by Rachel, Katrina, Gabby and Carmen

We do a lot of writing about rap here.

Despite our obsessions with Kanye West, Kanye West, and Drake, we here at Autostraddle are well aware that female rap not only exists, but thrives. After all, we are the website that brings you breaking coverage of Azealia Banks, Nicki Minaj, Brittani Nichols, and every other major figure ever in the history of current female rappers. We do our best.

It can be hard, however, to pay an appropriate homage to the past when you’re also writing about your feelings, your clothes, your sex life, and the news. Sometimes the context of the summers you spent as a teenager listening to rap in your first car, or the wind in your hair as you waited for the bus in the middle of the city, or the time you first heard a rap song and thought, “oh my fucking god” get lost in translation when people are looking for what’s new, what’s happening, and where they can get it for free.

So we did this for you. We’re about to explore female rap from the roots right up to the turn-of-the-century. We’re about to take an ambitious journey with women wearing tank tops, leather, athletic gear, and combinations of all of those things. We’re about to learn something and we’re about to have feelings about the world we live in. You’re gonna wanna be a part of this.

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1988: “Twist and Shout” – Salt N Pepa

Katrina: Salt N Pepa (N Spinderella!) were always the epitome of fly. They were loud, fun, sexy when they wanted to be, and they were straight to the point. They led a scene of late 80s/early 90s femme fatale girl groups and made a name for themselves by juxtaposing blatant desire with unapologetic independence. They didn’t take any shit from men, they knew exactly what they wanted, and they weren’t afraid to straight up tell you. For this clip, I was going to pick “None of Your Business,” which is a three-and-a-half minute goldmine independent woman lines like, “How many rules am I to break before you understand/That your double standards don’t mean shit to me?” but then I found this cover of “Twist and Shout.” I don’t need to give you a reason to watch this because there are so many, but I’ll give you one anyway: Salt N Pepa wearing 60s-style suits.

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1989: “Cha Cha Cha” – MC Lyte

Crystal: MC Lyte was the first-ever female rapper to release a full-length album – a fairly significant accomplishment. Said album was 1988’s critically acclaimed Lyte As A Rock, which produced MC Lyte’s first hit “Paper Thin“. It’s a good song, sure, however given the task of choosing just one Lyte track, I prefer the flow of “Cha Cha Cha” from 1989’s Eyes On This. “Cha Cha Cha” spent over four months on the Billboard Rap charts, peaking at #1 – not too shabby for a track written when Lyte was only seventeen.

In 2006, MC Lyte’s diary, turntable, records and other items were donated to the Smithsonian Institute for “Hip-Hop Won’t Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life” – a collection of objects of historical relevance to the hip hop genre from its inception. I just thought that was interesting / something I would’ve liked to have seen.

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1989: “Ladies First” – Queen Latifah

Crystal: When Queen Latifah’s “Ladies First” (ft Monie Love) was released in 1989 it became an automatic feminist anthem and, to this day, remains one of her most popular tracks. “Some think that we can’t flow – stereotypes, they’ve gotta go” more or less sums up what this song is all about. “Ladies First” appeared on Queen Latifah’s excellent debut album All Hail The Queen, which in my opinion still measures up to rap/hip hop records produced today. It ranked #35 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop, and #1 in my heart.

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1991: “You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo” – Yo-Yo

Gabrielle:  My first thoughts when Carmen emailed about the Rap Herstory piece: FUCKING A, RIGHT ON! YESSSSSSSSSSS!!! I am now in love with Carmen’s brain, especially the rap-lovin’ side.

Carmen: This article was Katrina’s idea. ALL HER IDEA. I TAKE NO CREDIT FOR THE IDEA.

Gabrielle: Yo-Yo, born name Yolanda Whittaker, is one of the many female rappers from the early 90s that showed so much promise but couldn’t really gain a strong foothold in the music industry. Her most popular single “Can’t Play with my Yo-Yo” came out in 1991, when I was 9 years old. The hook still finds its way into my brain on a semi-regular basis. That’s powerful in its own way. Also, one major thing about Yo-Yo was that most of her attitudes and lyrics were based around being a strong female and connecting with other women to rise above the misogyny and male-based bullsh*t in life. Her crew of homegirls were called the IBWC: Intelligent Black Women’s Coalition.

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1994: “Creep” – TLC

Carmen: I chose “Creep” because I can still remember listening to it and strutting to parties my first summer in DC. I remember wishing once I really discovered TLC – way too late in the game / in my life – that I’d been more into their brand of girl power as a kid.

