Recently BET aired a documentary called “My Mic Sounds Nice” addressing the history of female emcees as well as their sudden scarcity of in today’s major label Rap industry. The main issue I had with the documentary was that it was only an hour so it only scratched the surface and that it comes from a network that has done zero to help with the issue at all.

Being a Hip Hop Morlock means I keep my ear to the street and I’m up on a lot of emcees that most people aren’t even aware they exist. If this includes a gang of emcees that were big in the 90’s but hit the indie circuit or obscure cats I have no problem with that. My issue lies with the fact that this circle has come to include 95% of all female emcees as well.

I’m a walking Hip Hop and Rap encyclopedia and if I’M the only kind of cat that can readily name more than 5 female emcees that are nice then there’s a serious problem that needs addressing. The overwhelming majority of young listeners 25 and younger can only name Nicki Minaj then between 4 to 6 other female emcees that were poppin’ when they were younger. Let that marinate for a moment.

Think about it, Lil’ Kim & Foxy Brown have both had serious issues that deterred their careers in the past decade. Foxy had an album get shelved (“Ill Nana 2: The Fever”), hearing loss, serious emotional issues then legal woes. Kim got locked up and hasn’t made any headway in recording since being released years ago. Neither are really relevant to today’s young listener anyways.

Even Eve’s career has been stalled. Her last album “Here I Am” was made while she was on Interscope. It was delayed for more than a year and when it finally was released it was only available in Europe, Asia & Oceania (Australia & New Zealand). The only way to hear it in North America is via the internet or buying an import CD (right!).

Da Brat was actually the best selling female emcee of all time at one point. She’s currently incarcerated. Lauryn Hill (formerly of The Fugees) surpassed her in sales and popularity but failed to deliver a re-up. She has spent the past decade plus as the gold standard and people still hope she’ll “return to form” one day. Right.

The game was so devoid of Lauryn Hill’s voice that in 2002 they even imported Ms. Dynamite from the UK to try to fit the bill and push her LP “A Little Deeper” stateside with a remix of her second single “Dyn-A-Mi-Tee” featuring Nas and by using the original version in a national H & M clothing store ad.

Ms. Dynamite’s pregnancy prevented her from doing the level of promotion the label had hoped in the US. Few even remember MTV and VH1 promoting her stateside now. Except for me, of course.

Irv Gotti and Ja Rule had Vita and Charli Baltimore on Murder Inc., neither managed to release an album (which was Charli’s second stint on a label failing to produce an LP). Fat Joe put on Big Pun’s protege Remy Ma. She became a member of Terror Squad then put out an album (“There’s Something About Remy”) that didn’t do well commercially. She is also currently incarcerated.

Trina’s still around. Problem is, she’s TRINA. She isn’t inspiring anyone with her talent, creativity or deft lyricism. You could go down the list of female emcees that were on major and indie labels in the mid to late 90’s that are off the grid to the average Rap listeners as of 2010. It will depress you something fierce.

Paula Perry. Ladybug Mecca. Heather B. Lin Que. Bahamadia. Tiye Phoenix. Jean Grae. Rah Digga. Hurricane G. Cha Cha. Queen Pen. Rage. Nonchalant. Deadly Venomz (N-Tyce, J Boo, Champ MC & Finesse). LeShaun. Queen Herawin. Precious Paris. Yejide The Night Queen. Tara Chase. Gangsta Boo. LaChat. Jane Bond/Doe. Doggy’s Angels (Coniyac, Big Chan & Kola Loc). Miss Toi. Dyme. T-Love. Medusa. Pri The Honey Dark. Motion. Apani B. Indeed. Helixx C. Armageddon. Sonya Blade. Da Kaperz. Da 5 Footaz. Tekitha. Mia X. Njeri Earth. Mother Superia. Shortie No Mas. Chocolate. Suga T. Strings. Conscious Daughters. Mystic. Lady Luck. Anomolies Crew. Amillion? Gone.

Even the female emcees the were introduced in the 00’s are completely forgotten by today’s audiences. Ebony Eyez? Sarai? Kelly Spade? SK? Chyna White? Diamond & Princess of Crime Mob? 24K? Shayla G? Jackie O? Shawnna? Ms. Jade? They were around not too long ago but they all came and went in respects of the major label Rap game. I grew up with a wide variety of Hip Hop and voices that represented the full diaspora both male and female. So what exactly happened? I’ll address that right now.

