9 Female Hip-Hop Pioneers You Should Know
Many of you are probably under the impression that girls were not heavily involved during the inception of Hip-Hop culture. Women were actually involved in every single element, from any corner you can imagine. Women were involved as record label executives, mothers, b-girls, girlfriends, MCs, venue owners (houses), promoters, DJs and almost just anything you can think of. If you call yourself a #HipHopHead, take note that there are at least nine female hip hop pioneers you should know about. Allow me to take you through a journey of the accomplishments made by nine of Hip-Hop’s most embraced female pioneers.
In the late 1970s, The Bronx, New York was not the only place in love with break beats and rhymes. The youth of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were also head bangin’ to dope rhymes and of course the influence from New York was just oh so strong. Depending on where you were determined what Hip-Hop record you heard first. Majority of the ears of 1979 recall hearing the Tec Records hit “To The Beat Y’all” as the first hip-hop record on wax. And the person rhyming on this record was a young lady from Philly by the name of Lady B. Despite Hip-Hop’s birthplace being in New York, it just so happens a female from Philly was among the first to lay this style on wax. Lady B is also best known as a Philly radio pioneer and overall DJ.
Once the 80s hit, Lady B become the reason why hip-hop records expanded beyond New York City. Her legendary show The Street Beat on Philly’s WHAT 1340 AM was the pillar for the dopest and latest hip-hop. If you were an up and coming act, you needed to go through Lady B to get your record played for the Philly hip-hop audience. Lady B helped jumpstart the careers of many hip-hop class acts such as Schoolly D, Public Enemy, Poor Righteous Teachers, Run D.M.C., LL Cool J, EPMD, UTFO, MC Lyte, Big Daddy Kane, Krs-One, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince and so many more of the Golden Era’s finest. She was even one of the first radio DJs to play Eric B and Rakim in Philadelphia. Lady B’s place in Hip-Hop is never to be underestimated and always acknowledged.
There is no doubting the fact that in the early days of Hip-Hop, the female emcee was underrepresented. Starting off as a B-girl heading to jams and parties carrying records, Sha-Rock had no idea she would create a lane in this brewing culture we now know as Hip-Hop. Sha Rock always had a knack for rhyming. She was known for always having a composition book during lunch, practicing her rhymes in the high school cafeteria. This young lady was a pending force to be reckoned with. Through her neighborhood connections, Sha Rock joined forces with the Funky Four Plus One More becoming the first female MC to record in an all male Hip-Hop group. MC Sha Rock’s presence made female Hip-Hop listeners finally feel like they had a voice that the world can hear. This accomplishment is why MC Sha Rock is uplifted by the Hip-Hop community as Mother of the Mic.
As a member of the Funky Four Plus One More, Sha Rock was the first female MC to have an unblemished rhyming battle, which was against Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5. On February 14, 1981, The Funky Four Plus One More became the first Hip-Hop act to appear on National Television. They appeared on Saturday Night Live which was hosted by Blondie’s Debbie Harry and this was the first time in the nation, on platforms that may have never heard a hip hop rhyme, witnessed a female laying down some funky bars. MC Sha Rock is a major contributor to the lane that was paved for female MCs of the next era, the Golden Era and the eras that followed. Until this present day, the female MC is still standing.
When it comes to the Hip-Hop DJ most of us will automatically think it was a grind for the boys. Let’s also wake up to the fact there were some females that wanted to play too, and DJ Wanda Dee was one of the first to break that ice. Growing up in the Bronx territory, Wanda always witnessed the spins of Grandmaster Flash and aspired to become the female version of him. This young lady took whatever chance she got to embody her desire. Wanda Dee first got the opportunity to DJ for Kool Herc at the local community center in Edenwall Projects. Once her name started buzzing around town, she became a member of Afrika Bambaataa’s Zulu Nation and became the Zulu Nation’s star DJ. Dee’s fellow male DJ peers made jokes, pulled pranks and threw insults her way, but Bambaataa was by her side to protect her.
You might remember seeing Wanda Dee in classic Hip-Hop movie Beat Street, which made her the first female DJ to be featured in a movie thanks to the legendary Harry Belafonte. With her rapid back spinning, mastered scratching, vivid mixing and blending skills, Wanda Dee spun and mixed records by funk artists in the likes of James Brown, Brothers Johnson, and Bob James from one break beat to the other. In the 80s, Wanda Dee embraced her skill with Hip-Hop’s rap element as she became the first female rap artist to put out two consecutive platinum singles, “The Goddess” and “To The Bone”. She even displayed true showmanship as her performances expressed pure sensuality, beauty, glamour, choreography and sex. Wanda Dee went from the first female Hip-Hop DJ to a lifetime show woman.
