The Motherlode
50 years of hip-hop: ladies first!
i remember when i first heard of Roxanne Shanté. during my formative years, i was often glued to my TV and/or computer learning about music (and pop culture in general). i’m sure that some VH1 countdown special would have introduced me to the pioneering New York rapper circa 2008.
as i previously shared in my write-up on Hip-Hop Evolution, i would subsequently use her song “Have a Nice Day” on my MySpace page.
while i don’t believe i was directly named after her, i always appreciated sharing her name. with so many different ways to spell Shanté, it’s not often to encounter someone with the exact same spelling. still, it’s not lost on me that Roxanne Shanté debuted during my mom’s adolescence, where she says they would play back cassettes over and over to learn the rhymes1. so admittedly, the naming choice could be loosely inspired.
i say all this to introduce my featured collectible this week: The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop, written by Clover Hope and illustrated by Rachelle Baker.
from Queen Latifah to Missy Elliott to Cardi B, this book offers a chronological look at women who have defined the genre. it shines a light on many unsung heroes and it’s a resource i’ll be reading for years to come. the book has been on my coffee table since i picked it up at Thriftbooks earlier this year. for the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, i’ve revisited The Motherlode with excitement that there’s still so much more to discover.
while i’m not going to recap every page of the book here, i’m sure it’ll be referenced in the future. here’s a preview of the rich colorful information you can find in The Motherlode. i’d definitely recommend picking up this text for yourself or checking it out the library!
i’m old enough to remember making cassettes from the radio. my generation was just more likely to record Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz than LL Cool J.