In the hip-hop arena, female MCs have usually been overshadowed by their predominantly male counterparts. While it has taken a decade for
Queen Latifah,
MC Lyte, and
Lauryn Hill to earn respect, the wave of scantily clad MCs that followed in their footsteps have transgressed, as these leading ladies are more renowned for their curvaceous figures then their lyrical endowments.
Leading
Busta Rhymes Flipmode Squad into a new millennium,
Rah Digga's debut,
Dirty Harriet, proves why she is an exception to the rule. While
Digga's verses are replete with an endless array of colorful metaphors, she proves to be more then a punchline MC, showing diversity over the signature horn loops of
Pete Rock on "What They Call Me" and the choppy Premier laced "Lessons of Today." Regardless of gender, what is most intriguing about
Digga's debut lays in her ability to transcend genres, as "Tight" and "Imperial" (with
Busta Rhymes) are both commercially viable records that any bedroom DJ would actually admit to spinning. ~ Matt Conaway