I want to hook up with one of those R & B Bitches

Hip Hop Honors brought up a lot of issues for me related to this thing called, you know, hip hop. How in the world was Missy Elliot honored and why wasn't Roxanne Shante honored. And if Missy was honored, who would perform on a tribute to her...somehow, despite the fact that the show has been shown twice since its premiere, I managed or escaped seeing her honored. But the question of who is relevant enough to perform and who be in the same vein continues to plague me. Really, the question of whether there are any female MC's worth listening to.

In my mind, in the mainstream hip hop world, there may be only two or three female MC's or group to emerge since the dawn of the century.

Shawna

This chick has always teetered on the edge of a never will be...even her biggest hit to date is assisted by a smart hook with Too Short on it. I think her association with Ludacris has actually hurt rather than help her: but really, I don't think that she has it....she somewhere stuck between Eve and the holy menage of sex rap of Fox/Kim/Trina. If you had to pick between an R & B chick or her for a verse, go with the R & B chick.











Diamond and Princess from Crime Mobb



These are two emcees you could only really understand if you had prolonged exposure to females from DeKalb county. The way they spit, super fast with syllables spilling over each other, with the slight snarl at the end, is reminiscent of any of my lame attempts to pick up chicks from the county. It's comfort music for me. There are very few metaphors, just verbal jabs and parries. Still, I couldn't see these two honoring anyone.

To Be Continued: First of Five Parts