British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told you k. Lawmakers that if they don't approve his Breck's that withdrawal agreement this week he will pull the legislation and again demand a general election N.P.R.'s Frank Langfitt reports from London and Johnson is demanding the House of Commons vote through the country's most important piece of legislation in decades in just a matter of days the prime minister said if lawmakers want to prove his deal it's time to replace them at the ballot box if Parliament refuses to allow the Brits to have them and instead gets its way in decides to delay everything until January or possibly longer in new circumstances can the government continue with its germy Corben leader of the opposition Labor Party said trying to rush through the complex legislation was a quote abuse of power Johnson can't just call an election by himself but need support from parliament Frank Langfitt n.p.r. 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Former President Jimmy Carter has been hospitalized in Georgia after a fall at his home in Plains the Carter Center released a statement this morning saying the 95 year old former president is being treated for a minor pelvic fracture it's the 3rd time this year Carter has suffered a fall baseball's World Series begins tonight with the Houston Astros hosting the Washington Nationals he used in his trying to win its 2nd championship in 3 years the Nats are going for the 1st in their 15 year history N.P.R.'s Tom Goldman has this preview judging by the way these teams qualified for the World Series Washington should have the advantage the Nats cruised to a 4 game sweep of St Louis to win the National League pennant the Astros needed a walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to beat the Yankees in game 6 of the American League Championship Series in fact though Houston is the heavy favorite thanks to powerful hitting stellar starting pitching and defense but the Nationals are a very well rounded team too and they have a bit of a destiny feel they roared back from a woeful 19 and $31.00 regular season start and kept it going through a winning postseason that so far has made Washington fans forget the misery of recent playoff failure Tom Goldman n.p.r. News Japanese emperor Naruhito has formally proclaimed his ascension to the Japanese throne in a ceremony today succeeded his father Acca Hito last May after ACA abdicated emperor or Hito and his wife Empress Masako a Harvard educated former Japanese diplomat visited 3 shrines today ahead of the main ceremony I'm Corba colon n.p.r. News. Support for n.p.r. Comes from I drive providing cloud backup full system back up and on site I drive appliance to protect P.C.'s Macs and the servers from data loss due to crashes and ransomware and I drive dot com slash n.p.r. And Americans for the Arts. Support for Kay u.a.r. Comes from listeners and from Arkansas business the state source for weekly business news for more than 30 years daily updates and breaking news on the web at Arkansas Business dot com. This is one a I'm Joshua Johnson in Washington the race was a lot closer than anticipated but Canada is giving its prime minister Justin Trudeau another chance from coast to coast to coast tonight Canadians rejected division and negativity. They rejected cuts and austerity 10 days in favor of a progressive agenda and strong action on climate change. That was Prime Minister for do during his victory speech in Montreal last night lately he has faced a number of scandals including answering for a photograph of himself in black face joining us from Ottawa to discuss the results of last night's federal election is Jamie plus own the host of the podcast front burner from the c.b.c. Jamie welcome to the program. Thanks so much Joshua we'll be discussing this for just this 1st segment the program so if you have questions or thoughts about Canada's election please do e-mail us one. Org comment on our Facebook page or tweet us at one a j me before we get into the results give us a sense of what was driving the election we knew about some of just I'm sure those scandals and if you can run those as well but there were some other issues in the background right. Right so you mention the black face scandal he was also facing another scandal which is connected to this company that got like a prosecution agreement there Reza lot of controversy around you know favoritism towards this big corporation to have his high profile cabinet ministers quit and then there are as you mention these other big issues bubbling in the background the western part of Canada is really hurting right now they went through a recession after all prices dropped and there is a lot of anger there a feeling that the federal government just hasn't done enough to help them this is the province of Alberta mainly And then there's also the province of Quebec which also feels like it hasn't been advocated for properly on a national level there is a bill there right now that has been very controversial in other parts of the country it's called $21.00 and it prevents public service workers in positions of authority so you know school teachers