The Femcee Letters

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  The Femcee Letters: An Open Letter to Lauryn Hill (Pt. 2)

  Posted by Burmy on 11/19/10 |
  Filed under Features, The Femcee Letters, Lauryn Hill

  On July 21, 2001, a small crowd was fortunate enough to be the group which heard your new material. Your quote during that performance filled in every blank we needed: "Fantasy is what people want, but reality is what they need. I've just retired from the fantasy part." Sure enough, music in its purest form prevailed, with most songs featuring only your voice and acoustic guitar accompaniment. See more...See more...

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  The Femcee Letters: An Open Letter to Lauryn Hill

  Posted by Burmy on 11/12/10 |
  Filed under Top Stories, Features, The Femcee Letters, Lauryn Hill

  Dear Lauryn. If this were a live-audience TV special, I'd have trouble starting this because of how loud the applause would be. Although you mainly handled the singing duties, when every other femcee emerges on the scene, you are the barometer that they are all measured up to. Though you only released one solo album, it is considered a true classic by virtually every hip-hop fan. See more...See more...

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  The Femcee Letters: An Open Letter to Rah Digga

  Posted by Burmy on 11/05/10 |
  Filed under Features, The Femcee Letters, Rah Digga

  Dear Rah.To begin with, you're probably going to have a problem with the title of this series, as you have been an outspoken critic of the term "femcee". That said, you were an obvious choice for this first round with your major roots and your emergence as a voice for the present-day skilled female rappers (for your sake, the title is the only time I'll say that f-word in this article). See more...See more...

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  The Femcee Letters: An Open Letter to Jean Grae

  Posted by Burmy on 10/28/10 |
  Filed under Features, The Femcee Letters, Jean Grae

  Dear Jean. Congratulations on being the first of the "nostalgic-quality femcees" which I'm covering for this series. Let me tell you, the Hype Nation has been clamoring for me to write one up about you for the last several weeks, with me finally giving in last week at the end of my previous letter to Jacki-O. While I've heard your underground lyrical style and close association with Talib Kweli, I still had to wonder what it was about you that made the Hype demand you so much. Well, here goes...See more...

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  The Femcee Letters: An Open Letter to Jacki-O

  Posted by Burmy on 10/21/10 |
  Filed under Features, The Femcee Letters, Jacki-O

  Jacki-O started out as part of the sex-driven trend of which several Dirty South femcees had become part of (one of which I've already featured here), she emerged just as the fad was fading, giving her a lane to get into deeper topics on her future music, and being compared by many to a female version of Pac. How did she make the evolution happen? See more...See more...

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  The Femcee Letters: An Open Letter to Diamond & Princess

  Posted by Burmy on 10/14/10 |
  Filed under Features, The Femcee Letters, Diamond, Princess

  One of the primary goals of my series is femcee unity (the idea of all femcees putting aside their differences for the better of the game). While two of my subjects thus far have been ardent supporters of this concept, from Salt-N-Pepa to your day, no femcees had actually been in a group together. Though two completely different personalities, you were hip-hop's Thelma and Louise for the first two Crime Mob albums. See more...See more...

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  From Nicki Minaj to Da Brat, the Femcee Letters Halftime Report

  Posted by Nathan S. on 10/08/10 |
  Filed under Top Stories, Features, The Femcee Letters

  For the longest time, I had been an admirer of the femcee game. My first exposure to female hip-hop was as a 4-year old watching Queen Latifah's segment on Sesame Street. While it put in a good word for the letter O as a youngster, little did I know the seed it planted would grow 19 years later into this excellent series! So, allow me to give a summary of how this series has gone thus far. See more...See more...

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  The Femcee Letters: An Open Letter to Da Brat

  Posted by Burmy on 10/01/10 |
  Filed under Features, The Femcee Letters, Da Brat

  Dear Brat. Throughout your career (which goes way back to the early '90s), you've covered virtually every base there is for femcees (and for the entire Midwest region as well). Since word is out that you're planning to make your comeback very soon (and since it's been seven years since your last solo work), here's hoping my recollection will re-light that fire and give the femcee game some much-needed skill once again. See more...See more...

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  The Femcee Letters: An Open Letter to Shawnna

  Posted by Burmy on 09/23/10 |
  Filed under Features, The Femcee Letters, Shawnna

  Dear Shawnna, Well, this is the big one. While it's the one I've been looking forward to the most (because you're right next to Foxy Brown at the top spot in my favorite femcees list, plus the first Midwest femcee in this series), I can also say it's the one that's left me under the most pressure. Because I live less than 100 miles away from you-and your manager frequently promotes events in my hometown. See more...See more...

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  The Femcee Letters: An Open Letter to Remy Ma

  Posted by Burmy on 09/17/10 |
  Filed under Features, The Femcee Letters, Remy Ma

  Dear Remy,Let me start by asking the same question that I asked Lil' Kim: "What happened?" However, in this case, I ask that out of disbelief (and disappointment) in your current state. Going from underground hype to #1-hit collaborator to rising mainstream femcee icon, everyone was anticipating your ascent to the top of the game. See more...See more...