Over the past two years of scouring hip hop magazine, website, and blog articles I have come across an extremely popular subject-- Where did all the female emcees go? Numerous hip hop historians, fans, and Lauryn Hill worshippers swear on a stack of "Enter the 36" discs that the Female MC died right along with Mrs. Hill's illustrious career. Say what?! That's my reaction every single time I come across another anti-female fluff piece. How can you say that when perhaps the illest lady MC to ever grip a mic is still going at it to this very day in Jean Grae? How can you say that when there are more than a handful of femme fatales putting out strong records this year? It's time to put a stop to the madness. Here are a few Femcees you might have missed:
Incksalonius
Meet Incksalonius. This poetic producer/MC and self proclaimed "pimpstress" from the birthtown of hip hop spits thick, slithering vocals over various eclectic beats. With a strong pleasant swagger that is peppered with an addicting spoken word steez, Inck's music oozes with spicy soul. Unfortunately, Inck's was not available to meet my requests for a few mp3 samples to put in this article, but a solid collection of older music from her 2006 release "Extra Estra" is available on her myspace to peep and vibe to. Click Here to Listen.
Persia
Who could forget Miss Swagger from VH1's comical hit "The White Rapper Show"? Despite the producers going overboard with the circus sideshow obstacles and focusing less on their actual rapping skills, Persia managed to pull her weight, proving she could hold her own in a house full of fellas. This strong woman with a vicious swagger and Far Rock-hard flow stays away from anything sweet and sultry. Instead, Persia is the Princess of power raps and ignites speakers with that classic New York street spit that remains the state's sonic staple.
Inspired by the old-school lady rhymers (MC Lyte, Roxanne Shante, etc.) and "no one lately" the self proclaimed "Queen of this Rap Shit" has a mixtape entitled "So That Bitch" available on her Myspace. Click here to listen. Below is the video for her title track.
Rogue Venom
Under the Los Angeles famed Project Blowed
umbrella lies the Swim Team-- a collection of Project Blowed seeds spitting sincere sentences for the Hollywood hills and beyond. Within the school of fresh fish lies a female MC that absolutely poisoned the mic on her latest guestspot on the Thirsty Fish album "Testing the Waters" (Song: Pirahnas). Taking the road less travelled content-wise, Venom finds herself refraining from over-sexed psudo-gangsterism in favor of more hard-hitting wordplay and visual imagery. A tactic- it would appear, that is paying off in spades as the Swim Team's Venomous Viperfish sets her sights on much bigger prey. Peep a live video of "Pirahnas" below:
Apani B Fly
Remember her? Most notable for her appearances with Organised Konfusion, Mos Def & Talib Kweli, as well as Pharoahe Monch and her first full length album in 1999, "Rhyme Related," which was released with her former group, Polyrhythm Addicts, Apani B Fly is still making hits and is set to release her follow up to "Story to Tell," entitled "A," which is set to release sometime in 2008.
With a crisp yet scathing delivery, Apani delivers sharp rhymes, clever wordplay, and wraps it all up in a hot Hollis haughtiness. One of the illest femcees still rippin' it today...it's a travesty if you are still sleepin'. Below is a throwback cut from Apani from the Beatminerz tape "Brace for Impak." A song called "Shut Da Fuck Up."
Dessa
As an accomplished spoken word poet, award winning writer, singer, and MC-- Dessa is the "Renaissance Woman" of her Doomtree crew. Dessa, also known as Dessa Darling, is one puzzle piece that makes up the exciting 10-part Minnesota jigsaw that just recently released a groundbreaking album late 2007 entitled "False Hopes." With her complex poetry and spiraling flow, Dessa remains an intriguing artist to listen to everytime you give one of her records a spin. Both creative and original this versatile vixen is definitely one to look out for and represents the new breed of rhyming rogues that are about to take hip hop by storm.
Armed with a deep lunged aresenal of vivacious verbs this Canadian MC ain't nothing to fuck with. Perhaps my personal favorite from the new breed of Femcees-- Eternia embodies the essence of real hip hop while mixing in her own exotic style and feminine touch. The media I have come across unfortunately massages the fact that she is female and white to the point of pain, but don't let them twist the facts for you-- Eternia speaks truth and is the truth.
With six music video singles on international rotation, and two critically acclaimed full-lengths released in 2005-- "Where I Been The Collection" & "Its Called Life" (Urbnet Records)-- Canada's best kept secret has paid good dues and is ready to prove it.
Below are two videos from Eternia-- "Evidence" and "Struggle" (ft. Kenn Starr + Wordsworth)
Jean Grae
If you don't know the name by now than all hope is lost. At the top of the lady food chain Jean Grae is a proven panther of poetry.
While hooking up with underground giants such as: Talib Kweli, Pumpkinhead, Atmosphere, The Roots, Masta Ace, Phonte, 9th Wonder, and more-- Jean Grae has also released four solo joints to go along with her 5th and 6th ("Jeanius" (with 9th Wonder) and "Phoenix").
With a bag full of lush lyricism, wordplay, and concepts Jean has risen to the top to rightfully claim her spot as the #1 lady lyricist lickin' off rhyme-shots. In an industry where women rappers have become nothing but laughable sex objects, Jean has set the bar for the new generation of women hip hop artists by following in the footsteps of her anc-sisters: MC Lyte, Roxanne Shante, and Queen Latifah.
You dare say that the Female MC died with Lauryn? Where the fuck have you been?
Check this track from Jean called "Pardon You"
I wonder if all those writers and hip hop fans still believe that the Female MC is extinct? It's about time we stop paying attention to what the radio and television tell us is going in in the Fem-hip hop world. If we relied on that we would only be up to date on our lip gloss, chicken noodle soup, and who was "single again." I'll peep the latter.
