Is it too geeky of me to mention Salt-n-Peppa? Well, I've done it.

other awesome women artists:

-ursula rucker

-kinnie starr

-camille yarbrough (from whom fatboy slim "borrowed" "praise you")

Erykah Badu!

Missy Elliott.

Does Left Eye count?

But you totally just made me want to go dig up "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."

MC Lyte was one of the first I remember, and in terms the smoothest stuff, Ladybug Mecca (solo and with Digable Planets) is the best.

Oh, Da Brat too.

This is one of my favorites from Ani Defranco!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DpuJujIu9gM

Lil Kim. But what's she been up to post-prison?

Diam's. I recently discovered this French rapper but can't find much of her music around -- does anybody know where to seek out her records?

Yo Majesty. I also recently discovered this Tampa-based female hardcore duo/couple.

Plus, I'll reiterate Salt-n-Pepa and add Lady Sovereign, whose music I've actually begun to like a lot more than I expected to when I first heard it.

I love love love Lady Sovereign!

I also want to mention Martina Topley-Bird who provided the kickass vocals on Tricky's albums. That reminds me that I need to check out her solo stuff.

OK, while I love some of the artists above like Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott, is there any way to deny that thus far, men have mastered the art of rhyming in a way that women haven't approached yet?

I'm not suggesting some sort of essentialist argument that women are incapable of spitting hot fire due to their genders. I think LH was clearly the most talented of the Fugees. But for whatever reason, be it lack of audience, interest or support, no woman I have ever heard rap has approach the level of mastery demonstrated by Big L, Outkast, Biggie, 2Pac, Eminem or others. Maybe when one does, we will see an uptick in female performers?

everybodyever: amazon france. Little more to ship to you probably, but not too bad. Bon CD !

Not an MC, but one of the strongest, most talented woman in R&B: Sharon Jones.

*women

Princess Superstar!

Spottie, the way I see it is the reason that many female artists have not made it as big is not because they lack talent, but I see this as a product of the record industry culture. Much like the movie industry, the record industry is dominated by men and music that is marketed toward, made for, and by men is what the record industry primarily looks for. Personally, I prefer the more "underground" music, mostly because it hasn't been corrupted by corporate interests. Not that all popular music is "bad", but likewise, just because something is "popular" or on a big record label, doesn't necessarily mean that it's the best stuff out there. IMO, there's plenty of equally talented artists and female artists that haven't made it "big", but are still worth listening to, just because you haven't heard of many of them, doesn't mean they don't exist.

Spottie: I'm willing to bet that there is a female Biggie counterpart or two out there. Though I'm surprised there aren't more women in the indie hip-hop realm, as they tend to be a whole lot less mysogynistic. (Slug from Atmosphere, FYI.)

But regardless, your screen name makes me want to listen to SouthernPlayalisticCadillacMuzik so it's all good :o)

Finally a blog here I can get into!

Here are some of my ladies: Floetry, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill and Queen Latifah. I don’t know if you could call it hip hop; but I just think that India Arie and Angie Stone deserve some love as well. All these women have lyrics that inspire and heal the soul.

To Spottie:
[Queen Latifah]
I break into a lyrical freestyle
Grab the mic, look into the crowd and see smiles
Cause they see a woman standing up on her own two
Sloppy slouching is something I won't do
Some think that we can't flow (can't flow)
Stereotypes, they got to go (got to go)
I'm a mess around and flip the scene into reverse
(With what?) With a little touch of *Ladies First*

I second norbizness on Ladybug. She's amazing, and Spottie, if you can listen to her and not think she blows the boys out of the water, I'll be amazed.

What about Monie Love?

A lot of you have mentioned some I already know. A few more female hip hop artists:
Rah Digga
Lady of Rage (I'm not sure if that's her current artistic name)
Foxy Brown

I'm sure there are other people I've left out mainstream and underground. One thing I think is important to note is that women aren't just under represented as artists but also behind the scenes, as mixers, sound engineers, session engineers, studio musicians, A&R's, and record execs.

Have to mention British Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sei-eEjy4g
Not only is she a cool MC who takes things into her own hands, she also has some pretty bad ass, politically charged lyrics. There aren't very many rappers out there in general who reference Palestinian Liberation . And she has some awesome beats.

Also, after her second album was released, some high profile magazines started insinuating it was only good because she had signed onto a major label. She wrote the magazines pissy letters for perpetuating the idea that the only talented/successful female artists out there have to have rich and powerful men behind them calling the shots. She's also all about third world visibility and talks a lot about what it means to be an immigrant/refugee living in the first world.

Sample of her lyrics from the song Sunshowers:

Semi-9 and snipered him
On that wall they posted him
They cornered him
And then just murdered him

He Told them he didn't know them
He wasn't there, they didn't know him
They showed him a picture then ;
"Ain't that you with the Muslims?"

He got Colgate on his teeth
And Reebok classics on his feet
At a factory he does Nike
And then he helps the family

Beat heart Beat
He's made it to the Newsweek
Sweetheart Seen it
He's doing it for the Peeps... Peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knQuxZj9rTA

I second M.I.A.'s radness!

Here in T.O there is a lady MC by the name of Isis who is fantastic as well, not sure if she does shows outside of the city though.

I am so glad that someone mentioned MIA - she is freaking awesome. Also, if you like MIA, check out Santogold, another badass woman making truly original, creative music (and she's a friend of MIA!):
http://www.myspace.com/santogold

Definitely, DEFINITELY M.I.A is the hottest of all the afore mentioned.

