In a 2017 interview with XXL, Nicki Minaj accredited herself as reestablishing the female emcee as a major force in Hip Hop as well as reintroducing them to Pop culture. If we’re going to look at charting singles, who could argue? She’s had numerous! In fact, she had surpass the legendary late-Aretha Franklin for the most singles to chart the Hot 100 at the time the interview was released.
Whether you agree with Nicki or not makes for another debate for another day. However, I would like to speak on MC Lyte, one of the first to helped establish the female emcee all together.
In 1988, Lyte released her debut, Lyte as a Rock. She got down to business on the Ashford and Simpson sampled-title track. Spitting bars like: “Get out my face, I don’t wanna hear no more/if you hate rejection don’t try to score.”
[Tune in to HipHop-Album-Debate, “The Podcast” every Wednesday]
Lyte even threw a few jabs at Antoinette, a foe emcee, on “10% Dis.” One of her bars was so influential even E.D.I. Mean from 2pac’s Outlawz borrowed it in “Hit ‘Em Up.”
MC Lyte: “You a beat biter, dope style take/I tell you to your face, you ain’t nothing but a faker.”
E.D.I. Mean: “You a beat biter, a Pac style taker/I tell you to your face, you ain’t sh*t but a faker.”
Lyte as a Rock featured the hit, “Paper Thin.”
Lyte’s second album, Eyes On This, established her as a superior emcee. This album would be borrowed from as well. “You can cha-cha-cha to this Mardis Gras/I’m the dopest female that you’ve heard thus far,” Lyte raps in the album promo single, “Cha Cha Cha.”
Rick Ross raps: “I’m biggest boss that you seen thus far.”
Other singles promoted by the album were “Cappucino” and “Stop, Look, Listen.”
In 1991, Lyte released her third album, Act Like You Know. She received criticism for R&B influences on tracks such as “Poor Georgie” and “When In Love.” However, it still charted, peaking at number 14 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
In 1993, Lyte released her fourth album, Ain’t No Other. It was promoted by hit singles, “I Go On” and “Ruffneck.”
Bad as I Wanna B, Lyte’s fifth album, brought a hit as well with “Keep On, Keepin’ On” featuring Xscape. However, the next two, Seven & Seven and Undaground Heat, Vol. 1, didn’t do much.
In 2015, Lyte released her eight album, Legend. It was initially made available for purchase for one day only to urge consumers to purchase physical copies.
In hindsight, Lyte has been as consistent as any emcee, male or female. Her first five albums were solid, which many consider her first two as classics. However, that doesn’t determine her best album. You guys will decide that.
In your opinion, which is MC Lyte’s best album?
[Polls Are Closed!]
Eyes on This – 33%
Act Like You Know – 33%
Bad as I Wanna B – 33%
Lyte as a Rock – 0%
Ain’t No Other – 0%
Seven & Seven – 0%
Undaground Heat, Vol.1 – 0%
Legend – 0%