for example from wearing a religious symbol like a hejab keeper and this bill is very popular in come back and so you know last night and I think will probably get into this we saw those issues really come to fruition in the results religious symbols include Stars of David and crosses and hammers are we is this a law that's really about the job. And a lot of people feel like it's targeted at Muslim women particularly but it is any religious symbol including a cross so the results from last night just introduced was back in for a 2nd term his Liberal Party won the most seats in Canada's parliament so they get to form a government but this is a different result than last time because previously in the 2015 election they won by a lot but this time right you don't have quite as much of a lead there they're forming a minority government right freight so I heard the clip that you played it's kind of funny every leader gave a speech last night that sounded like a victory speech Justin Trudeau had a majority government last time so they could do a lot to get their agenda through because they had the majority of seats in our house of in our in our House of Commons but last night they lost 21 seats so now they have a minority position they have not made up the 170 seats that they need to get a majority so in order to move forward here they're going to have to make arrangements with other parties probably on an issue by issue basis and if they can cooperate with other parties and that could call or result in another election you know that within months really but certainly before like 4 years very likely that we'll be having another election just be clear we're talking about the same kind of a parliamentary system that the u.k. Has where there's a form a coalition go or even Israel the Knesset you form a coalition government if you don't have an outright majority. Very much so except you know there's a sense that like a formal coalition probably won't be happening here they do have a strong minority government so they don't need a turn of seats from other parties in order to push their agenda through they could cooperate you know sort of on an issue by issue basis I mean climate change they could get the n.d.p. Ad the new Democrat Party and to vote with them on a couple of issues. On you know some other issues they could get the conservatives to come on side and so I think we'll just have to see how this plays out over the next several months and just to be clear the current results of the race so far looks like the liberals who needed 177 outright majority absolutely they've got 81575100. 32 the new Democrats 24 the Green Party 3 and there's one independent so not quite a majority but not a small a clear plurality at least a clear plurality and I should say that one independent the scandal that we were mentioning at the beginning of this conversation this is a really interesting sort of sidebar it is Jodie Wilson Raybold she was one of the cabinet ministers who resigned over the s.n.c. Scandal shows she is now an independent and she could play an important role in the balance of power here which is just an interesting story line I'm sorry the s.n.c. Scandals story I mentioned before there was that the scandal over this corporation that there was a feeling that they were getting kind of a sweet deal get a prosecution agreement this is another thing handled by Justin Trudeau as government face in addition to the black face scandal we're speaking to the C.B.C.'s Jamie put so she's the host of the podcast front burner we will come your questions and thoughts one day at am you dot org Did the results of this election surprise people Jamie that Justin Trudeau a won a 2nd term as prime minister and b. That the Liberals did not win another mage. Already but rather won a plurality. I think that's a really good question certainly this is what the polls were predicting going into last night there was a sense though a lot of people were asking the question you know how could you not beat a government that has been rocked by the scandals the blackface scandal the s.n.c. Scandal that we were just talking about there has been a lot of criticism of the leader of the Conservative Party which is the party that came in 2nd place here that he was in you know overly strong actually his story is quite interesting as well he he was almost like a 2nd place when he got the nomination for the Conservative Party and I think you know a lot of very high profile conservatives sat out this election because they thought that the liberals would just get a 2nd majority but you know little did they know that they would be rocked by these scandals in the fall in the coming year how much is Canada like the u.s. Politically in terms of where there are certain blocks of voters from certain parts of the political spectrum here in the u.s. We think of people on the coasts as being much more progressive people in the middle of the country being generally more conservative or independent. Or blend in Canada where if you're in Vancouver or in and around that region in British Columbia or if you're around Toronto or Montreal you're probably more politically progressive