On Sunday’s episode of the AMC show, commentators like MC Lyte break down Queen Latifah’s pivotal hit, “Ladies First.”
Long before she was belting out “Poor Unfortunate Souls” on live TV,Queen Latifahstarted her career as a female rapper, and ended up making the music industry more fortunate for the women of hip hop who came after her.
In an exclusive clip from Sunday’sHip Hop: The Songs That Shook Americaon AMC, talking heads, including #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke and rapperMC Lyte, break down how a song like Latifah’s 1989 hit “Ladies First” exposed the rest of America to the plight of black women.
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In addition to being “somewhat of a superhero to look up to,” as MC Lyte puts it, Latifah opened doors for women in hip hop likeLauryn Hillto be more political and showed rappers likeNicki Minaja way to be more business-minded.
“Ladies First,” from Latifah’s debut albumAll Hail The Queen, not only had empowering, unabashedly feminist lyrics, it features fellow female rapper Monie Love during a time when the industry often only found space for one woman at a time.
To learn more about the impact of Queen Latifah and “Ladies First,” watchHip Hop: The Songs That Shook Americaon Sunday, Nov. 17 at 12 a.m. ET/PT on AMC.
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