The Majak Mixtape --- Check One, Check Two, My Mix Sounds Nice

Oh Nicki Minaj, the self-proclaimed Harajuku Barbie is the hottest female MC in rap which is either the greatest or worse thing to ever happen to hip hop this year, depending on your vantage point. A kooky mix of Busta Rhymes, Lil Kim and Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj has left no song go without grabbing a feature whether its on Trey "Poor Man's R.Kelly" Songz's new single "Bottoms Up" or Sean "The Male Precious" Kingston's "Dutty Dutty" as well as a plethora other tracks from artists like Mariah Carey, Ludacris and Robin Thicke. Here at the Mixtape, we love the female MCs and wish more of them would be getting press like Ms. Minaj. Her current success makes a little nostalgic for some old school female MCs who rocked the mic so nice in our bonus mixtape for the day "Check One, Check, My Mix Sounds Nice."

Before Fergie was Fergalicious, JJ Fad were "Supersonic"


There are so many things wonderfully old school about this song and video, mainly the fact that beat sounds like it would settle nicely over a power-up move on Sonic the Hedgehog. Plus, you have the huge gold earrings that caused a generation of Black women to have permanently drooping earlopes, black leggings that somehow have managed to stay fashionable in spite of being all sorts of awful, the modified Tootie feathered haircuts that my sister had shortly before getting a Whitney Houston circa I Wanna Dance With Somebody weave.

Up next is the MC who was light as a rock, MC Lyte


Socially conscious but still able to make a good party record, MC Lyte is part of the now seemingly dead breed female rapper: the fully clothed rapper. Lil Kim and Foxy Brown pretty much slayed that female rapper in the 1990s, becoming a kooky version of female empowerment that mixed exploitation, hyper sexuality and nudity into an urban Madonna school of thought. With Foxy Brown going back and forth on being deaf and Lil Kim on a quest to look like a human sex doll, we here wish that MC Lyte would come back stronger and not just be chained to being the announcer for the BET Awards.

Lastly, we have Salt N Pepa and their song "Show Stoppa"


Their first big stab at success, "Show Stoppa" was their answer record to Doug E. Fresh's The Show:


Salt-N-Pepa balanced pop radio friendliness with killer lyrics that were smart, sassy and always full-flavored. My sister and I used to dance around our basement to "Push It" while playing Atari. That's some 80s goodness right there.

So Nicki may be the most popular MC at the moment but the road to her success was paved with the blood, sweat, and Classy Curls of the MCs above. Betta recognize.