This CD is one of those that you don’t get often. It had incredible and intensely clever wordplay, and was great for the culture because of the positive support it showed for hip hop. Back then everyone thought hip-hop was rap music and rap music was gangsta. It made people think twice before making an assumption like that. Any hip-hop purist who enjoys freestyles and great rhymes that make you think then this is the album for you.
Today, Sa-Roc has announced a co-headline tour withRah Digga. Arguably one of the most vibrant MCs in the world today, Okayplayer heralded her as “one of the most formidable microphone mavens in the game,” and NPR described her as “a modern day griot whose aura radiates calm in a world of chaos.” The tour includes dates in Washington, DC, New York, Boston, Atlanta, Durham, Asheville, and Nashville. Tickets are on-sale this Friday, May 26th at 10am ET HERE.
On this day in 1996, Lauryn Hill, Pras and Wyclef Jean decided that Blunted On Reality would not be the beginning and ending of their illustrious careers and dropped their sophomore, award-winning LP The Score.
Even though the explosive success of their sophomore album was unexpected, resulting in the crew’s breakup, the impact of the project catapulted the careers of all three members. The Score’s apex came during a time when gangsta rap was making its way East, giving any other form of lyricism a narrow lane to success.
The commercial success of the album came from singles such as the bubbly “Fu-Gee-La”, the Hip Hop remake of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly’, “Ready Or Not” and the album’s Diamond D-produced title track.
Salute to Pras, Clef, Ms. Hill, John Forte, Salaam Remi, Young Zee, Rah Digga and everyone involved in this monumental piece of Hip Hop history!
Rapper/singer, multi-hyphenate Lyric Jones released her lauded album “Closer Than They” Appear on October 27th. Today (11/18/2020), Lyric shares the official music video for the project’s BlaaqGold-produced “Want To Say”. Joined by Rah Digga, who laces the song with adlibs, the John Benneche-directed video is a display of supreme style and grace, as Lyric floats over the track with sharp bravado.
On this day in 1996, Lauryn Hill, Pras and Wyclef Jean decided that Blunted On Reality would not be the beginning and ending of their illustrious careers and dropped their second, classic LP The Score.
Even though the explosive success of their sophomore album was unexpected, resulting in the crew’s breakup, the impact of the project catapulted the careers of all three members. The Score’s apex came during a time when gangsta rap was making its way East, giving any other form of lyricism a narrow lane to success.
The commercial success of the album came from singles such as the bubbly “Fu-Gee-La”, the Hip Hop remake of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly’, “Ready Or Not” and the album’s Diamond D-produced title track.
Salute to Pras, Clef, Ms. Hill, John Forte, Salaam Remi, Young Zee, Rah Digga and everyone involved in this monumental piece of Hip Hop history!
Grammy-winning rapper T.I. has a true supporter in Rah Digga. The East Coast hip-hop artist recently revealed she monitored her daughter’s virginity.
Digga recently went online to explain her motivation and the aftermath of learning her daughter lost her virginity.
Well I did it and guess what? When I found out she wasn't anymore did I berate her..No. Did I kick her out the house..No. I was able to have a convo where she openly told me what it was. And i emphasized being safe. And life went on… https://t.co/1EVpsxLOl8
I know my Twitter bro lol. I have no problem being on an island w/ this one. I ain't letting yall shame TI out of being an overprotective Dad. Nope. https://t.co/noxl3QHTWc
So on top of it being criminal for parents to discipline their children they're trying to make it criminal to monitor their sex lives? FOH!! I STAND WITH @Tiphttps://t.co/g90iKN5T3k
Yall can think I'm crazy. I think yall crazy. And this concludes this Sunday's edition of Walking the Dogs w/ Digga. Happy Sunday!! Next on the docket: 75,000 missing Black women and girls in America.
A few days ago, New York lawmakers introduced legislation aiming to ban doctors from performing and supervising purity examinations following Tip’s recent remarks.
