My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women & Hip Hop

BET aired their  documentary ‘My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women & Hip Hop’ earlier this week and someone over at their Washington DC offices must have read my mind, as this the timing of the programme is very apt, with all the debate surrounding Nicki Minaj at the moment. The show highlights the rise of women in the male-dominated world of Hip-Hop and the challenges they have faced, and no doubt continue to face. It features lots of great old school footage, as well as guest commentators including Roxanne Shante, Trina, MC Lyte, Lil Mama, YoYo, Eve, Missy Elliott, former The Source editor Kim Osorio and others. Check it out below:

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

LAURYN HILL – Don’t Call It A Comeback

Lauryn Hill’s slot at the New York leg of annual hip hop festival Rock the Bells was the talk of the music industry this past weekend. The respected and much-loved singer was on top form at the show, not necessarily in voice, but definitely in enthusiam. And she bought out some special guests to sweeten the deal, in the form of Jay-Z, Beyonce, Mary J Blige, comedian Chris Rock, a heavily pregnant Alicia Keys, Alicia’s new hubby Swizz Beatz and John Legend.

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‘HEY KANYE: TEN RAPPERS GREATER THAN NICKI MINAJ (and they are all female)’

So Kanye West thinks that Nicki Minaj has it in her to be the best rapper of all time, next to Eminem, huh? I love Kanye and all he does in the studio and a lot of things out of it, but his statement: ‘I think she has the most potential out of everyone to be the Number 2 rapper of all time’ is something I can not and will not cosign! To paraphrase one of his own rhymes ‘Bitch… are you smoking reefer?’ (Roses, Late Registration, 2005), no matter how big Nicki Minaj gets she ain’t never gonna be no second greatest rapper of all time, and that’s coming from somebody that actually likes her. I also don’t agree on the Eminem thing either,  but that is another discussion for another time. So back to Nicki, and it’s not just the fact that she is not even in the running to be the second greatest rapper of all time, she isn’t even in the running to be the greatest ‘female’ rapper of all time. I acknowledge that ‘Ye did say potential, but I’m still not buying.

There is a long list of female rappers that will always be greater than Nicki Minaj in my humble opinion. I admit a lot of are them are either washed up, in jail, on hiatus or out of the game and unlikely to make any real comeback now, but at their peak they were great. The fact that all of them have had hits that date back to at least the 90s is pure coincidence, but it also says a lot about the current state of hip hop, as it seems in the absence of anything truly amazing, peeps (like Kanye) are handing out unworthy titles, like an MTV award to Taylor Swift just before Mr West bum-rushes the stage! I will say image, lyrics, videos, impact and emotion all play a part here. Sales do too, but not as much – so we are talking quality not quantity . So… In no particular order (I’m way too indecisive to do it any other way), here goes my ‘Ten Female rappers greater than Nicki Minaj’

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WE ARE FAMILY

When I think about the 80s and 90s, one of the things that stand out is how many family music groups there were – that’s groups made up of, or featuring siblings. I have already written posts about Musical Youth, Debarge, 5 Star, Jodeci and Bros on here (check the music archives for those!). But as you all know there are a lot more that fit the bill. Read more

EL DEBARGE & DEBARGE

A week and a day after this year’s BET Awards, and I am still smiling hard about one particular performance. And no, I’m not talking about Chris Brown’s MJ Tribute. Read more

TONI BRAXTON – VIDEO INTERVIEW

I can’t believe that Toni Braxton has been in the music industry now for nearly 20 years! My, how time flies. I still remember her first single Breathe Again, and the short do she sported in the video. Short hair was to become her signature look in her early career and it suited her. Signed to LaFace Records in 1993, Toni certainly benefited from having legendary award-winning songwriting/music-making duo Babyface and L.A Reid executive producing her debut album. And gems featured on the set included aforementioned Breathe Again, Another Sad Love Song and How Many Ways. Read more

I Will Always Love You Whitney…

So by now we’ve all got the memo that Whitney Houston’s efforts at her live UK dates, did not live up to her past greatness. According to both newspaper reports/reviews and friends  who were in the building, the diva struggled to hit the high notes, and delivered quite a few bum ones. Booing, walk-outs and refund demands were also cited. It is obvious the superstar’s past substance abuse has affected her voice and that is a damn shame, but what can you do?

But rather than dwell on all the negative talk, instead it prompted to take an in-depth look back on the Whitney of old. And what I found was an even greater talent that what I at first remembered. Read more

MICHAEL BIVINS INTERVIEW

When I was growing up New Edition was one of my favourite groups in the whole wide world. And nearly three decades since they burst onto the scene in 1983, I am still a huge fan of the group and all the splinter projects it has spawned.

Founding member Michael Bivins has managed to keep himself relevant in front of, and behind the camera, as an artist, executive, cultivator of talent and trendsetter. And his bench marks have been frequently imitated but rarely credited in my humble opinion.

People give props to the likes of Diddy, which is much deserved. But before Diddy and Bad Boy, there was a Michael Bivins and a label called Biv 10 paving the way. And as well as being a member of New Edition since he was about 10 years-old, and a member of hit 90s act Bell Biv Devoe (Poison, Do Me, When Will I See You Smile Again), his now defunct label Biv 10 was responsible for launching platinum acts such as Boys II Men, ABC (Another Bad Creation) and 702 back in the early 90s. Read more

I NEED LOVE

The love song…. It can make you feel good, it can make you feel bad, but it always makes you feel. And when you are talking about the old school, you can’t talk about love songs, without mentioning LL Cool J’s I Need Love. Yes it is essentially a ‘love rap’, the first official love rap to be exact, but it is just as poignant as any of the great love songs out there in my opinion. Read more

U WILL KNOW

This lead single from the Jason’s Lyric film soundtrack is one of my favourite songs ever! Yeah, I know I say that about all the posts. lol! But this one really is, mainly because when it first came out I was  fascinated and excited by the fact that Black Men United (B.M.U) was made up of every black male r&b singer out at the time,  together on one track! The money raised on the song, which was a top five US r&b hit, went to the several charities to advance the uplifting of young black men, including the United Negro College Fund. Read more

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