The worst track on Kala is that stupid Timbaland garbage...

What about MC Shankhini? She's from Vancouver, I think. I got into her when I heard "End the Silence" on a CBC broadcast one day. It's a crazy powerful song about violence against women.

On the way back from work I was thinking about how I needed to find more hip-hop by women, and then I find this post when I get home! :D

Does "It's a Shame" by Monie Love count as hip-hop? It's a great song whether it does or counts as pop instead.

Also, I found English lyrics for "La Rage" and "J'me barre" by Keny Arkana:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JbIpTxJ4-Iw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=T-8lpnYKdSM

Spottieottiedopalicious, while there are many reasons why it is difficult for women to become famous in hip hop without fitting into a very small number of boxes (and the reasons for this are many and have a lot to do with the racist misogyny of much of the white hip hop audience, I'd like to say before we backslide into some "hip hop = teh sexist") have you ever fucking heard Jean Grae? Esp her mix tape stuff? She can hold her own with anyone.

[And note to poster--it's Grae, not Graye.]

Spottie, any of the rappers listed above I think can hold their own with anyone. All of them have some classic material, to me at least. Remember the Queen Latifah, Mc Lyte, Roxanne Shante, ect. laid the ground work for some of the later great rappers (biggie, pac, eminem, ect.). Part of the reason there aren't as many well known female rappers is because of corporations. When hip hop wasn't as dominated by big corporations there were more female rappers. Look at the late 80's to early 90's hip hop for a good example of this. Today the industry works against women who want to rap, unless you conform to marketing standard for female rappers.

Don't forget Eve.

Also, it's "Lauryn Hill", not "Lauren Hill".

Jean Grae
Great Northern
Gravy Train!!!

I don't think Spottie could have been serious. I mean, really. No one could top Biggie or Tupac, for sure... man or woman... but Eminem? I mean, he's nice and all, but Jean Grae's lyrical dynamism - even back when she was What What - far outshines his, imho.

Here's a few more:
Mia X
Suga T
Medusa
Shelly B
Chocolate Thai
Nonchalant
Makeba Mooncycle
Lady B
Ms Jade
Yo-Yo
Sister Souljah

And why are we just talking about MCs?

What about DJs?
Pam the Funkstress
Kuttin Kandi
Shortee
Lazy K
and my favorite, DJ Chela
the whole Murda Mamis set

Writers like
Lady Pink
Muck
Barbara 62
Eva 62
Icon
Claw
Lady Heart
Meek

B-Girls like
Sisterz of the Underground
Bonita
Jeskilz

There are dope lady producers and promoters, too...

Seriously, though, it goes on and on and on... and why is it it's so much easier to remember writers' names? (prolly 'cos they write them all over the place)...

Oh, yeah, and let's not blame it all on the "corporations", 'cos it's on each and every one of us... And Rah Digga blew up and you know she's not on some "care 4 u" shit... and we can't change time warner or rca, so go out, find the dope missus mixtape master in your area or check out some b-girl summits, support your local battle mcs, step out or do something.

Sorry, I didn't mean corporations were entirely at fault. The artists, record labels, and consumers all play a part in the current state of hip hop. The finger should be pointed at all groups. My point with corporations was that they created an artificial standard of what hip hop is, mainly the increasingly masculine image of it. That's part of the reason why women are relegated to being video vixens. I don't blame the record labels entirely for it though because consumers were buying into it, and still are. I think changing our consumption of hip hop is the way to making it less misogynistic , but I know that most people only listen to what's available from a major label. That's why I also put some of the blame on the majors, because they're not offering enough variety (i.e. more female artists, and more more conscious rap,ect.), when they could offer it and still make money. Oh, and btw Puckalish, can you give me some names of some female producers?

Just want to make sure Erykah Badu's name is in the mix.

I'm a big fan of Invincible:
http://www.myspace.com/invincilana

And hip-hop's greatest loss was when Lauryn decided not to be a full-time emcee. (2nd greatest loss: when Mos Def decided not to be a full-time emcee).

One point on Spottie's comment, beyond my general disagreement: Tupac was actually pretty mediocre when judged on the "art of rhyming".. he was great but his greatness did not derive from his technical skill as an emcee.

well, erykah produces most of her own stuff, as does lil kim (the more recent stuff), alicia keys, lauryn hill, jean grae... then there's missy, of course, who's done a bunch of stuff in partnership with tim and solo (like, well, aaliyah's whole catalog, mya, destiny's child, some stuff for janet, whitney and mariah and more)...

also, there's ms beat konducta (super laid back stuff from alabama), stoni (first woman to win a beat battle, according to remix mag), jane of all trades, diverse whittaker (brooklyn!) on the less-well-known tip...

all those folks are big names or up-and-comings, so just think about how many dope ladies there are in your city or hamlet poring over reason and a drum machine.

seriously, though, doc, no apologies necessary, except maybe from me... i just catch myself saying the same thing as you so much that i get fed up with it, you know?

and invincible's nice, j, thanks for the heads up.

I can't believe no one has mentioned Mystic yet. She just has the one album, but it's fantastic. I've heard her compared to Lauryn Hill many times, that while Lauryn is a singer who can rhyme, Mystic is an MC who can sing. Her lyrics are fantastic.

Mystic is tight. And while we're on west coast singers, Ledisi's off the chain.