if you're closer to the Atlantic to the Maritimes or more conservative What's the split look like in Canada so I I see after last night I see a divided country I see a country more divided than 4 years ago out West where I was I was mentioning people are hurting because of the oil recession and the liberals and every other party was basically wiped out it is a sea of blue conservatives the liberals are holding urban centers there is all. So a real urban rural divide and now we have come back the block this is a party that is advocating just for the province of Quebec in a federal election and you know as I mentioned before the bill $21.00 that prevents people from wearing religious symbols like this is another issue that is causing division in the country I have to say it's a little bit sad looking at the map from last night and it feels far more divided than 4 years ago I will say though that our politics are a little bit different than what's going on in the United States right now. We did have a candidate Maxime Bernier he was running for the People's Party of Canada and there was a lot of rhetoric coming from him that was a little bit similar to Donald Trump's he talked about building a fence on our border there was a lot of talk about immigration and you know multiculturalism the problems of multiculturalism and he actually lost his seat last night he is no longer in the House of Commons and so that's an interesting message that was sent as well I think it's important to point that out so we're Canadians go with these political divisions I mean we should also note that much of the book that's kind of the legacy of this or at least somewhat historically connected to another group which was very much for separatism for making québec its own state essentially leading this division this is the same party but you know we're not hearing from this party is separatism it's just more a nationalist it's more like a desire to be represented better in the parliament but very much for very much as a province right as opposed to sort of and National Party where do you go with with that where do we go from here I don't know. I think that there are some interesting disc. To be had in the following days about you know the future of the Conservative Party about the rhetoric that we heard during this election which a lot of people felt only deepened these regional divides. And I think that for now the liberals will cover with this strong minority and we'll have to wait and see what happens you know whether or not we'll see leadership changes in many of these parties whether or not we'll see different kinds of rhetoric coming from them briefly before I let you go House turnout. Turnout so I don't know the final numbers but I was seeing on Twitter last night many journalist talking about how it was quite low which again is disappointing lower than 2015 I don't I don't want your listeners to take this I think it was around 60 percent but I'm not 100 percent sure that's the C.B.C.'s Jimmy posts on the host of the podcast front burner Jamie thanks for talking to us great thank you so much for having me coming up we shift from politics to hip hop history and the unsung heroines of that genre I'm Joshua Johnson glad to be with you and you're listening to one from w. You and n.p.r. Could that lead you to a little. Rest Of My what you. Want to. Think that we can't. These days businesses are just getting used to not always knowing what is going to business pay from certainty and yet look at the stock market result will try to keep up and help you do the same next market weeknights at 63182 point one k u a r. 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This is one a I'm Joshua Johnson before we shift gears a quick heads up about tomorrow's program we'll be speaking with the hosts of unprecedented a new podcast by our colleagues here at w.a.m. You about the ordinary people behind some of the nation's most important 1st Amendment cases the 1st Amendment protects freedom of religion speech press assembly and petitioning the government but figuring out exactly what counts as speech has often been left to the Supreme Court what questions do you have about the history or the future of free speech leave us a voicemail 855-236-1818 Also we'd love to know if your 1st Amendment rights have ever been violated what happened how did you deal with it tell us your story 855-236-1818 or send us an audio file with our Apple one a Vox Pop We'll share some of your stories tomorrow on one a. Hip hop has been around for nearly 50 years it's been written about and studied in colleges there's a permanent exhibit dedicated to it at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African-American History and Culture but as comprehensive as the study of this genre has become some hip hop historians have not had much to say about women we know about Roxanne Shante Netflix did a biopic on her and 2017 eighties legends like salt and pepper mc Lyte and Queen Latifa still perform on stage at award shows on television but they're just a few of the Women Who Shaped hip hop's inception in her new book music journalist Kathy I and a lead tracks women's