Lyrical Ladies: The 2012 Guide to Female Battle Rap

Intro

People always ask me if there are any good female battlers out there.  They tell me they hate listening to girls rap, then try to be nice because they remember that I manage Gattas.  What these idiots don't know is that there are enough dope female emcees on planet Earth to start a hip hop revolution.  Search "female emcee" in youtube and you will find pages on pages of gems.  Of course, like all youtube searches, you will also find some hot trash.  This is where I come into play; a guide through the world of feminism in hip hop - specifically battling.  Prepare to find yourself immersed in not only this blog, but the female battle rap world for the next few weeks.  Just make sure your internet doesn't suck - you have a lot of videos to check out.

*Click on the pictures throughout this blog to see their respective videos*

  Prologue

Its fall of 1992 and I was about five-and-a-half years old.  TLC just dropped their debut album, Oooooooh... On The TLC Tip.  I think that was when it happened - watching Left Eye rap was  like, "Damn ... I'm in love."  Ever since then I've had a strange, yet justified obsession for female rappers.  I think a lot of emcees do, its just not something we talk about all the time.

Fast forward a few years to my Grind Time days.  I remember being on these huge staff calls with the division "Presidents" trying to encourage them to have at least one female battle per event.  Everyone said, "ok" but I don't think most were that interested.  A lot of men feel as though women sports or activities are inferior to our own, or just boring to watch.  I always felt differently about women rapping for some reason; either I'm a huge hip hop head, or I just love women that much.  Probably both.

Sonny Bamboo calls me one day and says, "Hey I got this girl.  She's a little rough around the edges and doesn't write for her battles, but with some coaching I think she could be the truth."  That was the call that sparked the wave of female prevalence in this generations battle movement.  The girl was Young Gattas.  She was only 18 at the time.

More on the adventures of Gattas and Drect later.  Lets go back a little bit ...

Where This Began

The Roxanne Battles from the Beef II DVD

The first female rapper you have to credit for battling, (let alone being nice as hell given her young age at the time) is Roxanne Shante.  In 1984 when she responded to the group "U.T.F.O's" song "Roxanne, Roxanne" with "Roxanne's Revenge," she was able to move over 250,000 copies in New York alone.  The result was a group of diss records exchanged back and forth between top hip hop artists at the time, which was appropriately named the "Roxanne Wars," due to her name appearing in most of the titles.  Sources tell me that a lot of the '80s top rap artists had to battle Roxanne Shante in order to receive their record deals, as she was the hottest battle emcee of that period; a true pioneer.  Another notable female emcee who battled on wax was MC Lyte, who destroyed Antoinette and ended there beef once and for all with her 1988 release, Shut the Eff Up! (Hoe.)

Making Da Band Battles (2002)

In 2002, when P. Diddy first put together Da Band, no one would know the turned out or how long these emcees careers would last, but we all tuned in to the show, which helped spark the reality tv wave and gave hip hop fans abroad a unique look behind the scenes of the music industry.  In one of the shows most viewed episodes, Diddy made the remaining contestants battle to earn their record deals.  The legendary footage featured featured female emcee, Babs destroying the two other females left in the competition; Mysterious and Mina.  These were credited as being the first battles between female emcees to appear on major network television.  Thinking back, I can remember the hottest punchline everywhere from my highschool to 106th and Park at the time being, "You'll get sent home like Mysterious from Making Da Band."

Remy Ma vs Lady Luck @ Fight Klub

The first battle between two females reminiscent of todays popular acapella format was definitely Remy vs Luck in 2005.  On one side you have Lady Luck who had been killing dudes at the time and was signed to Def Jam in '99.  On the other side, you have Remy Ma from Terror Squad, who was hand picked by Big Pun.  The backstory Itself was interesting enough.  They battled twice, with Remy taking both bouts, but people will forever argue the winner.  Personally, I think they both took one, but you know Fight Klub and their surprise "Sudden Death Overtimes" for no reason lol.

After those two made history, female battles became kind of scarce to the world outside of Fight Klub.  I saw women like: K. Tana, Psalm One, Word Perfect, Likwuid Stylez, Grace Vega, and Mahogany Red pop up over the net (do your research!), but it didn't seem like anything people were heavily pushing at the time.

There was however, one exception ...

