Female rappers | Hip-Hop and Politics

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

March 16, 2014 By mrDaveyd

Hailing 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

Rapsody – The Drums w/Heather Victoria

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

Rapsody – In The Town

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

Rapsody Betty Shabazz

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

Filed Under: 2014 Daily News, 500 Females page Tagged With: 9th Wonder, Female rappers, Kooley High, North Carolina, Rapdsody

Rollingstone Magazine Fails by Having Only 4 Women featured on its 50 Greatest Hip Hop Song List

December 6, 2012 By mrDaveyd

This is the time of year a lot of publications put out End of Year and Best of All Time lists. They’re fun to read as they can take you down memory lane or give you some new perspective on things… At this point in time, you understand there will be a certain bias and there may be one or two names tossed in a list to get people talking. You try to take these things with a grain of salt..

The other day Rollingstone Magazine put out a The 50 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of All-Times. It’s a list that was compiled from a panel of 33 artists, journalists and industry experts. You have luminaries like Def jam co-founder Rick Rubin, former Source editor James Bernard and legendary A&R Dante Ross. Also in the mix were artists like Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, Nas, Questlove, Boots Riley of the Coup and Chuck D of Public Enemy just to name a few..You can peep the entire list of judges HERE

You can peep the entire List of 50 songs HERE

When the list came out I went from panel to panel and and what stood out was the glaring omission of women. In fact we don’t have a female artists being ranked for the first 38 entries. That came in the form of Missy Elliot and her song Get Ur Freak On…Personally I thought Missy who definitely deserves a spot has better songs.

The next entries are Lauryn Hill‘s ‘Lost One’s (45) and Salt-N-Pepa‘s ‘Push It’ (46) . The Greatest Hits list list rounds off at entry 47 where have Funky 4 Plus one More. The ‘one more’ of course is pioneering female emcee Sha Rock..

Initially I wasn’t gonna weigh in on this, but damn in 2012 and you would think at this point in time folks would know better and do better. Its time to expand our mind and make room for other voices, mainly women in our collective thinking. I don’t know what the process was when RS did the final editing, but no one at that magazine looked at that list and asked ‘Where’s MC Lyte’s ‘Cha Cha Cha‘ or ‘Cappuccino‘? Did anyone at RS bother to check out her site Hip Hop Sisters?

No one at RS or on that panel gave a second thought about Queen Latifah‘s ‘Ladies’ First‘ which featured Monie Love and its impact? No one thought about UNITY…No one? Really? Cmon now..

None of the folks at the panel gave a thought about the 33 songs that were released around the whole Roxanne Roxanne saga? Some of those songs were landmark. They gave birth to artists like; Sparky D, Roxanne Shante and the Real Roxanne.. None of those women were good enough to be included? There was no room for an artist like YoYo? No Lady of Rage‘s Afro Puffs? No love for Mystic’s ‘The Life’? No choice cuts from Foxy Brown, Eve or Lil Kim made the list?? How is our collective thinking so narrow in 2012?

Luther Campbell of the 2Live Crew was among the panel of experts that Rollingstone assembled. Did he or anyone mention Anquette‘s Janet Reno? Luke in the past has been very clear to talk about how that song which was done by his cousin helped Reno win an election for DA against a lawyer named Jack Thompson. Luke explained that Thompson became enraged as a result of this and wound up coming after 2Live crew for having obscene material. The case against 2Live crew went all the way to the Supreme Ct.. If one record be the source of all that, should it not be on the RS list?

Lauryn Hill

With respect to Lauryn Hill who won more Grammys than many of the artists featured and the experts assembled should’ve been further up the list, like in the top 15 or 20. I would’ve picked Doo Whop (That Thing) which charted on Billboard as number 1 or Everything is Everything..

Considering Rollingstone’s glaring omissions I guess it would be too much to expect them to have even considered a Jean Grae, Bahamadia, Rah Digga, Conscious Daughters or Medusa?

All I can say at this point is to Rollingstone and its panel of experts which included only 2 or 3 women at the most. that was big miss to only have 3 or 4 females on that list of 50 Greatest songs. It was a big miss and just plain wack.. For those who need more info on women making moves.. Here’s playlist I put together earlier this year.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4DA130E1819B4915

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhW_ph0ipp8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8cHxydDb7o

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Afro Puffs, Female rappers, Hip Hop, Lauryn Hill, Luther Campbell, Queen Latifah, Rolling Stone, Women rappers

Madlines of Seattle-Based Canary Sings Drops a Gem of a Song-I Need a Moment

November 21, 2012 By mrDaveyd

I long been a big fan of Seattle-based group Canary Sing.. Made up of Madeleine “Lioness” Clifford and Hollis “Ispire” Wong-I first met the pair several years back when they were rocking hard on the spoken word scene. Later when they put beats to their rhymes and started making noise culminating in the release of their ep The Beautiful Baby back in 2010.

The group had a funky retro sound and a fun vibe which is best personified in one of my favorite songs Freak Show…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZWx7QAmXIg

It wasn’t to long after the Beautiful Baby dropped that Madeleines came down to the Bay Area and blessed us with her talent as she pursued her Masters degree at Oakland’s Mills College. She’s been rocking the mic as well as the books and recently dropped a gem of a song and fun video called ‘I Need a Moment’. Look out for this sister to keep making noise. The best has yet to come..

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

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Female rappers, Lioness, Madeleine, Madlines, Mills College, Oakland, Oakland California, Seattle, Spoken word

HKR Intv w/ Invincible… Holding it Down in Detroit & Being Part of a Queendom

May 31, 2012 By mrDaveyd

It’s always a pleasure to chop it up with one of our favorite emcees who hails from the Motorcity, Detroit, Michigan.. Invincible is not only someone who will hurt your feelings on the mic, with her wicked flows and willingness to speak truth to power, but she’ll hurt you on the activism tip..

Invincible is more likely to be found at a youth center or on the block working with youth throughout Detroit, make sense of an increasing repressive world.. Her solution is figure out ways to be self-sufficient. While she and others clearly understand the importance of holding folks in power accountable, she’s also crystal clear that those with means and resources, don’t particularly care about the folks they oppress, hence, folks have got to make sure they find ways to survive, with or without their help..

In our interview Invincible breaks down a lot of the innovative ways folks in her city are problem solving systemic issues. She talks about Michigan’s policy of having emergency corporate managers, appointed by the Governor who usurp the power of elected officials and how folks are making things happen in spite of the limitations. She talks about the response youth in her city had when they got suspended for walking out of school to protest sub par education. They started freedom schools and held classes outside the school.. She talked about the media work and new curriculum folks are embracing as well as the Food Justice Movement which in full steam in Detroit..

Lastly we talked about her music, and true to form, Invincible is on some next level ‘ish , as she’s building a Music Box and redefining how music and art is to be distributed..

Invincible will be in town this Saturday for an annual event called Queendom which will also include local female emcees and deejays like DJ Zita, Aima The Dreamer, Persia and a host of others..

http://vivalahiphop.com/2012/05/13/queendom-fly-ladies-reppin-the-4-elements-of-hip-hop/

You can peep our interview w/ Invincible below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ6qMU7JbBY