influence and hip hop back to 973 the book is called God Save the Queens the essential history of women in hip hop and she joins us now from n.p.r. In New York Cathy welcome to want to say thanks Joshua We welcome your questions about the history of women in hip hop or if there are some artists that you think have never quite gotten the props they deserve tell us who and why comment on our Facebook page tweet us at one a or e-mail one a at w a n u dot org So Kathy let's set up a foundation for this conversation I'm looking at Billboard dot com and the cover story right now is Liz's truth hurts tops Hot 100 for 7th week time for longest reign ever for a rap song by a female artist scroll down and you can see that of the top 65 of their season 4 of them have been in the last 5 years so it seems like female rap female hip hop artists are getting attention these days what gap is your book trying to fill Well I think the reason why there are so many female artists that are now you know filling the charts and making this impact in the current landscape over the last 5 years I think is because of the foundation that Nicki Minaj 1st laid when she came out on the scene around 20092000. And 10 and what this book actually just embodies is explaining the long history of how women you know had these moments on the charts and on the radio and doing all of these major things for hip hop and for popular music in general but there are ebbs and flows constantly and I really wanted to just emphasize all of the hurdles that a lot of the women had to jump over in order to get to this place that we're at right now and I personally feel like there was no greater example of just how that all went down and when I was putting the book together and realizing there wasn't a single book about women in hip hop in existence until now did she have an early interest in hip hop was there one artist to kind of turned you on to it yeah actually it was around Geez 991902 that was probably the time period where I became a pop zealot and it was all thanks to t.l.c. I used to try to dress like left eye and I actually everything oh my gosh so. I always know the story behind me you know you know there's a story. I was like 12 years old and you know left I were a condom over her glasses and remember a different world between wearing glasses right the ones with the sunglasses the flip that's what it was last year yes so I had a pair of those and what I did was because obviously you know I wasn't walking around with Trojans in my back pocket at 12 years old or at 40 but. I took an index card and I cut it and I pulled up the saran wrap the green Saran Wrap and I taped it and made a makeshift condom that I stuck to my glasses and that's what I wore with cross colors t. Shirt Carl NY jeans and boots prior to. That you know I was a fan of just what I heard on the radio but I think that was the moment when I saw t.l.c. That really just changed everything for me was there kind of it was a weird transition for you I mean seeing a female hip hop artist who and I don't want to put words in your mouth but who made it related Will who gave you something to emulate like did that change things for you. Yeah I would have to credit Lauren Hill for that since we're both from Jersey she was kind of that conduit for me and that we happened a year later in 1903 when the Fuji's 1st came out and even in 1981 I started Sister Act 2 but yeah I mean I think the thing about what t.l.c. Represented specifically left I was you know we were coming off this consistently steady stream of of male artists I mean think about it were a wedge in the n.w.a. Era during this time period as well so for a kid to see that I wasn't quite sure where I fit in as a fan and then when I saw t.l.c. I was like oh there I am. It was it was it was during that moment but I think you know as I became more and more of a fan of hip hop and I saw the female artists and they were all so unique in their own ways and they represented so many different things I think as a woman as a young girl. Going into womanhood I identified with different parts of all of those artists personalities so we go from west coast you know gangster rap with groups like n.w.a. We then have female hip hop artists who fit the scene and begin to kind of make a name but your book starts really at the very beginning and hip hop has its birth in New York the 1st line of your book is quote If d.j. Kool Herc is the founding father of hip hop his sister Cindy Kimball is the founding mother unquote tell us about d.j. Kool Herc and Cindy's contribution so we all know how we begin the story of hip hop right 1520 said track where Kool Herc throws this infamous party in the rec room and thus kicking off what we now know to be just the hip hop culture at large. But really. It was the sister's idea Cyndi wanted to throw a fundraiser to raise enough money so that she can go. Go over to the east village and buy clothes for school and she wanted to look cool and everything so it was her party and she wanted her brother to d.j. And you know their father had a lot of d.j. Equipment and what Herc did was he pieced together all of the equipment to make what was called