What a heavy burden it must be to hold the title of "SHA-ROCK the 1st Female Pioneer Luminary MC on the mic, however, the Founder of Female Hip-Hop carries it well with intellectual brilliance and natural beauty. The memoirs of MC SHA-ROCK is a must read for anyone seeking to learn about the interesting life of the first female Hip-Hop Artist, Emcee and Rapper. I loved "The Story of the Beginning and End of Hip Hop's First Female Emcee: Luminary Icon," as I heavily identify with the trial and tribulations of breaking down barriers of being an emcee (who happens to be a young women) in the mid-seventies in New York City.
In the early days of the Hip Hop Movement women did not DJ or MC. Therefore, all of you youngins' such as MC Lyte, Trina, Nicki Minaj and Mary J. Blige should personally give thanks to MC SHA-ROCK, as her success as an emcee with The Funky Four and then the more popular Funky Four Plus One More made it possible for women to become an intricate part of the Hip-Hop Movement, Culture, Music and Industry.
MC SHA-ROCK is also the innovator of incorporating b-girl and fly girl cultures into the Hip-Hop music industry, so to those of you who speak about being "fly girls" you are paying homage to Mother of Hip-Hop who is the original "fly girl." "Luminary Icon" has once again given women hope that our voice, thoughts and opinions mean something.
Lastly, as the genre of Female Hip-Hop which includes emceeing began approximately three years after the birth of Hip Hop (1973) young women generally battled young men as we were creating a foundation that future young women would flourish in. Emcee battles on social websites such as the recent battle between "Keys the Problem" and "Nicki Minaj" are senseless and do not conform to the standards of being an emcee. Proper battles are done between sound systems with DJs and Emcees not on social websites or on mixtapes. OG emcees such as myself are required to step in a provide conflict resolution and redirect these young women back to the six elements of Hip-Hop, as apposed to their current commercialized battle.
After reading "Luminary Icon," I really visualize it as being adapted to a Broadway play or major Hollywood feature film epic as it tells in part how Hip-Hop began from a women's perspective who was actually in the first major Hip-Hop group in the Bronx, New York. "Luminary Icon" should be required reading for students in high school and college and also for parents struggling to understand their children who have come to age in this the 37th year of Hip-Hop.
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