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Wednesdays with Wendell: Ressurecting the Lady Emcee
We have missed you so much. It has been a long time coming, but we are so glad you've made it back. I remember when you first hit the scene, you were strong, sexy, hype, smart and fresh. You were every thugs dream wife and every 9-5'ers fantasy. You made us want to push it real good. We got the hell outta the way when it was time for your revenge. We saw you grow from an around the way girl that just liked the cars (you know the cars that go boom), to a self sufficient Queen who brought wrath to those who disrespected her like a dame. But then something happened.
Photo by stuttermonkey (Flickr Creative Commons)
Available here.
Photo by stuttermonkey (Flickr Creative Commons)
Available here.
Among the mis-education and supa dupa flyness, we lost you. We should have seen the writing on the wall, when the thought shifted from "let's talk about sex baby, lets talk about you and me, lets talk about all the good things, and the bad things, that could be" to "put it in my mooooouuutttthhh". We missed the signals when your plight went from being in the middle to who's the real barbie. As you got more and more sexual, we lost sight of the fact that you are much more than a sexual being. As men who love you, we should have done something. We should have listened to you when you weren't talking about how good the na na is. We shouldn't have forced you to try to be as hard as men, just to get the respect you deserve as an artist. We should have appreciated you for everything you are, not what we fantasized that you would be. We failed you. I'm sorry.
There were some of you who stood firm in the midst of our negligence and there were some who decided it was better to get along, than get left behind. In an overtly chauvinistic industry, I can only try to imagine the frustration of letting your feminine voice heard through all the machismo and swag. Nonetheless, I applaud you.
In the same spirit I do have to challenge you. Simply put, we got a Sista in the White House and we have got to do better. I think its absolutely ridiculous for women to walk around bragging about being someone's "Lewinski" as opposed to their Michelle. (Yes Nikki Minaj, I'm talkin about you.) You are just as shameful as Plies (who calls himself a goon but was in fact attempting to walk the straight and narrow, including attending two universities), if you will consciously hide your intellect and act like a whore just to sell records. (too many female rappers to name) By no means am I expecting every Lady Emcee to be as prolific as Lauryn Hill, but I also don't expect them all to be Kiya's and Mercede's.
But we welcome you back Lady Emcees and we thank those of you who have been holding us down all along. (Brat, Missy, Jean Gray, Lady Bug, Latifa, Lyte...) Special Shout out to a couple of "newcomers" to the game.
SHEE
Website: http://SHEEmusic.com
Myspace: http://myspace.com/SHEEmusic
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SHEEmusic
"Whenever you refer to a female....the sentence usually begins with "she", add an "e" for
everything a woman is or aspires to be. Rap recording artist, SHEE, is the quintessential
urban female and without question one of rap music's fastest rising stars."
Soooo true man. I just happened to come across this sista on twitter when I was on one of my patented rants. Someone put me on to her and I'm like "yeaaah alright" then I go to her myspace page and heard her blaze over a Nirvana sample. SHEE is definitely the truth; witty, funny, street smart with a fresh delivery.
Next Up:
Quintescence
Website: http://www.famobent.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Quintesence
"Quintescence was born and raised in the Bronx, NY home to the late great Big Pun and the teacher KRS ONE. She has been featured on Allhiphop.com, Hiphopgame.com, Worldstarhiphop.com, Urbanbuzzfactor.com, Str8hiphop.com and more."
So once again, I'm on twitter right, and I see this chick going in (ranting about) on female rappers and their lack of depth. So of course, I jump right on in. Little did I know how passionate this sista is about the Culture. All I have to say is listen to the first minute of her song "Hip-Hop", listen to her delivery, passion and skills and try to turn it off. I dare you.
Lady Emcees we are soooo glad to see you once again taking your place right back where you belong in Hip-Hop. I can't wait to hear some of the newness that you bring to the industry. For my readers please show them some love and leave us a comment telling us about your favorite Lady Emcees, Newcomers and Classic Quotes.
There were some of you who stood firm in the midst of our negligence and there were some who decided it was better to get along, than get left behind. In an overtly chauvinistic industry, I can only try to imagine the frustration of letting your feminine voice heard through all the machismo and swag. Nonetheless, I applaud you.
In the same spirit I do have to challenge you. Simply put, we got a Sista in the White House and we have got to do better. I think its absolutely ridiculous for women to walk around bragging about being someone's "Lewinski" as opposed to their Michelle. (Yes Nikki Minaj, I'm talkin about you.) You are just as shameful as Plies (who calls himself a goon but was in fact attempting to walk the straight and narrow, including attending two universities), if you will consciously hide your intellect and act like a whore just to sell records. (too many female rappers to name) By no means am I expecting every Lady Emcee to be as prolific as Lauryn Hill, but I also don't expect them all to be Kiya's and Mercede's.
But we welcome you back Lady Emcees and we thank those of you who have been holding us down all along. (Brat, Missy, Jean Gray, Lady Bug, Latifa, Lyte...) Special Shout out to a couple of "newcomers" to the game.
SHEE
Website: http://SHEEmusic.com
Myspace: http://myspace.com/SHEEmusic
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SHEEmusic
"Whenever you refer to a female....the sentence usually begins with "she", add an "e" for
everything a woman is or aspires to be. Rap recording artist, SHEE, is the quintessential
urban female and without question one of rap music's fastest rising stars."
