In the testosterone-fueled rap world, women have always had a role on stage -- usually as the side-chick, the video vixen or the oversexed diva boasting of myriad ways to pleasure a man. MC Lyte was one of the exceptions. A deft lyricist who rapped with a man's bluster and braggadocio, she gained a footing in the rap game in the late '80s and early '90s.
This month, MC Lyte will be honored as a pioneer during VH1's annual Hip Hop Honors special -- the lone woman in a sea of men including the Beastie Boys, Afrika Bambaataa, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Russell Simmons, Rakim and the Wu-Tang Clan. But her tribute underscores the declining role of women in rap, even as the genre enters its third decade. Lil' Kim, who recently finished a one-year jail term for perjury, is the most successful female among today's rappers, but her latest effort didn't even go platinum.
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