As MC Lyte pointed out, Sexyy Red comes from a long tradition of female sexuality in hip-hop that was already controversial.
Sexyy Red’s superstardom rose alongside a lot of criticism over her raunchy content and presentation, which has sadly never been an uncommon reaction to femcees. One of the most legendary female rappers of all time, MC Lyte, recently reflected on this history during an interview with The Neighborhood Talk at BET’s Media House ahead of their awards show this Sunday (June 30). However, it’s important to note that her comments on the St. Louis MC don’t really seek to answer the question of whether or not this should be an approach that women in hip-hop continue to engage with. Rather, it calls out double standards and a lack of historical context and knowledge that leads to unjust vilification.
“Nothing that we see is really new,” MC Lyte’s remarks on Sexyy Red began. “And so, you know, we’ve all lived through the advent of ‘My Neck, My Back.’ Trina, Kim, Foxy… You know, so we lived that. So nothing surprises us, I don’t think. As an artist, as a creator, everyone’s always pushing the limits and the boundaries. But also, she didn’t pop out of a planet. She came from a neighborhood where this is how they speak to one another, this is how they communicate. And so this is definitely art imitating life. I think it’s important for people to know that it appears to me that she’s being herself. Whenever you’re being yourself, how can anybody argue with that?”
MC Lyte’s Thoughts On Sexyy Red
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Of course, we know that MC Lyte herself isn’t immune to lewd and controversial content. In fact, her comments about age gaps back in the day probably would get much more flack today than anything that Sexyy Red is doing in particular. But context is everything, and time heals all -– well, most wounds. Who knows how folks would’ve reacted to “Bow Bow Bow (F My Baby Dad)” back in 1991?
Meanwhile, MC Lyte also came to the defense of other rappers like LL Cool J and even President Joe Biden when it comes to their public perception. When Biden called LL “boy,” it sparked a debate around the connotations of the word. Like a lot of other people online, Lyte didn’t find it to be a big deal and instead opted for empathy and forgiveness. We’ll see how this Sexyy Red take ages in comparison.
