Top 10 female emcees ever!!!!!!!

The lovely Jean Grae

Here's the qualifications: In my opinion, the best female emcees write their own lyrics, so that takes out people like Salt N Pepa (who didn't write their own stuff until the 90's) and Lil Kim (Bigge wrote almost her entire first album).

The best female emcees don't bite other people's styles and are completely original, so that takes out Da Brat, when she first dropped is was obvious she biting Snoop's style hard, and Lil Kim, you heard the last album? Yeah, she bit everyone from Eminem, to Biggie to Jay-Z to even Damian Marley's style on that joint.

The best female emcee doesn't use sex, or their their body to sell records, so that includes everyone from Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Trina, Jacki-O, etc.

But at the same time, the best female emcee is very ladylike and not on some wanting to be a man stuff to that takes out Eve, Remy Ma, Rah Digga and those that sound too tough to be a lady. Most of all the best femcee is recognized for their contributions to hip-hop as well as how well they are on the mic... here's my Top 10 female emcees ever!!!


10. Mystic - Whoa, who's Mystic? She's an emcee, singer, poet stright out of the Bay who released an incredible album, Cuts for Luck and Scars for Freedom. The album name alone kills a lot of stuff out there now. She had a joint called "The Life" which was nominated for a Grammy when it dropped. even though she only has one album out (as well as a re-released version a couple of years later), she is the future. Hear this review from NPR: http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20010905.atc.05.ram

9. Medusa - Hailing from the west coast, Medusa is definitely the Queen of Underground hip-hop and you can't get much more soulful than her. She has a band called Feline Science and she's been running things in L.A. for a long awhile. So next time you there, look her up, cop an album and give the sista some love! In the meanwhile peep this live set: http://hiphoppass.net/sr/mi/?ID=NDg1&BR=NTY=&MIME;.asx

8. Roxanne Shante' - This is the only female emcee who didn't write all her lyrics that you'll see on here. A lot of her stuff was written by Big Daddy Kane, but still at 14 years, when she first dropped, she could spit! She's mostly known about setting off the whole Roxanne battles with UTFO back in the 80's but she really earned her stripes being down with the Juice Crew. Plus, she said KRS One's name "sounds like a wack radio station" and that "BDP stands for Broken Down Punks" on "Have a Nice Day"...ouch! One of the few emcees to ever diss KRS and do a good job at it!

7. Bahamadia - I got to go on tour with Bahamdia back in 2000 as part as the Lyricist Lounge Tour with Mos Def. She's laid back and chilled just like her music. She has a dope voice, a sick flow and is actually talking about meaningful things. She had two joints, Kollage in 1996 and BB Queen in 2000, he's made a few appearances since then, mostly staying in Philly, but when she grabs the mic, watch out! Peep Rugged Ruff and Commonwealth (Cheap Chicks) and see if you can find the full joints somewhere.

6. Sha-Rock - Aww man, what can you say about Sha-Rock? She was one of the first female emcees ever to put it down alongside the male dominated hip-hop scene of the late 70's and early 80's. Of course, many of you remember her scene in Beat Street with Lisa Lee and Debbie D performing "Us Girls". Check out this recent interview with Sha-Rock talking about the good ole days. http://www.emplive.org/video/vow/womensHistory/shaRock_hi.asx

5. Queen Latifah - The reason I like Latifah so much is because from the moment she stepped in the game, she demanded respect. Period. Plus, she did a good job at it. The first time I heard her was "Ladies First" which was ho-hum to me... I was more impressed with Monie Love. But in the early 90's Latifah turned up the heat with "Latifah's Had it up To Here", "U.N.I.T.Y." and her work with Naughty By Nature and Flava Unit. Of course, later on, her stuff wasn't so hot.... but still, she made her mark. You can see a couple of her videos here

4. Mecca the Ladybug - Yeah, I used to have a crush on her back in high school. She was the lone female group member of Digable Planets. She had just a chilled demeanor about her and when she grabbed the mic, it made you want to listen to what she had to say. She was recently touring with the Digable Planets again, plus just dropped a solo album that ranges from emceeing to singing and it sounds pretty good. But she's #4 almost solely on what she did wih Digable Planets and it's tough to compare what she did then to anyone else. Check out her website: http://www.ladybugmecca.com/

3. Jean Grae - Jean Grae has to be the illest femcee on the mic right now... I mean,. she's even better than half the dudes out here in the industry now. She used to be part of another group and went by the name Whatwhat, but when she went solo and changed her name to Jean Grae, she got recognized more as a solo artist. She's worked with everyone from The Roots to talib Kweli... you know what, just check out here website and you can hear some of music. Peep game, for real... stop sleeping on talented emcees! http://www.jean-grae.com/

2. MC Lyte - What can be said about MC Lyte that hasn't already been said? She dropped her first joints when she was a teenager and was one of the few feamles who actually wrote their own lyrics in those days. She battled Antoinette after she took Lyte's beat (oh yeah, back then you battled if someone they took your beats), and Lyte ripped her to shreds. Then she came out in the 90's, made some Top 10 hits, and now she's getting her acting thing going on... She opened the door for women to be raw on the mic and still be ladylike.

1. Lauryn Hill - Despite what some people think (like my man Humanity Critic), the dopest femcee on the mic ever has to be Lauryn Hill. This based on her work with the Fugees, her solo album and her cameo appearances. I just listened to this mixtape called the Best of Lauryn Hill mixed by J. Period... it's a two disc set with one disc featuring nothing but rhymes and she absolutely kills it. I'm telling you right now, some of the rhymes she spit in 1997, kills anything that is being said right now. Period. Even her acoustic album that she dropped... she rhymes on two songs and it totally rips anything out there today... I can't wait for for her new stuff to drop...