Quentin B. Huff

Female emcees, or "femcees," have always been a minority in hip-hop. But in this decade, they became almost an endangered species. The few women in the genre are not nearly as successful or engaged as rappers like Queen Latifah or Foxy Brown, who made inroads in the 1980s and '90s. ...

In the early days of hip-hop, Run DMC made music with a mission, like the 1986 track "Proud To Be Black." KRS-One and his group Boogie Down Productions called a 1990 album Edutainment. Now, motivational or educational lyrics are met with skepticism. Today, we discuss the viability of hip-hop with ...