Record labels just got fed up with investing money into artists and getting diminishing financial returns. They thought across the board that it simply cost too much to sign and maintain female emcees and it was even more of a headache to try to figure out a way to market ones that weren’t “the full package” so they just QUIT DOING IT. Plain and simple. They all turned bitch and quit. Why lie?

You mean to tell me that talent isn’t marketable? Or that there are NO female emcees on Earth with the exception of Nicki Minaj that are worthy of the attention of a wider audience? None? Seriously? In the past decade I’ve seen major labels completely eliminate artist development and stop nurturing talent. You better bring us a fully formed artist with a buzz ready to be marketed already. We don’t wanna do any real work ourselves.

I’ve seen major labels merge with other labels and ax significant percentages of their staffs just to save money so it’s not surprising to think that they just decided across the board to not sign female emcees anymore. The proof is right there on every major label’s roster.

We have such emcees as Jean Grae, Tiye Phoenix, Invincible, Boog Brown, Eternia, Empress Stahhr, Ethel Cee, Nneka, Stacey Epps, Mae Day, Miz Korona, Eagle Nebula, Zane One, Mz Bratt, Ana Tijoux, Yarah Bravo, Psalm One, Amanda Diva, Perseph One, Eyeris, Baby Blue, Shystie, Speech Debelle, Rocky Rivera, Mala Reignz, Lah Tere (of Rebel Diaz), Bless Roxwell, Sirah One, Zarinah, Ms. Dynamite, RA The MC, Masia One, Dessa, Hopie Spitshard, Kandi Cole, Signif, Rita J, Rapsody (of Kooley High), etc. all around but the lone female emcee anyone’s willing to gamble on is Nicki Minaj? How could you honestly NOT expect a backlash of some sort to occur?

Here I am scrolling through my iPod that contains 200 different LP’s and there are a wide array of female emcees in it between both albums and guest appearances. It irks me to no end that more people aren’t aware these talented artists exist considering that we live in the Information Age.

Everyone is aware of Google now. Every music site has a search feature. The problem is so deep that people don’t even know that female emcees are even a search away. THEY THINK THEY DON’T EVEN EXIST ANYMORE! I find this incredibly disturbing but it’s a direct by product of major record label not producing any new female artists and radio stations and video networks not playing any female artists’ music over the past 5 plus years.

I came up listening to The Sequence, Sha Rock, Lisa Lee, Debbie Dee, Lady B, Paulette & Tanya Winley, Sparky D, Roxanne Shante, Sweet Tee, The Real Roxanne, Peblee Poo, Dimples D, Ice Cream Tee, E-Vette Money and a gang of other female voices on wax even before the age of MC Lyte, Queen Latifah and Salt N’ Pepa ever popped off so I can’t imagine what Hip Hop would be like without ladies on the mic. This current Hip Hop generation has experienced just that damn near…

Imagine the debilitating effect the absence of a female perspective to balance out the culture would/will have on these Hip Hop/Rap fans. It’s Eddie Murphy’s “give a starving man a cracker and he’ll think it’s the greatest thing he’s ever eaten in his life” theory in action. That’s why Nicki Minaj has been featured on everyone and their mother’s records lately. A female emcee is the equivalent of a unicorn in today’s Hip Hop climate. Just one problem with that, B. I see unicorns on a daily basis.

I’ve heard a gang of albums by and featuring females emcees all year long. I’ll tell you all that quite a few are coming out in the coming months. Rah Digga & Nottz “Classic” drops on September 14th via Raw Koncept. Boog Brown & Apollo Brown “Brown Study” drops on September 28th via Mello Music Group. These are both dropping well before Nicki Minaj drops “Pink Friday” on November 23rd.

Forget that Bahamadia has an album produced exclusively by Statik Selektah on the way. Forget that Heather B has a project that will potentially put the game in a headlock in the works. Forget that Invincible & Waajeed have a monster of an album set to drop in 2011. Forget that there are a gang of talented female voices out there just waiting for you to discover them. The radio isn’t going to do it for you. The video outlets aren’t going to help you out. The major labels don’t give a fuck and they won’t unless YOU DO FIRST. Luckily for us all, I DO give a fuck.

If you need to be reminded that female emcees haven’t gone anywhere I’ll be more than glad to do that. If you want suggestions as to which you should be checkin’ for I got you. If you need someone to tell you when these albums drop and where to cop ‘em, I’ll provide that service for you. Shit, I’ll take it a step further and even PLAY the music on my internet radio show! If they won’t, I WILL. Isn’t that what this whole blog thing is supposed to be about in the first place?

One.