Lady Luck came out of retirement to bust Reece Steele's (winner of VH1's "Ms. Rap Supreme") ass for 3 long rounds.

Reece Steele vs Lady Luck

Fast forward back to Grind Time

The only female battle rapper Grind Time had was Young Gattas, but she had no girls to compete against.  The result was her first 5 bouts being against men.  A lot of people felt as though Gattas was unfairly losing half of her battles, due to the misconception that a loss would hurt a male more than a female.  That's when I stepped in, along with PH and Cortez and made something happen that was way over due ...

Cortez and I had always been close, due to the fact that I saw one of his battles on the internet that only had about 300 views at the time and brought him into Grind Time for his first match. During the beginning stages of our battle reign, I would call 'tez and ask him who all the dope people in Fight Klub were, whose footage never came out ( a la Philly Swain, Lotta Zay, etc.)  One time, I called him asking for females and the name "Sara Kana" came up.  I was told that she might be hard to find and may not want to be involved, but I was determined.  A week later, Sara Kana was my best friend (thanks myspace).

We always had Sara Kana in the cut waiting.  We even shot a promo video (as seen on Worldstar) where she spit a verse at Lady Luck and Reese Steele.  It caught fire, and a lot of the fans were asking for her to battle.  At some point, myself, PH and Sonny Bamboo agreed that Gattas and Sara had to go down.

They almost fought, Nems kept walking in front of the camera, PH was mad, Jay Focus was making funny faces, the decision was controversial, and Cortez got blamed.  Ultimately, all these factors made it a classic battle.  You could tell the women in the crowd were super into it and the men were acting like they never saw a female before.  We were onto something.

Young Gattas vs Sara Kana

The New Era

I get a call from this cat named M.I. (Full Fledge) in Connecticut.  He tells me he has some of the hardest spitters in the country and they just needed a chance to shine.  The result, was sending Cortez, Nu Born and Sara Kana a state over to battle some of CT's best.  That's where Sara Kana went head to head with QB.  This was an important turning point for female battles - after the event, Sara decided to become a GTN staff member and bring QB into Grind Time's battle movement.

QB's faceoff with Young Gattas was a very crucial part of GT & female battle history.  Not only did it spark the fuse that lit the fire under young female emcees to battle, but it also included some very important guests.

A few weeks before the event, I was relaxing in my house on a Sunday.  I get a call from a weird number and hear "Hi Drect I love everything you have done.  Its so ill!  Its so hip hop."  I'm thinking to myself, "who the hell is this" ... one of the best phone calls of my life - that's how i met Monie Love and got her to co-host this battle.

Currently at 143K views, QB vs Gattas stands as one of the most viewed battles in female history and it seemed to launch both girls into the spotlight with male emcees, who had been taking virtually all battle notoriety.

QB vs Young Gattas

Sara Kana, Gattas & QB had opened the flood gates for a plethora of female emcee to join the league.  Names like: Ms. Fit, Imah X, Oh Blimey, Looney Divine, Precyse, T-Kayne, Coco McPuffington, Annisha, 40 Barrs, Jroz, Emseadez and Nique all appeared on the GTN cameras in a span of 2 years.

Looney Divine vs Oh Blimey

While all this was going on, SMACK introduced Ms. Hustle as the first lady of URL and had the streets going crazy with the thought of two women battling on the main stage.

That first battle ended up being Ms. Hustle vs E-Hart.  The streets were sewn up - roaring over this instant classic between two  female emcees battling on a stage that had been previously dominated by men only.  The battle currently sits at 189K views.

Ms. Hustle vs E-Hart

Enter Queen of the Ring

A few years back, maybe the summer of 2010, Sara Kana introduced me to a friend of hers named Debo.  Debo had been working with Vague on King of the Ring and wanted to link up and pick my brain about the battle scene.  After a while, Debo told me they were doing an all female battle league.  As you can imagine, I was hype, but didn’t know how successful it would be.

After 2 years, a plethora of battles, and the addition of Babs Bunny to their staff, you can tell that QOTR definitely arrived on the scene.

THE BREAKDOWN

A lot of people reading this blog may not know the female emcees to look out for on the battle circuit, so I have devised a few lists breaking down some of the best emcees from Queen of the Ring and the rest of the female battle world.  

