“I don’t mind living in a man’s world as long as I can be a woman in it.”
– Marilyn Monroe
I found myself caught up in a heated debate at Rock The Bells a couple of weeks back. During Lauryn Hill’s performance, I heard three people arguing over who the best female MC is. Shocked that they even had the cheek to discuss this while the G.O.A.T herself was standing on the stage, I waded in with my opinion and supported the male of the group. He agreed with me that not only can Hill rap better than many males in the industry, she could also sing the majority of R’n’B singers under the table.
Eager to hear the opinions of the two females in the group, I asked who they would select as champ and was unsurprised when I heard a chorus of “Lil’ Kim”. Now I love the Queen Bee more than the average Dalston hipster and would give away my future offspring in return for her nineties wardrobe (THAT pink ‘Chanel’ jumpsuit!), but my love for her does not delude me into thinking that she wrote her own rhymes, Biggie did. They may be rumours, but I see no argument when her lyrics got 90% worse from the 9th of March 1997 onwards.
Having pointed this fact out to the group, they fired back with Queen Latifah. Looking like the Screech of the Hip Hop world, I informed them that Apache was credited with writing the majority of Queen Latifah’s lyrics. So finally they settled on MC Lyte, who I agree is one of the greatest, but she ain’t Lauryn.
It all got a little bit weird after that when Eternia appeared wearing a Tee with ‘My Favorite Rapper Is Female’ across the front. Inevitably she was grilled for her answer to the debate. Anyway, that was just a really long-winded story ultimately intended to encourage you to watch My Mic Sounds Nice, a documentary about female MCs. For any females interested in Hip Hop, this is a must-see as it is one of the most comprehensive documentaries about the roles of women in the industry. Go to the BET website to watch it in full.
