Chapter 3: Female Pioneers

The Ladies of Hip Hop

Women made their way into hip hop in the late '70s. According to Laura Jamison (writer for Vibe Magazine) " Males didn't start rap, but were the first to be put on wax."

The Sequence was one of the first female rap groups. The trio consisted of Cheryl Cook (Cheryl The Pearl), Gwendolyn Chisolm (Blondie), and lead singer/rapper Angie Stone (Angie B.). The group hailed from Columbia, South Carolina as high school cheerleaders and were signed to the Sugar Hill label in the early 1980s. In 1979 they had a single entitled "Funk You Up" which was the first rap record released by a female group.

Founded in '76, Mercedes Ladies were also one of the first female rap groups. As DJ's and rappers they were pioneers of hip-hop, originating from the Bronx. One of the members D'Bora (D'Bora Lippett) aka Baby D was taught to spin by none other than the Grand Wizard Theodore. Group member Sheri Sher has published a book "Mercedes Ladies" depicting the groups journey. Mercedes Ladies were never signed to a label but are known for their live performances.

In 1980, a female rapper by the name Lady B is said to be one of the first females to record, but was never given official credit. She recorded "To The Beat Y'all" in 1980 and later was a DJ at Philadelphia's W.U.S.L radio only to later become editor-in-chief of the hip-hop magazine Word Up!

Sha Rock was the female MC in the group Funky Four Plus One (Funky 4 + 1). The first hiphop/rap

group from the Bronx, New York, to receive a recording deal. They were also the first rap group to perform live on a national television broadcast. As the only female member of the group Sha Rock

(Sharon Green) is one of the most celebrated old school female MC. She has inspired a whole generation of female MCs.

Females contributed to hip-hop in other ways besides rap. Lady Pink (Sandra Fabara) was a graffiti artist raised in Queens, New York. She started her career in 1979 while at the High School of Art & Design. By competing with her male counterparts, she made a name for herself in graffiti subculture. She has been featured in the film Wild Style (1982) and the Hip Hop Files a book by Martha Cooper.

"The imfamous diss records craze of the '80s blew up the careers of several MC's. In 1985, an unsuspecting trio of male rappers called U.T.F.O. cut a song called "Roxanne,Roxanne" about a stuck up girl who had nerve to resist their charms." - Alan Light. U.T.F.O's efforts were shut down by Roxanne Shante who would later be known as the Mistress of Diss. She had sparked the "Roxanne Wars" and over a year had from 30 to over 100 answer records (according to different claims).

Verbal disses became very popular and sparked a light within female MC's. Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, and Yo-Yo were also caught in the slews of battles. It was a brand new era of hip hop. "Big Mama" was a response record that launched the careers of Salt 'N' Pepa. The group was made up by three women: Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandy Denton), and later Spinderella (Dee Dee Roper). Salt 'N' Pepa debuted with their album Hot Cool & Vicious in '86. It went double platinum after two years and Pamela Greene (the original Spinderella) left group and Dee Dee Roper replaced her. They released the song "Push It" in '87 that went gold along with their sophomore/junior album(s) A Salt With A Deadly Pepa and Blacks' Magic. "But Salt 'N' Pepa's big sales were amorally. The fact is, women were still not selling a lot of records." - Ibid. It was basically a male dominated industry that wasn't ready for women taking tough posture that defined rap. Salt 'N' Pepa decided to drop their pro-sex rhymes over R&B melodies.

MC Lyte was a young teen when she debuted in 1980. A 16 year old that had been raised in Queens and Brooklyn who had learned to rhyme from her half brothers. The songs on her first album Lyte As A Rock produced classics "10% diss" aimed at rival rapper Antoinette. MC Lyte's single "Paper Thin" sold 125,000 copies that didn't have much airplay. She became more popular with album Eyes On This in '89. Cha Cha Cha instantly shot up the charts. She brought in her new album with a makeover to replace her tomboy look. Act Like You Know failed, by Lyte bounced back in '93 with Ain't No Other and her single "Ruffneck" was the first rap single to go gold. " MC Lyte has enjoyed great longevity than nearly all of the men who debuted when she did." - Kurtis Blow.

Rapper Yo Yo was still a high school cheerleader when Ice Cube discovered her in an L.A. mall in '89. Her feminine image was very beneficial to her career in the '90s. She had created four albums.

