Happy Birthday MC Lyte!
Love Nicki Minaj? Then you have to salute Brooklyn's own MC Lyte. Born on October 10, yesterday marks the birthday of one of hip-hop's foremost female MCs.
Born Lana Michele Moorer, Lyte began her career in 1986 and gained critical and commercial acclaim in 1988 with her LP Lyte as a Rock, which featured the crossover hit (and my theme song) "Paper Thin." Lyte's other hits include "Cha Cha Cha", "Poor Georgie", "Ruffneck" and "Cold Rock a Party."
Unlike the femcees of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Lyte was never a sex kitten rapper. Instead the BK MC traded bars with the best of them and told stories where listeners could envision her lyrics, for example, we felt the frustration she described on "Poor Georgie."
Lyte went on to release seven albums, star in television shows like UPN's "Half & Half" and do voice-over work for VH1's Hip-Hop Honors as well as the BET Awards.
In 2006, MC Lyte was one of the honorees herself on VH1's annual award show "Hip Hop Honors." The veteran MC was joined by fellow female rappers Da Brat, Remy Ma, and Lil' Kim as they performed her cuts "Cha Cha Cha," "Lyte as a Rock," "Paper-Thin" and "Ruffneck."
Here are some random facts we learned about Lyte from the Internets...
She is an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc and she's related to rapper Charles Hamilton. The young MC is her cousin. Who knew?
