NYC nonprofit works to build the next generation of women in hip-hop

It was 50 years ago this summer that the sights and sounds of hip-hop culture first emerged on the streets of the Bronx. To commemorate this milestone, WNYC and Gothamist are sharing the voices of the many women from our area who are leaving their own mark on the genre. Michelle Byrd-McPhee, the founder and director of the nonprofit organization, Ladies of Hip-Hop, shares her story. 

The transcript of Michelle Byrd-McPhee's story has been lightly edited for clarity.

My name is Michelle Byrd-McPhee, I'm founder and director of Ladies Hip-Hop festival. The mission of Ladies of Hip-Hop is really simple -- it's really to provide a space and opportunities to build the next generation of women in hip-hop dance, DJs and visual artists. We are an interdisciplinary organization, even though we started out as dance.

What inspired it? I would love to say something really deep, but the real honest truth is I was a co-founder of an all female hip-hop company in Philly, and this was a time where I was spending a lot of time in New York and D.C. just hanging out. So most of my friends that were women in dance were in New York and they were these powerhouses, you know, I just wanted to dance more with them and I wanted to train my company. So Ladies of Hip-Hop was really just like a way to have really dope women hang out together and I think pass the culture on in a way that a lot of us weren't experiencing it at the time.

The festival was founded in 2004, so at that time women weren't teaching as much. We were around. We've always been around. We've been a big influence on the culture. We've been a big support of the culture, but opportunity to be at the forefront, wasn't there? What I experienced in hip-hop culture at the time that I was hanging out in clubs in the late eighties, early nineties, I wouldn't say I didn't have the support of the men there. I think the men in my community were super supportive of me, but I do feel like depending on what your entry point is as a woman, like who was bringing you into that space and also your comfort level and being in a real male dominated space -- getting in "circles" at the time was really the only outlet. We weren't showing up really so much in concert dance as hip-hop and street dance was showing up on the stage and maybe be one or two specifically "b-girls," which rightfully so, being one of the first dance forms, they accompany the culture, and so there wasn't very much space for anything else. So for me, I had super supportive guys, but I just felt alone.

What advice would I give to a young girl? Number one, believe in yourself. We're not told enough -- never let anyone deter you from what it is you want to do, and especially not because you're a woman.