Queen Latifah represented the afrocentric and dispalyed positive rhymes. She grew up in New Jersey as Dana Owens and later called herself Latifah which means "fine and delicate" in Arabic. She put out the album All Hail The Queen in '89 at the age of 19. She was automatically a phenomenon displaying an image that exalted women while not dissing men. "Even though her next effort two years later, Nature of A Sista, didn't even sell as well as All Hail, Queen continued to buoy her in the public eye." - Hip Hop., p.1. It was 1993's Black Reign that finally earned Latifah her due as an MC. The premiere single on the album U.N.I.T.Y spoke out against disrespect of women in society. Many radio and TV stations played the song without censoring the words "bitch" and "hoes" because of the message in the song. The song won Best Rap Solo Performance at the 1995 Grammy Awards and peaked #2 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart. Queen Latifah has starred in films such as Jungle Fever, Juice, House Party 2, Set It off, Chicago, Beauty Shop and others. She played Khadijah on a television sitcom Living Single. She is currently a spokesperson for Cover Girl.

Bold, blunt, and sex appeal are three characteristics associated with none other than the imfamous Lil' Kim. At 4'11" Lil' Kim may be small, but made a huge impact in hip-hop. Kim's over the top image is responsible for her claim as the "Queen Bitch" and verbal skills play a part as well. She was the protegee of rapper Notorious B.I.G. and before his early demise made sure the world knew her name, as he put it: "They're gonna love her." "How can we forget the poster promoting her debut album, Hard Core, on which Kim squatted scantly clad in a bikini, staring out at us younger then her intent." - Alan Light. Although Kim carries an image that screams controversy, she is creditably acclaimed for her openess. Most women agree with her theory that its okay for women to speak the truth about things they experience in life and speaking freely, even raunchily, about sex and getting paid.

From the Mercedes Ladies to Queen Latifah to Lil' Kim and others they were women who, like their brothers, were moved by the big beat and a love of the rhyme to create music, having claim for all women on this thing we call hip hop...

The Hip Hop Story : Chapter 2

Run D.M.C. & The Boogie Down Productions

In 81' a filmaker by the name of Charlie Ahearn decided there should be a film about graffitti/b-boy scene exclusively in the South Bronx. The film would be called Wild Style. Fab 5 Freddy was a consultant/actor on the film. The B-boy nation was gaining momentum and so was hip hop. " The B-boy nation was caught in a farstian vise: Radio hits, tours, and mass media incursions brought in cash but also carpetbaggers vibes of poseurs, industry weasels, and art hustlers- the resolution was no longer theirs." - Alan Light. In New York City, a man by the name of Larry Smith was seeking artists who could produce a more aggressive approach vocally in rap. He instilled in Run D.M.C. and Whodini to make it happen. Three teens from the relatively middle-class community of Hollis, Queens, Run D.M.C immediately went to the head of the class with their debut recording "It's Like That" and "Sucker MC's" (Krush Groove).

Run D.M.C. consist of Run (Joseph Simmons), DMC (Darryl McDaniels), and their DJ, Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell). Straight outta Hollis, Queens Joseph Simmons' brother Russell Simmons help jumpstart their career. " Perhaps their distance from ghetto aesthetics allowed Run D.M.C. to pull off something their less advantaged forebears were too deep inside to see Either way, rap was no longer folk music; it was now a portable formal conceit and whoever could so it best would win." - Kurtis Blow.

In 84' they released their debut album and in '85 released their sophomore album King of Rap. After their 86' relaese of Raising Hell, the song "My Adidas," made it as a top 10 R&B single. Also in ' 86 Run D.M.C. remade "Walk This Way" with Aerosmith. It was the first rap single to hit Billboard's top ten. It was number four and on the R&B charts it was later went multi-platinum and shot up to number one. Tougher Than Leather was released in '88, the follow-up album to Raising Hell. While the new record did not maintain the same popularity as its predecessor, it obtained platinum status and spawned favorites "Run's House" and "Mary, Mary".Run D.M.C's aggressive style had been taken beyond by Boogie Down Productions and later N.W.A. With the ganster scene approaching D.M.C seemed to only be appealing to white listeners.