her killer and he became a legend that night but it really was Cindy who put it all together and when I learned that I was like wow. What if you never get credit. Because after that it was it was all about her I mean you know it was different back then right you look at 29000 hip hop right where even the publicist is famous great and very everyone who has a part in this story is wearing sunglasses in the club scene didn't have that luxury of like you know I started it and I collected tickets at the door and I did this them a 3rd that wasn't the thing so I think you know after that I mean I can't we're going to discredit everything that Herc did but it was his sister's idea and just to be able to tell a story of how were ever there was a man president doing something amazing for hip hop there was an fact a woman there to your book begins in the seventy's with an artist named the hip hop matriarch Mercedes ladies is the 1st all female hip hop group Debbie De was featured on the soundtrack for the movie Beat Street back in 94 here's a brief clip of her single Us girls can boogie to. The bed like I was with we go we don't read the book how do we. How do you keep me from one of my colleagues Oh. People don't know what that's just girls can lead to from the 94 film Beat Street and yes you are forgiven if you suddenly had to do the cabbage patch for no clear reason performed by Debbie de talked about I mean don't tell me you weren't sitting in your seat I was like is there Cameron here and you see me and I was worried that you could see us friends because I have to maintain my credibility as a respectable n.p.r. News anchor and talk about the influence of women on hip hop's earliest days it seems like that that hook that like d.j. Kool Herc had even parallel to it was never without the influence of women as well at least the presence of women Yeah I mean 1st of all that scene in Beach Street. For for those of you listening who have never seen beats 3 this is one of the opening scenes and it's just it's just amazing you know they're it's funny because the deejay is talking about how you know oh I know you you were her sing for this you know just like telling them come on stage don't be shy and and it's you know Debbie shock and Lisa Lee and they just get up there and oh my gosh it's amazing but I think you know when you when you're thinking about this time period and I do want to say that I felt it was really important to start with the pioneers of hip hop because they are often pushed to the side for what happened from the early eighty's on and it's wildly unfair especially with women there there had to be a discussion on d.v.d. On shot rock on Lisa Lee on the Mercedes ladies on the sequins which you know gave us Angie Stone. Probably pooh they were so many women before we even meet Roxanne Shauntay and the various struggle was very different from the women in the eighty's ninety's early ots and today because they were competing with men but they're all like 1314 years old and they're showing up to these jams that are now occupied by a bunch of young guys who are trying to replicate what Kool Herc did and really all they want is for that moment to get the mike They just want to be able to show what they can do and there's no studio time there's no real rehearsal there's talking to your mirror and then showing up to the gym and. You have to be that much more amazing than even the male contemporaries because you're talking about these jams had like 30405060 people. In any given evening so if one girl is showing up you know she is she had to make that impact and I think that. What all of these the female pioneers did was they set the stage for the rocks and John Taylor and everyone there after they provided that confidence that ability to show up in a group of men and say Can I get on the mike we're speaking to Cathy and the Levy author of the new book God Save the Queens the essential history of women in hip hop I'm Joshua Johnson and you're listening to one essay. Glad to get to some of the artists that you think deserve a little more attention Rick emailed I was in New York City right place right time one week there were no kids spinning on cardboard boxes and the next week there were hopefully you'll mention the group j.j. Fed and their piece super sonic that is going to be in my head Rick for the rest of the day Matthew posted on our Facebook page with love of course with love supersonic I played the definite on that song Matthew posted on our Facebook page I will be devastated if Ladybug Mecca doesn't get a huge dose of love silky vocals in one of the greatest hip hop bands of all time smack dab in the middle of the Golden Era of this most amazing musical genre and a few of our listeners weighed in on their favorite female rap artists here's what to of them Richard from North Carolina and wander from Ohio left in our inbox and see who I was one of the great is it pop female pop mc. To me there are those but to me the lie was one of the greatest and might. Be you have. To have that heart or an edge to her boy that African-American women are known for being so I think her voice. And rapping here are masterpiece Yeah