Doctors performing the exams typically check to see whether a female patient’s hymen is intact, even though medical professionals do not consider it a reliable indicator of past sexual activity. As a memo attached to the legislation notes, there is also no medical or scientific definition of virginity. Rather, virginity is a social and religious construct. (Huff Post)
The New York Senate bill, S6879, is sponsored by state Sen. Roxanne Persaud and its New York Assembly counterpart is sponsored by state Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages and co-sponsored by Rick Gottfried, Andrew Hevesi and Walter T. Mosley. Their legislation would subject doctors to “penalties for professional misconduct” along with potential criminal sexual assault charges for performing or supervising the exams. (Huff Post)
If anyone thought the discussion on hymens was going away any time soon, think again. With the potential passage of a ban on “purity exams” in New York on the table, Rah Digga says she too checked her daughter’s hymen similar to her brethren in Hip-Hop, T.I.
On Sunday (December 1), the veteran rapper and podcast host caught wind of the potential ban on the purity exams in New York state, causing her to say she stays with Tip Harris.
So on top of it being criminal for parents to discipline their children they're trying to make it criminal to monitor their sex lives? FOH!! I STAND WITH @Tiphttps://t.co/g90iKN5T3k
As expected, the Flipmode SquadMC continued to double down on the stance, sharing that she’s also done the same virginity check with her now-adult daughter.
What's sick are the leaps and bounds society is taking to remove parental structuring and people justifying it. Same society won't have shit to say when that kid comes home pregnant and abortions are illegal. That's that on that!! https://t.co/3aAacKW8R1
Well I did it and guess what? When I found out she wasn't anymore did I berate her..No. Did I kick her out the house..No. I was able to have a convo where she openly told me what it was. And i emphasized being safe. And life went on… https://t.co/1EVpsxLOl8
As it stands, Rah Digga isn’t backing down and has been accused of creating a clout chasing moment after tweeting that her daughter texted her amid the chatter that she supports her mom but several folks hailed the missive as being nothing but cap.
Check out the reactions below.
So I just got a call from my daughter amidst the online banter. She said "Thank you for being you Mom. I'm a better woman for it!" Full time student, full time job, her own car, crib and ain't thinking about having kids till she finish her degrees. That's all the cosign I need
New Jersey rapper Rah Digga is riding for T.I. The hip-hop veteran has come to Tip’s defense following his recent controversial reveal of monitoring his daughter’s virginity.
Digga went to Twitter this past weekend to speak up for Tip and show him big support.
So on top of it being criminal for parents to discipline their children they're trying to make it criminal to monitor their sex lives? FOH!! I STAND WITH @Tiphttps://t.co/g90iKN5T3k
Yall can think I'm crazy. I think yall crazy. And this concludes this Sunday's edition of Walking the Dogs w/ Digga. Happy Sunday!! Next on the docket: 75,000 missing Black women and girls in America.
A few days ago, New York lawmakers introduced legislation aiming to ban doctors from performing and supervising purity examinations following Tip’s recent remarks.
Doctors performing the exams typically check to see whether a female patient’s hymen is intact, even though medical professionals do not consider it a reliable indicator of past sexual activity. As a memo attached to the legislation notes, there is also no medical or scientific definition of virginity. Rather, virginity is a social and religious construct. (Huff Post)
The New York Senate bill, S6879, is sponsored by state Sen. Roxanne Persaud and its New York Assembly counterpart is sponsored by state Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages and co-sponsored by Rick Gottfried, Andrew Hevesi and Walter T. Mosley. Their legislation would subject doctors to “penalties for professional misconduct” along with potential criminal sexual assault charges for performing or supervising the exams. (Huff Post)
“I just feel like when it come to someone’s children on such a personal matter, no one can honestly tell somebody how to raise their children, or how to take care of them or how to look after them,” he said. “That’s that man’s child! … I can’t make every decision for you, but I’m definitely gonna put strong input on your life and try to guide you through darkness, so that when I’m not around you make the smart decisions.” (Too Fab)
Brand Nubian member and Hip-Hop veteran Lord Jamar is no stranger to controversy, so his latest statement regarding women in Hip-Hop doesn’t come as a surprise.
During an interview with Bosschick Raine for the online show “Battle Code”, Lord Jamar stated that he doesn’t feel women rappers aren’t appealing as artists because he can’t relate to their subject matter, despite having the first lady of Flipmode, Rah Digga, as his podcast cohost.
“I don’t f*ck with female rappers,” he said before elaborating. “The same reason I don’t f*ck with white rappers or wack rappers: I can’t resonate with what a woman is talking about. Now listen, can I appreciate a sista that can rhyme good? Yes. Rah Digga can rhyme. She’s dope. Bahamadia, dope. But do I wanna listen to a female rhyming about female sh*t? It doesn’t resonate with me.”