Boogie Down Productions was a hip hop group from the South Bronx comprised of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock (who was murdered in 1987). The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for The cultural South Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New York City. With their debut LP Criminal Minds, they pioneered the fusion of dancehall reggae and hip hop. The Bronx is believed to be the origin of hip-hop, rival hip-hop group The Juice Crew were misunderstood to contain a claim in the song The Bridge that hip hop was directly a result of artists originating from Queensbridge. Boogie Down created diss songs like The Bridge is Over and South Bronx. This sparked one of the first notable hip hop wars as MC Shan, Marley Marl, Roxanne Shante and Blaq Poet all released songs featuring verses attacking members of BDP. After the death of Scott La Rock the Bridge Wars fizzled out an d KRS began to concentrate on consciously focused music.

Then There Was N.W.A.

A music label called Macola Records was being established. It was located on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood and major artists such as World Class Wreckin' Cru formed their own labels under Macola. There were mix shows by Uncle Jamm's Army and then by Dr. Dre and DJ Yella. The style of gangster rap emerged from Los Angeles. It proved to be the most notorious in the music business. "After the smoke clears, gangsta rap will be identified as the most influential style in all pop music in this decade." In the 90's gangster rap had taken over especially over the youth of the nation both white and black. Lyrics of black inner-city life and violence were being put on wax and it was a gamble if a record would get airplay. Crack had been introduced to L.A. giving it it's reconstruction. " It was an escape route from gang banging that established old school hip hop sensibilities in such gangster rappers as Boo-Yaa, T.R.I.B.E.,and Ice-T." - Eileen Southern.

Niggaz With Attitude. A fitting name for a self proclaimed "world's most dangerous group. N.W.A.'s supporters say the collective pushed hip hop to new levels of artistic freedom, unparalled by any American pop music since rock 'n' roll or bebop. N.W.A. consisted of rappers Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, and DJ Yella. After signing the group in '87, Priority Records had boasted their profits. By 1997 the company had sold a 50 percent stake to E M I Records for $100 million. N.W.A. was verry successful and had completely damaged hip hop. The group performed at skating rinks and the crowd loved their raw an uncut approach. It was all underground music, something people couldn't hear on the radio. N.W.A. rebelled against being radicalized unlike East Coast rappers KRS-One and Public Enemy. While everyone else rocked high top fades and recognized African heritage N.W.A. made other plans and reveled in their ignorance. After '87s N.W.A. and The Posse and '88s Eazy- Duz- It, Eazy- E's solo debut that was the follow up to Straight Outta Compton.

"Fuck The Police" was a song that got attention from everyone- including those who didn't even listen to rap. On the most controversial raps of '89 N.W.A. found themselves to be a notorious group and their album was selling like hot cakes. Police considered it disrespectful. Because of the song YO! Mtv Raps dedicated an hour to them. " Ice Cube was the first to discover that all that glitters isn't gold." - Nelson George. He found himself being unable to answer Pat Charbonet's (his future manager) questions about status of royalties and finances. While on tour '89 he asked to see his books. Jerry Heller was urgently requested by Eazy-E and had checks with the amount of $75,000 for each group member along with new contracts. Ice Cube refused to sign saying that he wanted a lawyer to look over the contract.

The group didn't see eye to eye with Cube and he left the group to work with Public Enemy's Bomb Squad. N.W.A. soon began to diminish. There was one particular incident where Marion "Suge" Knight approached Eazy-E making him an offer he couldn't refuse. He wanted him to sign a paper surrendering recording rights for Dr. Dre, D.O.C., Above The Law, Kokane, and Michel'le. Eazy-E refused but Knight had showed him a piece of paper with his mother's address on it. Eazy-E relented.N.W.A. was dead.

Conclusion

Next week chapter three, the women of hip-hop. Stay tuned...

The Hip Hop Story Chapter 1

Introduction

Hip hop, a musical genre developed alongside hip hop culture originated in the late 70's (official birthday being November 12, 1974) emerging from the outskirts of the South Bronx, New York. Hip hop culture consists of the elements: rapping, breakdancing, djing, and graffiti. In it's humble beginnings, hip hop was doubted and considered a fad particularly to outsiders however, the founders of the genre soon challenged that theory giving hip hop a steady foundation to stand the test of time.

The Beginning - late 70's - early 80's

" Sociologically rap was the African - American equivalent of punk in the 1970's in England. Rap grew out of people's frustration with all kinds of problems in the surrounding society. It was also a counter reaction to the 70's superficial disco craze. The lyrics are all important in rap they have dealt with power, pride, and politics." - Aino Konkka.

Hip hop is believed to have been originated by Jamaican DJ Kool Herc also known as the godfather of hip hop. DJ Kool Herc moved to the Bronx from Jamaica in '67 and began toasting

to the Black American hits of the time. Herc also gave birth to breakdancing aka B- Boy. Herc would rap with the microphone, using a myriad of in-house references at his infamous house parties. Herc spawned many followers throughout Brooklyn & Manhattan. Duplicates of his house parties and other block parties helped spread the message of hip hop throughout several neighborhoods.

Around the same time there was DJ Hollywood who was the first rhythmic disco rapper. Unlike Herc he was not confined to the South Bronx. Herc and DJ Hollywood disliked one another. They didn't recognize each other for recognizable contributions. The tension between the two made it to where it was B-Boys vs. disco rappers. According to Kurtis Blow, DJ Hollywood was the first rapper in the " hip-hop style." Hollywood never wrote any of his rhymes just came off the top of the dome. One of DJ Hollywood's contributions has been used by rappers for the last 30 years "throw ya hands in the air and wave em' like you just don't care." Most of his musical work was live, not recorded.

Another legend went by the name Grand Master Flash who was given his name because he was so fast on the turntables. Kool Herc's reign was ending after he had been stabbed at one of his parties. Flash began to takeover as Herc began to fade out. Flash displayed his talent at parties and studied Kool Herc's techniques and other DJ's including Pete DJ Jones. In the early 80's Flash teamed up with Cowboy, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole, Mr. Ness, and Raheim to create the Furious Five, one of the first rap groups formed. The Furious Five had several hit records that gave them superior recognition. Kurtis Blow later joined the group along with a seventh member named Kool Kyle. They were then called Grand Master Flash & The Furious 7.

Another South Bronx native by the name of Afrika Bambaataa was a DJ that was instrumental throughout the 1980's. Also known as the "Grandfather" of universal hip hop culture, Bambaataa founded the Zulu Nation who promoted peace, love, and unity. Bambaataa is known to have more than 25 crates of music! He is an influential part of hip hop past and hits such as " planet rock" are commonly sampled by present artists.

One of the groups to bridge rap's transition from the underground to mainstream success was the Bronx's Cold Crush Brothers. The group consisted of Jerry D. Lewis (JDL), Almighty KayGee, Charlie Chase, EZ AD, Grandmaster Caz, and DJ Tony Tone. The group was formed in early '79. By this time MC's had pushed DJ's out of the spotlight because of their ability to speak directly to the crowd. Cold Crush was managed by Henry "Big Bank Hank" Jackson, a part-time bouncer. A woman by the name of Sylvia Robinson was responsible for forming the group and asked Hank to be apart of it. Hank was given a book of rhymes by friend Grandmaster Caz since he wasn't an actual MC. Caz's rhymes ended up in the hit "Rapper's Delight."

Kurtis Blow was signed to Mercury Records, the first b-boy signed to a major label. In 83' Kurtis Blow was the King of Rap. He created the b-boy version of "The Night Before Christmas" called "Christmas Rappin." His song "The Breaks" gave him the opportunity to open for Bob Marley at Madison Square Garden. Every single he put up was successful. Blow's '85 hit "If I Ruled The World" was featured in the film Krush Groove.

Mercedes Ladies were founded around 1976, recognized as the first all female group. Sister group to Grandwizard Theodore and the L. Brothers, they shared the same manager. They opened for other artists such as Kevie-Kev, Busy Bee Starski, Master Rob, Bambaataa, Red Alert, Kool Herc, The Furious Five, The Cold Crush, Grandmixer DsT, etc. Although they never had their own record deal and are rarely mentioned, they paved the way for other female MC's.

Chapter 1 Conclusion

This chapter of "The Hip Hop Story" concludes hip hop's humble beginnings and it's originators. While not even coming close to covering everything this 1st post gives insight to the fundamentals of the culture. To all of the true hip hop head's this possibly could have been a bit of a refresher course & for others who don't know now you have the opportunity to know either way if you have or want anything to do with this culture know your history. You can't know where you're going until you know who helped get you there. In the next chapter we explore hip hop in the mid-late 80's, the female emcees of this era, and hip hop on the west coast. Stay tuned.