Soooo true man. I just happened to come across this sista on twitter when I was on one of my patented rants. Someone put me on to her and I'm like "yeaaah alright" then I go to her myspace page and heard her blaze over a Nirvana sample. SHEE is definitely the truth; witty, funny, street smart with a fresh delivery.
Next Up:
Quintescence
Website: http://www.famobent.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Quintesence
"Quintescence was born and raised in the Bronx, NY home to the late great Big Pun and the teacher KRS ONE. She has been featured on Allhiphop.com, Hiphopgame.com, Worldstarhiphop.com, Urbanbuzzfactor.com, Str8hiphop.com and more."
So once again, I'm on twitter right, and I see this chick going in (ranting about) on female rappers and their lack of depth. So of course, I jump right on in. Little did I know how passionate this sista is about the Culture. All I have to say is listen to the first minute of her song "Hip-Hop", listen to her delivery, passion and skills and try to turn it off. I dare you.
Lady Emcees we are soooo glad to see you once again taking your place right back where you belong in Hip-Hop. I can't wait to hear some of the newness that you bring to the industry. For my readers please show them some love and leave us a comment telling us about your favorite Lady Emcees, Newcomers and Classic Quotes.
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13 Comments
Kyra Kyles said:
Interesting insights, and good jab at Miss Minaj. :) Also, for more local female MCs, check out the story that appeared in the RedEye: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/redeye/2009/11/all-my-singles-ladies.html
Wendell Tucker said:
I love the synchronicity! The story on Kid Sister is hot too. Its about damn time!
Tony Jordan said:
All I have to say is that for a very long time female Emcees were being taken serious until they started using their bodies & sexuality to sell records(Thats what the industry wanted) instead of their microphone & lyrical skills & if you had both the main focus was on their looks. It's no diffrent from the industry setting the standard on pushing popcorn candy ass rap over true lyrics, style, originality,thought process & hip-hop that bring a positive message about the culture & essence of real hip-hop. Peace & One Love.
Wendell Tucker said:
man so true. I'm glad to see we still got rebels out there though!
Tony Jordan said:
Yeah man it's bad cuz this is our music & when we stayed independent we kinda controlled our own destiny & by me having my own company ( DeCago Inc)I feel I have to stay true to the essence of hip-hop & the music & filter out the wack music & artist that's in it just to make money because this music comes from your heart,mind & soul. The artist I manage & represent take a great deal of pride & honor when it mcomes to making this music & feel an obligation not only to themselves but their fans,friends & family & most importantly the OLD SCHOOL who paved the way for the NEW JACKS to continue to carry the torch & make hip-hop music a force to be reckoned with & respected. Peace & One Love.
Brilliant! Taking responsibility and living up to being a man in the relationship! ITS YALL's FAULT! LOL Just playing. Great writing and I am now a fan of both of these females. And I am so glad we aren't considered dead any longer.
J3551C4 said:
I won't knock women who are not afraid to be sexual, but I agree with you completely. A woman who uses her sexually because it is what she thinks men desire, and will make her popular with men. has sold out her integrity and self power.
I'd like to thank Erykah Badu for never being afraid to be herself, sing what she believes in, and never ever EVER selling into any hype, but creating her own.
J3551C4 said:
argh excuse the typos. i apologize.
Wendell Tucker said:
Man I love Erykah so much. That woman has this raw original force about her that's empowering and arousing. You're right. Its nothing wrong with being sexual, its part of our human nature. Hell, Salt n Pepa was doin it waaayyy before it was the in thing. But to take what you said to a larger scale: to sell your self out, is to sell us all out. Not just the girls who look up to them and the women who relate to them, but also the men who want to respect and love them as well. I'm just grateful for the lady emcees that you can envision as mothers and wives and not a jump off.
belizeangal said:
What has happened to the ladies in hip-hop? Latifah has moved to movies, Monie Love disappeared, MC Lyte is rarely heard of, and even Lauryn Hill is pretty much out of the scene these days. And what we are left with, Foxy Brown, Lil’ Kim and Trina I just don't understand why they seem to feel that their most interesting topic of their rhymes is about their sexcapades, now I have no problem with women using their sexuality, like Wendell said it's part of our human nature, but these women are like spawns of male rappers, see how some female rappers are now doing jail time like their male counterparts. it's going to be real hard to be taken seriously again. Oh..And for those of you who think women like Niki Minaj will bring female MCs back-think again
Papa MaC said:
It all started when rap hit the suburbs. Once there was real money to be made with the demographic expanding to the middle-class, rap became less real and more stereotypical. In a world where women are b*ches, men are n*ggas and doing anything short of a felony is for posers; in what direction could hip-hop truly evolve. There are artists that stand true to real hip-hop, though more money is typically thrown at the ones with the most booty-shakers in their videos. With supply you have to blame demand, which is all of us.
Wendell Tucker said:
Yeah man, they say the love of money is the root of all evil. But if that's the root, then then the concept of the hater is the miracle grow. The whole idea that any form of criticism is derived from jealousy is the simple mind's paradise. The more we have been bullied into acceptance of bs in order to avoid that stigma, the more we have emboldened these lackluster artist. If you look at the charts this week and the soundscan, i think you might see the seeds of revolt.
FoxBoogie.Com said:
i hate when people throw foxy brown in the same mix as trina & kim. Foxy Brown talks about real life issues. Listen to her music before making accusations about her. Please google search foxy brown's "Memory Lane" "The Letter" "My Life" "Star Cry".. learn the history before commenting on her MC'ing skills.
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