Nas, LL Cool J, Questlove Called Out For Omitting Women Rap Pioneers From Hip-Hop 50 Events

“Either this is due to a lack of knowledge or the epidemic of revisionist history,” MC Debbie D wrote.

Nas, LL Cool J, and Questlove

John Nacion/Getty Images; Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Noam Galai/Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine Innovators Awards

2023 marked Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary, and was loaded with several celebrations. Nas, LL Cool J, and Questlove were recently called out for omitting female rap pioneers from multiple events that they had influence over.

MC Debbie D, who has dubbed herself the first solo female rapper, took to Twitter on Tuesday (Jan. 2) to air her grievances. She opened her statement with love before getting to her qualms.

“Brothers and Sisters: The Grammy Awards and Yankee Stadium events were a beautiful celebration of hip hop commemorating 50 years of our existence,” she wrote. “With the recent Grammys show in particular, LL says ‘everyone cannot be in the show,’ to which I understand. However, in conjunction with not being asked to perform at events, surprisingly, the names of female pioneers are not even included in a ticker tape or roll call. With both omissions, many say, female pioneers are being erased from the narrative.”

MC Debbie D resolved to believe that these omissions either had to do with a “lack of knowledge” or were the result of “revisionist history.” She continued her open letter by saluting the women who did get the opportunity to participate in these shows while simultaneously pointing out why there was still an issue.

“At the Grammys, it was admirable to see my sisters, MC Sha Rock and Roxanne Shante on the mic performing, having the earliest careers among the other females rappers present, however, between them is a 7 year time span,” she wrote. “As a Hip Hop Historian and Flyerologist, I present below, a progression of names of early women in hip hop who should always be noted whenever there is a discussion of pioneers.” She went on to list herself, Lisa Lee, Us Girls, MC Pebblee Poo, Mercedes Ladies, and The Sequence for their significant contributions to Hip-Hop.

“As you know, during Hip Hop 50, women in hip hop today are receiving their flowers,” she wrote toward the end of the letter. “To be on the right side of history is to remember the names of the women who paved their way!”

Obviously you don’t know your history … with all due respect to her legacy, there is a long line of female Emcees before 1984!

— MC Debbie D, PhD. (@MCDebbieD) January 3, 2024

One Twitter user attempted to call out MC Debbie D for labeling Roxanne Shanté a “nonpioneer,” to which she responded, “Obviously you don’t know your history … with all due respect to her legacy, there is a long line of female Emcees before 1984!”

Several major events took place in 2023 in honor of Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary, namely a performance at the Grammy’s in February, Yankee Stadium in August, and the Grammy Salute event in December.

Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox