PIONEER WOMEN OF HIP HOP:
MC Lyte is recognized as one of
“the best female vocalists in hip
hop” history. She was the first solo
female rapper to have an entry on the
Billboard 200, in 1989. Her albums
include Lyte as a Rock and Eyes on
This.
MC Lyte is recognized as one of
“the best female vocalists in hip
hop” history. She was the first solo
female rapper to have an entry on the
Billboard 200, in 1989. Her albums
include Lyte as a Rock and Eyes on
This.
lyrical wizard and was one of only
two women of the Lyricist Lounge
movement. Her first solo album Dirty
Harriet is rated a classic.
Hip hop started in the American ghettos and has changed music and youth culture worldwide for the past 50-plus years. Its roots are in the concepts of African grios (storytellers) and poetry. A hip hop origin is about giving voice to the social ills of the streets, but it morphed into many sub-genres.
his first album Soul on Ice was taken from the memoir of
former Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver. He chose his rap
name from Ras Kassa Mircha, the legendary Ethiopian
Emperor Yohannes IV.
His 1993 hit single Peace Treaty captured the
1992 Watts gang peace treaty. He is currently
working on more music for his Hereafter
Records.
Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Terminator
X, and Professor Griff. Their
Black social consciousness
albums It Takes a Nation of
Millions to Hold Us Back and
Fear of a Black Planet, raised
political awareness with songs
Fight the Power,
911 Is a Joke,
and By the
Time I get
to Arizona,
protesting the state
of Arizona for failing
to recognize Dr.
Martin Luther King
Jr. Day as a national
holiday at the
time.
Graffiti writing and break dancing also make up the stylistic elements of hip hop culture.
Madrid, Spain, is a prime example of the
global reach of hip hop.
of Chapel Hill, NC (below), displays fresh
moves for a street audience.