If this girl did not yearn for new school clothes, Hip-Hop would not have even stood a chance. You see, it wasn’t about partying for a young Cindy Campbell. It was all about making sure she was fly and sharp on the first day of school. Posted up as a tag writer by the name of PEP-1 and a well versed B-girl, Cindy was fastened on finding a solution for her conquest to look fly. She decided to throw one of the most memorable parties in her community. Stationed at the recreation room on 1520 Sedgwick Avenue was Cindy’s back to school jam. This party was a fundraiser for her to get those back to school clothes. She was doing all in her power to cut costs for this party.
Cindy’s older brother was already skilled with their father’s turntables and records, so she asked him to DJ her jam and he did not hesitate to say yes. DJ Kool Herc was ready to rock the house. Cindy didn’t know what she was doing when she asked her brother to DJ. There was an entry charge of 25 cents for girls and 50 cents for boys along with snacks and Old English 800s and Colt 45s for sale. One thing that truly turned this party up was the slow jam session which most jams totally bypassed but Cindy knew what would rock the house just like her brother. Cindy was satisfied as she raised a total of $500 that night and unconsciously simultaneously birth the foundation of a culture that was later called, Hip-Hop. It is safe to say that Cindy Campbell is indeed the First Lady of Hip-Hop Culture.
The art of rhyme is one of many ways someone can express him or herself. There was a time during Hip-Hop’s infancy when women did not feel comfortable to express themselves on the mic. It took courage, self acceptance and confidence to be a young lady rocking a microphone. Zulu Queen Lisa Lee is one of the most notable pioneers who fought to make Hip-Hop a safe place for aspiring female emcees. One day as a student at James M. Kiernan Junior High School 123, at the tender age of 13, Lisa Lee and her community alliances lead her to the sounds of Afrika Bambaataa and Disco King Mario. She displayed her rhyming talent along with her B-girl moves and by the following week she was rockin’ the mic with Bambaataa and the Mighty Zulu Nation of the 70s.
Lisa Lee was the only female on Afrika Bambaataa and The Zulu Nation’s classic first recording “Zulu Nation Throwdown” with Cosmic Force. This pedestal qualified Lisa Lee for a motion picture that was prominent for Hip-Hop’s reputation all over the world. She was featured in cult classic Beat Street as one of the Us Girls along with MC Sha Rock. The Zulu Queen was also the only female who rapped in Wild Style, a classic documentary that was centered around Hip-Hop’s graffiti element. She also became the first and only female member of electro-funk and hip-hop mash group Soulsonic Force. This joining put Lisa Lee among the female MC pioneers who were key influences for those to come. Zulu Queen Lisa Lee exchanged the blows for the stance of the female MC in Hip-Hop to exist. You can’t look into the coming of the female MC without mentioning Lisa Lee.
Most of Hip-Hop’s first ensemble of female MCs came from a crew and started as a B-girl. Being a part of a crew made you an official hip hopper in the early days. One pioneer who did such a thing the best is MC Pebblee Poo. Poo’s coming into Hip-Hop was as a grooving B-girl but she was always armed with the desire to rhyme. She started to rock with a crew from Harlem, The Untouchables who had Mix Master Andre on their team. Pebblee took off from the Untouchables to become a member of the Smoke-a-Trons which was pretty brief until she met Dr. Bomb-Bay.
Dr. Bomb-Bay schooled Pebblee Poo about the art of rhyming making her a pending force in the game. One day Dr. Bomb-Bay took her to a park jam that Kool DJ Herc was having. From that day on, Pebblee Poo started house rockin’ with Kool Herc and the Herculoids as DJ Kool Herc’s first female MC. As Herc’s reign began to dwindle, Pebblee Poo’s identity as an MC was sturdy and opened more opportunities for her. In the early 1980s, she became a notable member of The Master Don Committee. This gave her the chance to perform at hot spots like T-Connection and Harlem World. Pebblee Poo is known for her lethal, direct rhymes as proven in her 1985 song on Profile Records “Fly Guy”, which was a diss to The Boogie Boys. Pebblee Poo’s journey as a female MC shows the might and prowess it took in the early days to make your name known as a female MC.