When asked about female rap legends like Lauryn Hill and MC Lyte, Lord Jamar revealed that he holds those two ladies at a different standard than most.
“I love Lauryn Hill, but some people will say that’s not Hip Hop,” Lord Jamar continued. “You got some people that’ll say [The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill] was damn near an R&B album. I loved Lauryn Hill. She was one of the only female albums that I actually really did listen to on some ‘this is the soundtrack for a minute.’”
In regards to fellow pioneer, MC Lyte, Jamar stated that her “tomboy” persona allowed him to bypass her gender and listen to her rhyme before stating the obvious that his point of view like his music choice is very misogynistic.
“Lyte was different because we were younger. It was a different time and Lyte was almost like a tomboy at that time, so you kinda knew girls like Lyte, but Lyte’s music was more harder too,” Lord Jamar explained. “I like real Hip Hop. Like I said, I’m an alpha male. So, certain themes are not gonna resonate with me. Female themes, themes of sucker sh*t, white people themes. There’s a lot of shit that I wouldn’t resonate with. But I resonate with positive, militant, gangsta, sometimes misogynistic music. I’m just keeping it real. I’m just telling you what I like.”
Rah Digga is one avowed female emcee who has managed to maintain a little to none record when it comes to rap beef. In her constant motion of being civil yet standing her ground as a core lyricist, Digga is certainly positioned to recognize the affairs in the world of women in Hip-Hop, especially when it comes to unification. In a recent interview with Vlad TV, the Flipmode Squad first lady confirmed she was making reference to Nicki Minaj in a controversial tweet from 2017.
Back in 2017, in a passionate Twitter discussion that included her top female emcees, she made a statement about there being one female rapper who does not conduct collaborations with other female rappers. While she never said the name of the female rapper she was referring to, many hypothesized she was making reference to Nicki Minaj.
When asked by DJ Vlad about the statement who assumed it was the Beam Me Up Scotty rapper, the Dirty Harriet emcee went on speak on the premise of the statement.
“I just get tired of people asking ‘What’s wrong with all the females? Why the females can’t get along?,’” said Digga. “I hate people constantly asking that question when it’s like, it’s not the females. There is just one particular person that entered the fold and now the female rap genre is up in arms.”
There is no denial about the influence Minaj has had on the forum of female rappers within the past ten years. She is unarguably the biggest femcee of the millennium, with triple platinum albums and gold records, recording breaking achievements reigning from chart entries to streams and music video views, and sold out concerts and ultimate mainstream appeal. Despite her success, both DJ Vlad and Rah Digga highlighted the Queens rapper’s fiasco of collaborating with other female artists and historic beefs including those of Lil’ Kim and Cardi B.
Rah Digga went on to speak on her prime time and how she was being pitted against Lil’ Kim and other female rappers due to her non-hyper sexual approach and anti-ghost writer stance. She acknowledged the various unique lanes in female rap, who the New Jersey native slated “Lauryn Hill, the Nubian goddess,” “Lil’ Kim, the sex kitten,” “Trina, the pit mama from the South,” and herself, “Rah Digga, the direct descendant of MC Lyte,” along with Chi-town’s Shawnna as examples.
“Females were clearly not getting along in my era too. This isn’t something that just started,” she said. “Chicks been not rocking. But, I think at the end of the day there was always still this underlying understanding that even if we don’t fuck with each other, we gonna rock with each other. Cause this is how we keep the genre moving.”
She continued:
“When Nicki Came along, it was like, why don’t you have the same energy as the rest of us?”
Rah Digga is clearly speaking from an angle of a seasoned emcee and did not hesitate to uphold Nicki Minaj’s influence. “I don’t take nothing from her because she really did, for the most part, revive female rap on the commercial front.”
She went on the suggest Minaj should have used her platform to pull worthy up and coming female rappers under her wing, including Cardi B.
“There’s Dreezy, there’s Dej Loaf. If she was smart, she would’ve scooped Cardi under her wing.”
Rah Digga’s vocal output on the state of women in Hip-Hop is a type of rhetoric that tends to be a taboo outlook for many other female rappers. Earlier in the interview she stated, “When you’re on the main stage, you pull your sisters up.” Will this be a matter Minaj tackles head on any time soon?
Check out Rah Digga’s interview with Vlad TV, below.