*These lists are in no particular order & are just my opinion.  Then again … who’s opinion is better than mine :) *

TOP 10

Here is a list of the top 10 female emcees.  Many will argue who are the best, but the criteria for this list includes: longevity, opponents faced, popularity, consistency and overall skill level.

YOUNG GATTAS 

     12 battles in, Gattas is definitely the most well seasoned and well rounded emcee on this list.  From delivery, charisma and freestyle to punchlines and flow, she has it all.  With her versatile look and consistency/longevity, she has definetly been one of the most popular emcees internationally in the battle game.  Gattas is definitely the queen of crowd pleasing punchlines.

MS. HUSTLE

      When she came onto the scene with a Nicki Minaj diss and earned the title of URL’s first lady, everyone knew her name without Hustle even stepping a foot into the ring.  Hustle has multiple flows, different ways of delivering her bars and ads a nasty finishing touch on all her material.  Ms. Hustle’s style the the female embodiment of NASTY.  After her battle with O-Red, Hustle proved Gattas isn’t the only female capable of battling men. 

E-HART

      The quiet and poised lyrical assassin.  E-Hart earned the title of “Queen of the Ring” by starting from the ground up and killing opponents with her professionally put together, yet raw style.  Hart is to female battle rap what Mobb Deep is to underground hip hop.  She plays the calm role very well and doesn’t need to be hype and aggressive all the time to get her point across.  Her classic battle with Hustle solidified her spot as one of the nicest to do it.

QB BLACK DIAMOND

      From day one we all new QB was a problem.  What she couldn’t do lyrically at first, she made up for with pure energy.  She has the rare ability to make ANYTHING sound hot.  The men and women of the hip hop world love QB to death because of her street smart, gutta and grimy/hood style.

MS.FIT

      Due to her close affiliation with Cortez, a lot of people unfairly slept on Ms. Fit at first.  Her battle against Imah X proved she belonged among the elite of the female world.  If Ms. Fit is a little more active this year, her point should get across.  I’d love to see her against Chayna Ashley.

JAZ THE RAPPER

      “My name is Jaz with one ‘z’ but you goin catch two or three once you go night night nigga!” – Jaz is the truth FOR REAL.  Her slow style of almost speaking reminds me a little of the old Serius Jones, as it allows her to properly articulate like no other.  Line for line, Jaz is one of the best.  We’ll see where her delivery and stage presence is at when she battles QB later this year.

CHAYNA ASHLEY

      Chayna is the wordplay Queen.  The imagery she creates with her methodical, yet effective delivery is top notch.  Jaz and Chayna both propelled themselves into the top tier of women in their classic performance against each other.

PHARA FUNERAL

      Phara has the ill style and delivery.  I don’t know if she if half Spanish, but she rolls her “r’s” and it sounds hot lol.  Pharah excels in stage presence – she can keep the crowds attention from start to finish.

OH BLIMEY

      Oh Blimey is the only west coast emcee on this list.  She has a projection that reminds me of Dizaster or Syd Vicious.  People outside the venue, down the street can feel her energy; its through the roof.  Her accent mixed with crisp delivery and sharp metaphors make her the Fresh Coast’s female emcee of choice.

DUTCHESS

      Dutchess probably has the best resume on this list.  She has battled: Gattas, K. Prophet, Ms. Fit, and QB, but most importantly lived to tell about it.  I love the way Dutchess puts together her words; she has some of the best delivery a female rapper can have.  I would love to hear her throw more punch lines into her material and drag the crowd deeper into her battles.

BARS: TOP 5

If the only criteria for judging a battle was wat you wrote in your notepad [insert Canibus joke here], these girls would win every time:

Jaz the Rapper

Ms. Fit

Gattas

E-Hart

Chayna Ashley

PRESENCE/DELIVERY: TOP 5

These 5 emcees could kill you without spitting a single punchline; they make almost everything sound dope:

Phara Funeral

QB

Ms. Hustle

Gattas

Tori Doe

DRECT's FAVORITE FEMALE EMCEES TO WATCH

You know I had to do it!

