First Things First: Hip-Hop Ladies Who Changed the Game

Women have been part of hip-hop since its inception in 1973. Simmons (creator/blogger, The Gumbo) enthusiastically celebrates those who have actual and figurative first achievements. Some chapters are straightforward and give a small bio and a critique of a person’s work. Besides musical artists, there are chapters about fashion designers, magazine editors, and radio deejays. She cites R&B soul singer Millie Jackson as the first mother of hip-hop because her music has been sampled more than 200 times by rappers. Other chapters use Venn diagrams, sidebars, and more to get Simmons’s point across; a chapter on Lil’ Kim includes transcribed text messages between Simmons and a friend to explain why she is the first blueprint for modern women in rap. Simmons engages readers by speaking directly to them. Many of the sidebars give her opinions, such as why Queen Latifah deserves multiple stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. While some readers may welcome Simmons’s fresh writing style, others may find it distracting, especially the multiple footnotes that are more about her than the chapters’ subjects.