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1996: “Foxy’s Bells” – Foxy Brown

Gabrielle: Fox Boogie Brown is Bad As Hell. First, Foxy Brown came up with one of the greatest self-imposed rap nicknames ever in life: The Ill Na Na. And if you’re not sure what that means, it’s ok, mostly it means that she has the best pussy and is the best rapper. All of those things in one word and, bonus, it acted as the title of her first album. The Ill Na Na was released in 1996 and continued to the drive started by Lil’ Kim for female rappers to run solo. Well, mainly as a solo female surrounded by a crew of dudes. Foxy’s first single “Ain’t No N*gga” was huge and a lot of that boost came from the star power of Jay-Z. Still her bravado and booming voice secured her spot as a force in and of herself. Immediately, the rivalry between Foxy and Lil’ Kim became a thing because obvs two badass women rapping could no longer be friends. Why? I don’t know. Maybe because drama sells and maybe this type of rivalry laid the foundation for shows like The Bad Girls Club. I digress. Still Foxy’s music and attitude made for great hip hop. Her collabs with Blackstreet and involvement in rap super group, The Firm, make her a VIP in the rap herstory group. Also, at one point not only did she go deaf but she also ran a reign of terror on nail salons. Mad drama, ya’ll. Foxy Brown will always have the Ill Na Na.

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1997: “The Rain” – Missy Elliot

Katrina: It has been nothing short of an honor coming of age to Missy Elliott. On the scene as a solo artist since she dropped Supa Dupa Fly in 1997, Missy has relentlessly proven that it’s possible to make it in any game just by doing you. Fortunately for her, “doing you” has meant being talented, ambitious, stupidly charming and continuously humble. The quality of her music and the genuineness of her character have made her recognizable from the beginning, which granted her exclusive access to the boys’ club, where she was working with dudes like Timbaland and Diddy before her first single even dropped. Playing with the boys has never slowed her roll, though, and Missy shaped herself, intentionally or not, into a feminist hip-hop icon by being honest in her work. Despite what the haters may have to say, she’s maintained a positive message (and managed to do so without being corny), embraced her body type, retained a sense of humor and always respected other women, even when playing their pimp in that great, great Lady Marmalade cover. And, in the 21 years that she’s been a musician, she’s never, ever slowed down. It’s entirely possible that Missy is forever.

1997: “Crush On You” – Lil’ Kim

Gabrielle: Holy shit, I can’t even express all of my feelings about this woman but I’m going to try. For a moment, set aside all of your preconceived notions about oversexualized female rappers and all the angry sex feelings you may have about rappers like Lil’ Kim, let’s go back to 1994 and talk about a young woman named Kimberly Denise Jones. Originally part of the rap group J.U.N.I.O.R. Mafia, Lil’ Kim stood strong amidst a group of stone faced hard spittin’ dudes and she held her own. Nah, check that, she eclipsed them immediately.

With her deep round the way voice and aggressive, violent, shockingly sexual lyrics, Lil’ Kim sliced her name into the rap game with a vengeance. She rapped along Biggie Smalls in tracks such as “Get Money” and “Player’s Anthem”; Kim was his co-de, homegirl, the Bonnie to his Clyde and unfortunately for her, a chick smitten with his Big-ness. But for me, Lil’ Kim was more than the female version of Biggie — which is what rap critics called and still call her because obvs for a woman to be successful, she’s gotta be strapped to a man. Right, Frida?

Anyway, obsessed with Lil’ Kim from J.M., I totally jumped on her first solo album Hard Core which dropped in the cold ass winter of 1996. I hid that CD in my room for years listening solely with my headphones on because it was filled with curses, drug references and things about sex I never even imagined happened like female orgasms! Yes, Queen Latifah and others came first, but Lil’ Kim was the first one to make rapping look so sexy, to me anyway. I’m conflicted as I write this because my nostalgia for Kim can’t erase the fact that in many ways Lil’ Kim’s presence destroyed the positive sister-based feminism that the female rap movement embodied. Her verses were filled with hate for other women and the desire to be the main bitch in a circle of men. She rapped that other women couldn’t be trusted like in the track “M.A.F.I.A. Land“: “I used to roll hard with tons of bitches. Now it’s just me and my n*ggas.” Still, the one thing I can say about Lil’ Kim is that her existence allowed my thirteen year old self to feel OK stomping through the streets, to feel safe walking the block with a scowl and fists clenched, ready to not be hassled by bullies, ready to handle myself. Sometime, that’s all I needed to get through my day.

