more then booty shaking music and gangsta fairytales.

They also talk about the stigma placed on Black people and folks from the hood who are saddled with certain negative stereotypes and images that the public expects them to live up to… Phonte and Big Pooh talk about their upbringing and explain how they managed to be themselves and triumph despite personal hardships.

Little Brother also gets political and talks about the US Government’s response to Katrina and what that really means. They also expound upon Kanye’s remarks about George Bush and offer up some keen insight…

Lastly we talk about the album and play some of the dope cuts featured on the highly acclaimed Minstreal Show..

Peep the interview by clicking here:
http://odeo.com/audio/324556/view

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