God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop

Intended to be a narrative homage to women in hip-hop, this latest work by Iandoli (coauthor, Commissary Kitchen) is that and more. Iandoli recalls the mid-1980s Roxanne Wars and traces the evolution of pioneers MC Lyte and Salt-N-Pepa along with Queen Latifah and later TLC, who incorporated singing into their rhymes. In explaining how women were the genre’s greatest assets and causalities, Iandoli examines the First Lady model—for example, Eve with Ruff Ryders—in which a label wouldn’t always make room for more than one. Iandoli sees 1996 as a pivotal year, with Missy Elliott, Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, and the Fugees topping the charts. The author considers the success and later noticeable absence of Lauryn Hill, especially during the music industry’s transition, in the 2000s, to focusing on proven artists in a singles-driven world. Male rappers, including Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G., loom in the background, as they molded women’s public personas, often as sexy or violent, to varying success. Final chapters succinctly cover the rise of stars Nicki Minaj and Cardi B.