In order to be considered a Hip-Hop Pioneer, you must have been the first of something or birth a factor that eluded lifetime prominence. This woman of many talents as a singer, songwriter, publisher, and producer was a known boss who was an aide in introducing the globe to the art of rhyming and element of rap. This woman is best known as Sylvia Robinson, the founder of Sugar Hill Records. Robinson started off as a Rhythm and Blues singer in the late 1950s. She was one half of the duo Mickey and Sylvia with Mickey Baker, and their song “Love Is Strange” was a Top 20 R&B hit that sold over 1 million copies in 1957. She was successful as a soloist in the 1970s with her classic album, Pillow Talk of 1973.
Sylvia honed orthodox music industry knowledge in which the popularized element of rap was questionable as to its pinch on vinyl. She imposed a strategy that changed the lives of many young boys and girls forever. In 1979 along with her husband Joe Robinson and Morris Levy, Sylvia founded Hip-Hop’s first label, Sugar Hill Records.This label became the home to several of Hip-Hop’s most notably pioneering acts; Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, Spoonie Gee, The Funky Four Plus One More, Sequence, The Treacherous Three, and The Sugarhill Gang. Sylvia Robinson was also behind the production for True School classics “Rapper’s Delight” and “The Message”. The success of “Rapper’s Delight” enabled her to flip the art of rap into an enterprise that has lead to the creation of long lasting careers. Sylvia Robinson’s experimental innovation of the business of Hip-Hop turning into a global phenomenon will forever be embraced.
Reigning from Sugar Hill records were three young ladies from South Carolina who were on a mission to put their raps on wax. Cheryl the Pearl, Blondy, and Angie B were cheerleaders at their high school and also very close childhood friends who happened to each be one year apart in age, with Angie B being the youngest. With the hype of “Rapper’s Delight” floating all over the nation, there was a Sugarhill gang concert happening in their city of Columbia at the Township Auditorium. These ladies decided to bumrush the concert not only to see the Sugarhill Gang live, but to aim for their chance to prove that they are better than the Sugarhill Gang. These ladies were all primarily singers, but had some rhymes underwraps.
After securing their spot backstage, the ladies bumped into Sugar Hill Records founder, Sylvia Robinson. They asked for a chance to show her what they got. After performing two of their R&B songs, Robinson didn’t seem to impressed. They closed out the audition with their rap song “Funk You Up” and by the time you know it, they were signed to Sugar Hill Records and became known as The Sequence. The Sequence single,“Funk You Up” became the first rap record on wax released by a female rap collective. “Funk You Up” also got airplay on top New York radio stations WBLS and WKTU. Not bad for some chicks from South Carolina. The success of The Sequence highly influenced the nationwide dynamic of the female Hip-Hop trio.
This young lady is one that can tell you the tales of the rugged journey for an aspiring female graffiti writer back in the 1970s. Born in the country of Ecuador and raised in Queens, New York, Lady Pink made a name for herself as the only girl who was skilled enough to compete with the dudes in the subculture of graffiti. She started painting as a way to cope with her spiraled relationship at the time. Her boyfriend was sent to Puerto Rico after being arrested in New York. In honor of her aching misses for him, she started tagging his name all across the city. Eventually, once she developed the moniker Lady Pink, that name was splattered all of New York City as well.
Within the 1970s and early 1980s, men made several attempts to intimidate girls who were aspiring graffiti writers. Lady Pink’s passion won over that fear. She was painting subway trains from 1979 to 1985. Her epic paintings made her a leading body in the evolution of graffiti based art. During her subway painting days she was rolling with The Cool 5 crew and The Public Animals crew. You might recognize Lady Pink from her starring role in cult classic Wild Style. Lady Pink is the most recorded and photographed female graffiti writer from the True School era. Her career was a fight for respect as an artist. Lady Pink’s showcased courage made it possible for post generation female graffiti artists to own staying power. Lady Pink is without a doubt, the most influential female graffiti artist in the history of Hip-Hop’s graffiti element.
Well, there you have it. The aforementioned women deserve praise and recognition when the topic of Female Hip-Hop Pioneers is brought up. Not only when it comes to the element of rapping, but also the subcultures that Hip-Hop embraces such as DJing and Graffiti Art. At the time of Hip-Hop’s inception, it was not easy to become a master of a Hip-Hop element as a female due to the constant underestimation, but these women made it happen. Their courageous acts made it possible for the Hip-Hop genre to live and survive till this day. Think about it, the biggest hip-hop beef right now is between two female rappers (Remy Ma and Nicki Minaj). Let’s make it our duty to stay informed about who paved the way for today’s rich culture of Hip-Hop.
This article was originally published on March 15, 2017. This piece has since been condensed.