Richard wanted no argument here thank you for mentioning mc Lyte she released her 1st album called light as a rock in 1988 but she wrote one of her hit songs I crammed to understand you Sam at the age of 12 and recorded it at age 14 just to seem. Like. It was one of. The places like the city. Like Cathy tell us about mc Lyte and if you have any theories about who Sam was. And I have to say that off. Off the air talk about that. Because I understand who Sam was. But. I want to answer a couple of those e-mails 1st and foremost yes Jay-Jay found it discussed in the book and. I was really surprised when I learned that they came through easy I think that was pretty cool thing that I didn't even realize lady but you know one of the members of n.w.a. Yes and I was definitely in the book I shall of Temeka she gave me some amazing insight about the early days of Digable Planets her group and how they were there static with jazz musicians and they tried to put a Ladybug Mecca and a catsuit while the other 2 guys were wearing trousers and hard bottom shoes so there's some cool anecdotes in there and yes I definitely discussed mc Lyte. I spoke with a light a few years ago for publication and we were on a conference call so when you call in and you know you like and announce your name right I says you know the thing chimes and goes please announce yourself and I hear light. It was like it's like she talks in a rap and who it was amazing when she came on the phone I was like that is the coolest way to announce yourself anywhere anyhow because every time I try to announce myself it's like Kathy. She's just trying to manage she's like well like I was like wow and we had a good laugh about that but mc Lyte Oh my goodness and I do want to know what we're told by women in hip hop we're not just talking about recording artist we're also talking about publicity deejaying engineering management you're covering more than just who we hear on the record yes I mean when in hip hop who raps is the focal point because you're talking about 4 decades of them not being properly documented but woven. Throughout I do you have pieces of information that come from you know female journalists and and other people and you know I spoke to spender Ella who speaks from the d.j. Perspective the oversold couple the cd Jefferson pepper Yes. I wanted to really include everyone but it would have been a $3000.00 page book so hopefully the next book will cover cover more of the rest and I really wanted to cover international artists too I mean some of my cutting room floor stuff I was carrying on about now and Cherry You know who who song Buffalo stance means way here and you know she is an international artists and there were so many that I wanted to include Ray tweeted as opposed to today's bling me and love hip hop I missed sister soldier and that kind of real gritty political and socially conscious rap i.e. Her collaboration with Public Enemy or any female rap artist doing such Today we'll get an answer to your question raise we continue with Kathy I and the Levy author of God Save the Queens the essential history of women in hip hop plenty of artists are making a resurgence and making a comeback maybe you've seen some of Missy Elliott is latest work she'll be in the conversation too when we come back stay close to. 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Back now to our conversation with Kathy I ended her new book is called God Save the queen's the essential history of women in hip hop love to get your questions about the genre or your shout outs to your favorite female hip hop artists maybe even producers or promoters or engineers any women in hip hop who you feel are on song or maybe if you're a woman working in hip hop How have the contributions of the artists who came before you influenced you comment on our Facebook page e-mail us one day at am you dot org Or tweet us at one a Kathy I'd love you to react to this comment from Sonya who e-mailed I'm glad that attention is finally being paid to the contributions of women in hip hop However I've often struggled with qualifying performers like Lauryn Hill and Liz as hip hop artists as I would call mc Lyte or Antoinette artists like Lauren and Liz Oh have dynamic singing ability and they integrate hip hop elements into their music but they're not quote unquote pure hip hop artists in comparison I think of Bobby Brown who used rap in several songs but would never be called a hip hop artist Kathy. Interesting I would I would wonder if she qualifies Drake as a hip hop artist because Drake does the same thing that Lauryn Hill and list do does she qualify. The new artist juice world as a hip hop artist or a matter of fact 95 percent of the male hip hop artists right now that are out and qualify as rappers and saying post Malone is considered a hip hop artist and he sings their most of his songs I think sings all of Old Town or oh there it is like the entire song this entire song. But I think that I think that there's maybe our own subconscious assumption that when a woman is singing She's a singer whereas men are given that versatility and I think like Bobby Brown and every little step and the Ghostbusters