Check out our selection of 20 pioneer female rappers active before 1990!
Systematically erased from the history of hip hop, female rappers have nonetheless always been present in this movement since its emergence in the late 1970s. As MCs, songwriters, producers and activists, women have played an active part in making rap what it is today: inclusive, plural, innovative, rooted in its time and constantly evolving.
To visibilize these artists, here’s a non-exhaustive selection of 20 pioneering female rappers active before 1990, and a playlist right here.
With:
The Sequence – Funk You Up (1979)
Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Lady B – To The Beat Y’all (1979)
Philadelphia, USA
Sha-Rock – Rappin and Rockin the House Live with The Funky 4+1 at NYC’s The Kitchen (1980)
The Bronx, New York, USA
Lisa Lee – Wild Style Deletes Scenes (1980)
The Bronx, New York, USA
Debbie D – Us Girls Can Boogie Too ft. Sha-Rock & Lisa Lee (1984)
The Bronx, New York, USA
Classy Crew – Peter King Nitelife CFCF 12 Montreal (1983)
Quebec, Canada
Roxanne Shante – Roxanne’s Revenge (1984)
Queens, New York, USA
Pebblee Poo – A Fly Guy (1985)
The Bronx, New York, USA
Freaky D – Time Is Up / Beep Rap (1986)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
MC Lyte – Paper Thin (1988)
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Real Roxanne – Respect (1988)
Brooklyn, New York, USA
JJ Fad – Supersonic (1988)
Rialto, California, USA
Oaktown 3-5-7 – Juicy Gotcha Krazy (1988)
Oakland, California, USA
Queen Latifah & Movie Love – Ladies First (1989)
Newark, New Jersey, USA/Battersea, London, UK
Ms Melodie – Live On Stage (1989)
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Nikki D – My Love Is So Raw (The Love Mix) ft. Alyson Williams (1989)
Newark, New Jersey, USA
Wanda Dee – To The Bone (1989)
The Bronx, New York, USA
Sony and Mony – Toma y toma (1989)
Spain
Antoinette – Who’s The Boss (1989)
The Bronx, New York, USA
Cookie Crew – Born This Way (1989)
Clapham, London, UK