Gattas

Bonnie Godiva

Tori Doe

Ms. Hustle

Jaz The Rapper

WHO TO WATCH FOR

A lot of people may want to strangle me for not including their favorite female battler, as there are many women who soon may top this list or are arguably better than those already mentioned.  To be fair, here is a list of the female emcees you DEFINITELY need to watch out for.  They are all one battle away from the notoriety they deserve.

*These lists are in no particular order & are just my opinion.  Then again … who’s opinion is better than mine :) *

1.   Don Lady - Don is probably the funniest woman I have ever seen battle and her dress code/swag is crazy. Her presence and delivery are top notch, but her punchlines could use a boost along with her metaphors and wordplay.  The lyrics are there, but her transitions from funny material to punchlines could be smoother.  She has the uncanny ability to clown her opponents and get the crowd into an uproar.  All of her battles are entertaining.

2.   Shooney Da Rapper - Shooney has been right there since the beginning.  She has consistently gotten better since the beginning of QOTR.  The only thing keeping Shooney out of the top 10 is a win against a top female.

3.   Tori Doe - standing around 4’11 and weighing around 100 lbs, Tori is definitely the smallest and most sweet and innocent 20 year old I have ever seen.  The rapping is a different story.  Aside from Gattas, Tori may have the coldest bark in the female battle game.  Her confidence, projection and charisma are all top notch.  Not to mention, the girl has BARS!  From Rebuttals and punchlines to crowd control and delivery, Tori seemingly does everything with ease.  The only thing I would like to see Tori Doe do a little more is switch up her flow.  She WILL be one of the top 5 girls in the next year.

4.   Raine - Raine is definitely one of the vets of the female battle game.  The biggest complaint about Raine you will probably find is that she forgets a lot of her bars.  Well … that is until her last battle with Matrimony.  After that performance, Raine is probably top 10, due to her unique style, flow and overall ability to rap, while adjusting to the battle format.  We’ll have to see how she does in her next battle. Again, I have to stress that, in a world of copycats ... Raine has HER OWN style.

5.   Precyse - When Precyse gets in the zone, she is scary.  She looks like she wants to kill the person she is battling.  You can’t deny that the girl gives it her all each time.  She has a simplistic, yet effective way of delivering her bars.  If Precyse buckles down and gets a little more technical with her delivery and bars, she will be very good.

6.   Jada Raye -  Jada Raye is ill, she just needs time to develop her own identity and become comfortable in her surroundings.

7.   Krissy Yamagucci - Hands down Krissy has the coolest/most swagged out delivery ever.  She oozes style.  When she first came into the QOTR I thought she would rise to the top immediately.   If she learns to develop timing and drop a few huge punches every so often, she could be top 10.
.

8.   Dwella - I’ve only seen Dwella twice.  Once in her tryout and another time in her first main event battle.  She’s dope and will go far- just needs more matchups.

9.   Ms. Tash - In terms of punchlines and metaphors she is in the top 10.  Tash needs that extra umph in her chest.  Once she develops that “I don’t give a fuck, im bodying bitches” attitude, it’s a wrap.
.

10. Looney Divine - Looney is definitely the EMCEE’s emcee.  You can tell a great deal of her influence comes from the underground.  I don’t know too many people who could pull off an MKUltra (see WWII) line the way she did.  Once Looney learns to slow down and deliver her lines properly, she got it.

11. Bonnie Godiva - Bonnie was always nice lyrically, she was just very soft spoken.  I had the opportunity to see her come out of her shell live against Star Smilez two weeks ago.  Bonnie is sick.  At times her setups can seem amateurish, but she always brings it back with a crazy punchline.  She has recently joined the battle group Innuendo, which notably features: Nuborn, Daylyt & QP.

12. 40 BARRS -To this day, 40 is one of the only people (male or female) that I’ve ever heard properly execute a “slow it down” bar.  Sad to say that she might need to dumb down her punchlines a tad to get the proper “oohs” and “aahs” she deserves.  Once 40 learns to project her voice properly and get an attitude to go along with her style she has a spot in the top 10.

13. Star Smilez - I didn’t know Star was that good until she battled Bonnie Godiva.  When the battle debuts, a lot of people will be impressed from both sides.  An extra emphasis on her punchlines and a shot at a few more opponents and Star will shine (no pun indended.)

