Nicki Minaj, Lil Kim, Missy Elliot, Queen Latifa, Among 6 Greatest Female Rappers Of All Time

Billboard and Vibe has named 50 rappers as the Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time as part of their salute to this year’s golden anniversary of hip-hop.

Amongst these 50 rappers, 6 are females whose career stated dating back from 1980’s to now.

Billboard and Vibe considered, in no particular order, the following criteria: body of work/achievements (charted singles/albums, gold/platinum certifications), cultural impact/influence (how the artist’s work contributed to the evolution of the genre), longevity (years at the mic), lyrics (storytelling skills), and flow (vocal prowess).

MC Lyte 

In 1987, MC Lyte entered hip-boys hop’s club with a throat-grabbing voice and dynamic lyricism that appeared to be well beyond her 16 years. The adolescent from Brooklyn opened with “I Cram to Understand U (Sam),” a song about the dangers of falling in love with a crack addict. Even the title of the original queen of rap’s groundbreaking debut album from 1988, Lyte as a Rock, was figuratively weighty.

From battle rhyming (“Shut the Eff Up-Hoe”) to heartfelt storytelling (“Poor Georgie”), Lyte roared into the ’90s, amassing three gold singles, most notably the Puffy Combs-produced “Cold Rock a Party” (1996), which featured a young Missy Elliott.

MC Lyte is ranked No.44 on Billboards/Vibe Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time.

Queen Latifah 

“Who you calling a b–ch?!” Queen Latifah cut through all the misogynistic noise with these iconic lyrics from her 1993 anti-domestic violence anthem “U.N.I.T.Y.” This was nothing new for Dana Owens, a native of New Jersey: With her essential debut album All Hail the Queen from 1989, she not only delivered the classic Black feminist anthem “Ladies First” featuring Monie Love, but she also kicked off the party (“Come Into My House”) and took out mediocre MCs (“Wrath of My Madness”).

Latifah’s subsequent foray into Hollywood was equally successful, earning her acclaim for her television work (Living Single) and an Oscar nomination (the 2002 musical Chicago), and establishing her as one of the first MCs with the star power to demonstrate how deeply a rapper could become ingrained in American pop culture, even outside of hip-hop.

Queen Latifah is ranked No.47 on Billboards/Vibe Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time.

Lil Kim

Lil Kim’s raunchy, vicious rhymes turned hip-hop upside down. Under the tutelage of the late Notorious B.I.G., Queen Bee debuted as a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A., becoming an icon following her titillating 1996 solo debut album Hard Core. Certified double-platinum, the album spun off three consecutive No. 1s on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart — “No Time,” “Not Tonight (Ladies Night Remix)” and “Crush on You” — making her the first female rapper to do so. Her unapologetic tone shattered barriers for women in hip-hop, allowing them to be more sexually expressive and liberated.

While Kim’s movie idol looks and provocative fashion sense commanded eyes, her gruff delivery and punchy rhymes brought fear and respect from rival MCs, as evidenced by her searing features on Bad Boy classics like The LOX’s “Money, Power & Respect” and Diddy’s “It’s All About the Benjamins.”

Lauryn Hill is ranked No.31 on Billboards/Vibe Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time.

Lauryn Hill

Ms. Lauryn Hill defies convention by straddling the line between Motown soul, boom bap, R&B, jazz, and rap, setting a new standard for genre-bending rappers. Lauryn Hill has influenced a multitude of hip-hop artistes throughout the decades, whether through her contributions to Fugees’ 1996 hit album The Score or her game-changing 1998 debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Her melodic rapping on “Doo Wop (That Thing)” made it the first female rapper’s song to top the Hot 100.

Miseducation received ten Grammy nominations, of which Hill won five, including best new artist and album of the year. Even if Hill never releases a proper sophomore album, her verse on Nas’ KD2 gem “Nobody” in 2021 demonstrates that she is an unparalleled talent who can still outrap anyone.

Lauryn Hill is ranked No.30 on Billboards/Vibe Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time.

Missy Elliot

Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, one of hip-most hop’s creative visionaries, began honing her skills as a rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer as a member of the R&B/hip-hop collective Swing Mob with childhood friend/producer Timbaland in the early 1990s. After collaborating on projects by Aaliyah and others, the duo focused on Elliott’s solo career, beginning with her striking 1997 debut, Supa Dupa Fly.

While attracting attention with hit singles (“The Rain,” “Hot Boyz,” “Get Ur Freak On,” and “Work It”) and acclaimed albums (Da Real World, Miss E … So Addictive, Under Construction, This Is Not a Test), she crafted a futuristic, funky, and completely unique style of hip-hop that found her rhyming, singing, scatting, or doing whatever else the beat might spontaneously inspire. 

Missy Elliot is ranked No.19 on Billboards/Vibe Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time.

Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj, a native of South Jamaica, Queens, by way of Trinidad and Tobago, earned her crown as the modern Queen of Rap through her ferocious, arrogant nature. Her 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty established her as a lyrical force, shortly before she emerged as the First Lady of Young Money, completing the label’s unbreakable trio of chart-topping rap beasts alongside Lil Wayne and Drake.

Over a decade of genre-bending albums (Pink Friday, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, The Pinkprint) and killer guest verses (most notably on Kanye West’s “Monster”), Nicki Minaj has defended her title with incredibly animated flows and alter egos, ranging from the soft-spoken, pink-haired Harajuku Barbie to the volatile Roman Zolanski with a British cockney accent. 

Nicki is ranked No.10 on Billboards/Vibe Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time.

Source – Tru News Report