Who is the greatest female rapper of all time? I’m going to go ahead and vote Lauryn Hill. She was amazing with the Fugees. As a matter of fact, they were pretty much her back up dancers.
Also, whomever ghost-wrote MC Lyte’s lyrics in the 80s was an unbelievable talent.
I can’t even think of any other female rappers that touch those two, and I am privy to quite a few female rappers, including some pretty obscure good ones.
I hope this thread will bring to light some talents that I haven’t heard of though.
I’d probably say Missy. As a writer and a performer, she’s kind of head and shoulders above anyone else. Lauryn was always much more of a singer with occasional rapped verses, but Missy is an emcee’s emcee through and through.
No, no, no. Please don’t say that. Please. Lauryn Hill with the Fugees was a Hip-Hop Artist. It wasn’t until she left them that she became a singer.
Missy has only disapointed me after her “I Can’t Stand The Rain”. Even with that song, I give her few points for lyrical skill. I really can’t deny her crazy points for originality though.
Also, I think this is supposed to be in Cafe Society, but I couldn’t figure out how to report the damn thread to the mods. I put it in IMHO by mistake.
I mean, I guess Lauryn rapped a little in the Fugees, but she always struck me as more of the hook singer of the group while Clef and Pras took the verses. I mean, “ready or not,” “fugee la,” “killing me softly”…the biggest singles are all built around Lauryn sweetly singing, not busting rhymes.
Dude, Missy took OFF after “I can’t stand the rain” - I mean, that song was hot, but she got ridiculous after that.
The only other fairly recent female MC of consequence that even springs to mind is Charli Baltimore, and that’s not saying much.
TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW, you are breaking my heart, I am not kidding.
Yes, Lauryn did pour her lovely voice on the tracks, but she killed with the lyrics. From Ready or Not:
"I play my enemies like a game of chess, where I rest,
No stress
If you don’t smoke sess, lest.
I must confess, my destiny’s manifest
…
Frontin’ niggas give me hee-bee-gee-bees
So while you’re imitating Al Capone
I’ll be Nina Simone
And defacating on your microphone"
Woah!!! That is hot stuff, baby.
What Charli Baltimore could do with that, I simply cannot imagine.
I think I will admit that I may have been a little hard on Missy though. The more I think of her, the more I remember some really good stuff from her. I have never really been a fan though.
I always thought Lauryn was more of a talented R&B singer with some occasion to rap. Missy gets my vote for best female hip hop artist…but “Miseducation” and Missy’s last 2 albums are the extent of my female hip hop artist knowledge. I am not very well versed in the Fugees.
What’s your specific beef with Missy, Nzinga? She’s got fantastic beats (granted, probably thanks to Timbaland) and while a lot of her raps are sexual in nature, they’re pretty “female empowering.” Plus she sings more about relishing big asses than Sir Mix-a-lot ever did!
I can’t answer the OP but I have a small hijack with some questions to fight my ignorance that I didn’t think warranted their own OP.
I thought MC stood for Master of Ceremonies, how does it translate in the context of rap music?
I have trouble understanding the different genres. To me R&B is the more melodic music with actual singing whereas hip-hop and rap are both spoken lyrics with backing music. The difference being hip-hop is more music with heavy beats to dance to and less words and rap is more lyrics and less music. Am I anywhere close?
I guess I do have a semi-related comment. If my understanding is at all correct the little I know of Lauryn Hill she’s more R&B with some hip-hop in my mind.
Missy is a massively talented artist when it comes to assembling the whole package and wickedly original to boot, but I’d argue that she’s only just competent when it comes to her MC skills. I think to qualify for the title of “greatest”, you definitely have to prove you could hold your own with nothing but your voice and a mic.
Lauryn Hill probably comes the closest, though she loses points for turning into a lunatic crackpot ever since she started popping out the next generation of Marleys.
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned M.I.A. yet, though. Her style is absolutely unique, and while it’s probably not as mainstream-friendly as Missy or Lauryn’s, it’s instantly recognizable - shouldn’t be much longer before she gets some recognition on this side of the pond.
Queen Latifah hasn’t been mentioned yet? I think she is getting overlooked because she has gotten away from hip-hop and rap and more mainstream with Chicago, acting etc.
I love Lauryn Hill but like the others I’ve always considered her a singer first, Hip Hop Artist second. The amount of rapping she does was never on par with Clef and Pras.
I give my vote to Ladybug Mecca of the Digable Planets!
*
now you see that I am 68 inches above sea level
93 million miles above these devils
play me in the winter
play me in the summer
play me in the autumn
any order…*