Rachel: Recently, because of this event called A-Camp, maybe you’ve heard of it, I had occasion to spend approximately 8-10 hours over the course of a day driving through, in, and around LA. I had a giant folder of dozens of CDs to play courtesy of Sarah Croce, but really I just wanted to listen to Notorious K.I.M. on repeat, so that’s what I did. While I agree with Gabby that I wish Kim’s brand of feminine power came with less competition and sniping at other women, I just admire her so fiercely for being so unapologetic, so indubitably powerful, and so unwilling to play down sexuality in order to be taken seriously. And she didn’t leave you any choice about taking her seriously. “First female king/and they’re mad ’cause I’m a girl.” Even if Kim was often dismissed as a sexy, female, novelty sidekick to Biggie, his track “Another” has her telling him “You ain’t shit, you fat motherfucker,” on his own album. Kim didn’t need to ride on anyone’s coattails to be the best, because she already was.

And while Kim was also brushed off as unnecessarily vulgar, and working off the same denigrating sexual references that male rappers often used, the female sexual universe that Kim sets up is way more complicated and empowering than that. Lil’ Kim was never shy about telling anyone to eat her out, or shy about rapping about how great it is to get to eat her out, or how if you’re not willing to eat her out you may as well take your things and go. But unlike the dynamic in much of hip hop (and our culture in general), Kim wasn’t issuing a command to a partner that she had control over — her partners were enthusiastic and into it, and suddenly pleasing your female partner in bed became more than just something they were owed. It became something awesome. Kim’s overtly sexual lyrics weren’t just about being in your face or being controversial — although they were also that — they were about making sex, and female sexuality, something fun and good. Kim’s always in control of her sexual encounters, which is fucking badass, but they’re about more than power; they’re also about feeling good, which is genuinely revolutionary. We owe her so much; all hail Queen Bee.

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1998: “Are You That Somebody” – Aaliyah

Carmen: How could I not put this song on every playlist ever in the history of time? God, it sounds good when you’re cruising. My love for Aaliyah is strengthened by the honors paid to her by Drake on a daily basis, who respects her greatly as an artist and “wishes he had been able to meet her.” That’s a common sentiment, and with good reason – Aaliyah was a game-changer and an innovator. She was amazing. And she looked damn good in leather.

Saying goodbye to Aaliyah was something people weren’t ready to do when she passed away tragically in 2001. A part of me wonders, though, if we ever have to say goodbye to a legacy. It doesn’t seem fair. Can’t we just play Aaliyah and pump the bass and pour one out?

That’s what I’m gonna do.

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1998: “Doo Wop (That Thing)” – Lauryn Hill

Carmen: I associate this song with, among other things, my friendship with Katrina and my friendship with my best friend Amanda Early and the night neither of them were there but it played at this gay bar and my friends and I, we just harmonized the shit out of it. We sang and we did backup vocals and we did beatboxing and we made that shit fucking happen because that’s what you do when you hear Lauryn Hill — you throw your drinks up and you let it go. She shook the industry by not only demanding she be able to sing and rap on the same album, but then doing it at a level nobody could touch. Even Nicki Minaj ain’t no Lauryn Hill.

That’s because she’s the one and only.

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BONUS TRACKS: “Freedom”

Gabrielle: In 1995, Panther, a film directed by Mario Van Peebles, dropped into the American cinematic landscape and unflinchingly explored the Black Panther Party which fyi, was a revolutionary movement begun in the late 1960s whose primary focus was to protect Black Americans from a violent and corrupt law enforcement system. I cannot do the movement justice in this space so therefore I will refrain from anymore commentary. Basically, go to the library, do some research, read some books and watch this movie. My point is that two songs from the movie’s soundtrack changed my whole fucking life. The song “Freedom” was released in two different versions on the Panther Soundtrack, and both version are simply incredible. All of the most influential creative female voices in hip hop and r&b music came together and created two songs about love for each, the strength in joining forces and the beauty that is being a Black Woman, A Woman of Color, and really, simply being a Woman. There have never been two songs like these ever. Don’t test me. Just listen. Please.

One version was all of the best female rappers.

The other version was all the hottest R&B singers.

I hate to sound so old as to say they don’t make songs like this anymore. Like women don’t power together and make this kind of music…like maybe we do somewhere, in some magical place that I don’t have access to but damn, these two songs gave me hope in the world.

“Freedom for my body. Freedom for my mind. Freedom for my Spirit.”

Forever.

PLAYLIST: A Thing Called Female Rap

[STREAM IT HERE]

Twist & Shout – Salt N Pepa
Cha Cha Cha – MC Lyte
Ladies First ft. Monie Love – Queen Latifah
You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo – Yo-Yo
Creep – TLC
Foxy’s Bells – Foxy Brown
Crush On You – Lil’ Kim
Are You That Somebody – Aaliyah
Doo Wop (That Thing) – Lauryn Hill
Freedom – Various Female Rap / R&B Artists Who All Are Amazing

A Thing Called Female Rap from Autostraddle on 8tracks.

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