Out on the Town.... Rapper Monie Love and the TrueSchool Movement...
As you know by now, this month we've been bringing you a series on hip hop. We've spent quite some time brainstorming about this segment both in and out of our editorial meetings. One of the biggest challenges for us has been picking which hip hop artists to have on the show. We are only dedicating a select number of segments to this series and there are so many artists to choose from!
I love hip hop. Which means that this exercise of having to narrow down the list of hip hop artists we have to choose from has been all the more difficult for me. One person that was on my "must book" list was rapper Monie Love. I have been a Monie Love fan dating back to the days when she rapped along with Queen Latifah on the hit "Ladies First".
In addition to being a fan of her music and an unabashed Anglophile (Monie's British), I was eager to have her on to talk with Farai about her experiences as one of the first lady rappers in the industry. I also wanted to know what she had been up to lately and how she was feeling about the current generation of hip hop artists and their music.
So, I looked her up on myspace.com and sent her a message requesting an interview. I heard back from her within hours. Not only did she agree to come on the show but she informed me that she was en route to Los Angeles the following day. She was coming out here to host what she called a "True School" party and she invited me to come and check it out.
For those of you who may not have heard about it before, TrueSchool Corp. is a company who's made it their mission to bring back and celebrate the hip hop (and R&B) music, culture, and lifestyle from the 1980's through the mid-90's. So far they have thrown more than two dozen TrueSchool parties in cities all over the country. Monie Love works with the company and serves as host of these events.
I attended the party Monie invited me to in Los Angeles and both the crowd and the music were dynamic! DJ 9th Wonder and DJ Cuzzin B took turns spinning a combination of hip hop and r&b hits from the 1980's and 1990's. They played hits ranging from Tupac's hit "I Get Around" to Mint Condition's "Pretty Brown Eyes". I must admit, each song they played sent me on a trip down memory lane...
And Monie Love wasn't the only celeb in the house. Spinderella from Salt N' Pepa and Rapper Yo Yo also came through to show their love and support. When Monie Love announced over the mic that Yo Yo was in the house, the crowd went wild! Yo yo grabbed the mic and rapped one of her hits as the crowd enthusiastically rapped (word for word) along with her.
If you are interested in learning more about TrueSchool and what Monie Love has been up to lately, take a listen to the interview that Farai did with Monie Love. Monie also was part of a conversation on women in hip hop that Farai did with Professor Tricia Rose and Rapper MC Lyte.
To check out the rest of our coverage on hip hop this month, please click here. And to check out our hip hop related blogs, click here.
8:16 PM ET | 06-12-2007 | permalink
Add a Comment
Please note that all comments must adhere to the NPR.org discussion rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Login | Register
More information needed to participate in the NPR online community.. Add this information