14. Norma Baytes - From personal experience, Norma is pretty exciting to watch.  What she may lack lyrically, she makes up for with raw aggression and attitude.  She needs to learn to slow down, develop a nice pace and poise and watch herself rise to a new level.  She is the only person I've ever seen ass clap in a battle o_0

15. Imah X - Like 40, Imah may need to slow down a little bit and make her material a little more crowd friendly.  A lot of her content is stuff that only the top 20% of intellectuals in America can understand.  Watch one of her battles in slow-mo and you will find yourself staring in amazement at how brilliant some of her lines are, but for a live crowd, they don’t come off the right way.  Once Imah becomes aware of her surroundings and learns to adjust her material based on location, she will take off.

16. Lex Banko - Not too much to say about Lex.  She is nice.  Just needs the right opportunity to arise and let's see if she can run with it.

17. Royal Honey - I watched Royal Honey battle for the first time the other day.  It was against Tori Doe.  Honey has a great pen game, but needs to work on her delivery.  She has a lot of emphasis on her lines, but I think it would sound better if she was real smooth with it.  If Royal Honey sat down and came up with a style that best suited her and boosted her confidence, she would come into the ring a few notches ahead of the competition.

18. Matrimony - I didn't realize how good Matrimony was until she battled Raine.  Sometimes she trails off a little bit and her content goes off topic, but she snaps right back into it with a good line.  Matrimony will excel when she learns to deliver her best lines back to back.

19. K. Prophet - She is a dope emcee.  I think the only problem with K. Prophet is her consistency.  She would be in the top 10 if she brought her A game every time.  Her lyrics have never came into question, as her wordplay has always been top notch.  I am Looking forward to see what she does in her next battle.

A few femcees didn’t make this list due to lack of exposure, inactivity or the fact that I haven't gotten a chance to see them battle more than once.  Other notable female battle emcees on the rise are: Fendi, Ash Cash, T-Kayne, Mz Hollywood, Classy, Cashlee Jay, Vixen, Nique, Coco Kakez, Dekay, Mudslinger, Mz Streamz, Yumi Doll, Shana Konor, Ms Murk, Gucci Top Model, Qua Star, Ms. Queen, Stargirl Lady Red, um ... sorry if I forgot you, but my brain is now officially fried - its 4:35am EST.

QOTR CLASSICS

A few classic female battles to watch after you read the blog:

QB vs Ms. Hustle

Don Lady & Tori Doe vs Phara & Shooney

E-Hart vs Ms.Fit

Jaz The Rapper vs Chayna Ashley

What Could Have Been, What May Be & What Will Be

Lady Luck Responds to Dutchess

With Gattas announcing that she is retiring from battles in the US, Lady Luck threatening to punch Dutchess' mic around for a large price and the emergence of Sara Kana’s new league Barz & Brastrapz, there is probably a lot on the fans' minds.  I would have loved to start a female battle movement of my own, but I may not have the patience or free time these days.  However, I am extending an open hand for all of the women I named in this blog, as well as inspiring female emcees to hit me up for pointers or direction.

I would LOVE to see:

Someone get women from other US regions involved
Mz Streamz vs Anyone
Babs vs Anyone
Gattas vs Lady Luck
Gattas vs Ms. Hustle or Jaz the Rapper (even though E-Hart wants the battle)
Chayna Ashley vs Ms. Fit
Bonnie Godiva vs 40 BARRS
Tori Doe vs Anyone in the top 10
An event featuring 5 top women vs 5 top men
A few more female 2on2s

As I'm writing this, I have been informed that Ms. Hustle is battling Chayna Ashley at the next QOTR event.  Should be a goodie!

Also, QB vs Jaz on URL???  Well DAMN!

Watch out for Gattas vs Dutchess droppin on the urltv youtube channel soon.  Hopefully this week ...

Hopefully, I put you guys onto a few dope female emcees and gained some interest for the movement.

This is blog is dedicated to:

- Sara Kana for always being loyal and by my side

- Gattas for trusting my judgement and becoming my sister.  We in this forever

- Debo: all the politics aside, you been my boy.  We got this
- Mz Gracie for having the best comments on earth!
- Melody for being the most enthusiastic woman i know

and ...

All the women who help build this movement and will keep it going strong for many years to come.

Feel free to comment on and repost this article.

- Drect

P.S. My future wife may be in this blog.  I will never tell though, lol