The rap game is tough. Some might say it's no place for a lady. But those people would be chauvinistic douche popsicles.
The truth is it takes a tough lady to top the charts. At the top, it doesn't matter if you're sexy. You're judged by the content of your lyrics and the freak of your flow.
Only the realest survive. So it's time we gave props to the trill women who've shown just how raw a real lady can be.
Here is Crossfade's Top Ten Female Rappers Ever.
10. Trina
You know we have to give it up to local mama Trina. She da baddest bitch. You don't want to cross her flow or her attitude. If you're a baller, chances are you can touch, but don't think you're about to pull a fast one. She'll totally eat your face off and do a hit song about what a piece of shit you are.
9. Salt-N-Pepa
Cheryl "Salt" James and Sandra "Denton" Pepa, along with Deidra Roper (AKA DJ Spinderella), helped pave the way for females in the rap game during the mid '80s. They had the right amount of edge and kinkiness to take over MTV, but they kept their strong feminine message positive. Without them, who could imagine a group like TLC? They set the all-girl formula on fire.
8. Nicki Minaj
She's the youngest on our list, and she's clearly supertalented. Her verse on "Monster" outshined the rest of the song's star-studded cast. But maybe Nicki would rank higher if she wasn't busy filling her albums with half-assed pop bullshit. "Starships," really?
7. Lil Kim
Lil Kim is a hard ass bitch. Before Minaj was poppin' her pussy around the stage, Kim was getting shit heated runnin' with Biggie, Diddy, and Lil' Cease. She's the queen bee of hard sexuality, but she never goes pop with her shtick. Her flow is smooth and her disses scathing. Just the way a lady should be.
6. Da Brat
Taking it back to the '90s for one of the hottest female flows ever. Da Brat is so funkdified, spitting that ghetto slang for the So So Def crew. This Chicago chick was the first woman in the rap game to ever go platinum. Plus, Da Brat's street image helped mark her as the "female Snoop Dogg," and people loved it.
5. Jean Grae
She may not be as commercially successful as the other ladies on our list. But Jean Grae has rhymed with the likes of Talib Kweli, The Roots, Mos Def, Styles P, Immortal Technique, and on and on. You only have to listen to her once to see why these hip-hop superstars would be enamored with the flow. Add her incredible talent for storytelling and a refusal to speak anything but the truth, and you're messing with something dangerously real.
4. MC Lyte
Lyte is anther founding female of rap, and all MCs who come after have to give their respects to Brooklyn's fly spitter. She's got an old-school delivery and a hard-edged voice, making her mark on the game in the late '80s and early '90s. She was the first solo female rapper to release a full album, and can you believe it took that long? Much respect to MC Lyte for opening doors everywhere.
3. Queen Latifah
Another strong woman fighting for women's rights was the Queen. It was bad in the '90s. Every girl was a bitch or a ho. But Latifah reminded girls and boys everywhere that women were more than the sum of their body parts. She can sing, she can rap, and she continues to make her presence felt beyond the rap game. The honorable Queen Latifah has solidified her place in the annals of hip-hop classics.
2. Missy Elliot
Missy is probably one of the funkiest individuals on the planet, male or female. She brings hip-hop to the next level, blending genres and freakin' flows in ways no one before her could have imagined. She's penned some of the most recognizable songs in hip-hop, and we couldn't be more stoked for her triumphant return to the game ... Coming soon.
1. Lauryn Hill
But without a doubt, the queen of all lyricists and beat-eating monsters is the one, the only miseducated Lauryn Hill. Her work with the Fugees made her one of America's most wanted MCs, and her solo career cemented the top spot. People still write raps wishing she'd come back, but whether she will or not remains to be seen. It'll be a long time before someone comes close to her majesty. But at least little girls can always put on her records.
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