rap Well those are fun yes he would be hip hop artists but as I heard you smiling as you mentioned the Ghostbusters rap like it's kind of almost too hot to handle if you look at the whole of they're called the Ghostbusters and their control that's exactly right. You know listen I would put those bars of I guess some other songs by other artists but yeah I mean she's absolutely right no I would not consider Bobby Brown to be a rapper but I do understand where Sonia's coming for and we've had this conversation on the show too in terms of the way that we define musical genres is a good example with his song Old Town Road and the argument over whether he was allowed to be on the country charts even though the remix has a Billy Ray Cyrus on it that led to a whole conversation about who's in this genre who's out of the Shondra the historical roots of how the record industry kind of had to separate you know the blues from country from rock from to say this music is for a wide audience in this music is for a black audiences and the idea that like a little Nas x. Could have a rap song in a cowboy hat and passed with the fringe on it going. Horse thunder or turtle rule and that would be a rap song blows really well you know it's you know I practiced but it blows some people's minds when you think about Shondra bending and I think some of the female artists in hip hop have also forced us to rethink who belongs where I agree I agree 100 percent and I do want to also shout out Queen Lassie for 1st thing on lease 1st because I think that is probably one of the earliest examples of an artist who was both rapping and singing on a track but I think what we have to keep in mind is good bad or indifferent when it comes to have a pop at large it was in fact Lauryn Hill who popularized the ability to both sing and rap on one song and as artists became more willing to showcase both sides of their talents. Slowly hip hop caught on and you know. Lauren I'll say I will say Ms hell is the reason why we have a jury doing both and now we have have hop artists who are singing but. To get on my my rap nerd have purchased a 2nd when we're talking about hip hop I would I would label certain artists as lyricists and others as more of the musicians and I consider them both to be hip hop so I wouldn't necessarily say it has to be one of the other since you mentioned Queen Latifa we should talk about her for just a minute all hail the queen was released one year after him see lights album this is the 30th anniversary of that album Here she is in an interview last year on Live With Kelly and Ryan discussing women in hip hop have a lot of respect for female rappers and their then. We are such a powerful minority Yes and I say powerful in the sense that if you hear one female racket Reppert rappers record comes through on the radio you hear that record you know that record you memorize that record we just stand out that's Queen Latifa speaking last year on Live With Kelly and Ryan it's interesting Kathy as we talk about the history of women in hip hop there's a whole generation that probably kind of knows that Queen Latifa was a rap artist but may not have really had an encounter with they might know her better from seeing her as Big Mama Thorton in Chicago then they would have known her from ladies 1st or you and I t. Why are any of her hits. I now and then it's insane in fact when I open my mc Lyte chapter I'm on a concert 30 years from when she 1st arrived and she's talking to the audience about all of her different side projects including being the voice of the b.b.c. Awards and saying no Tonight m m c like but it is kind of insane to think about that after so many years there may be someone who isn't aware of that whole past life of just being a trailblazer in hip hop and you know but I think I think what's he does a great job of reminding everyone where she came from and what she represents She also had one of the more I think kind of inflammatory socially conscious albums with you and I t. Y. Because it's one of the 1st ones that I can remember that had the b. Word in it the the pejorative for a woman as in who you call a bee and it was part of that ran on the radio and kind of force this conversation at least where I came up about the way that men talked about women so it had this kind of social consciousness to it that gets back to that question re asked re tweeted as opposed to today's bling and love hip hop I missed sister soldier and that kind of real gritty political and socially conscious rap i.e. Her collaboration with Public Enemy or any female rap artist doing such Today Kathy absolutely Rhapsody I mean 100 percent Rhapsody is doing that work and I think that there are other artists that exist other female above artists and their and our periphery that don't receive the proper recognition for what they are doing but what I would also point to over decades is that none of these artists with the exception of Rhapsody now because she's doing really well in the way of popularity and you know her album. Eve is out and is getting very well received and she's Grammy nominated previously but artists like Sister Soldier even you know Lauryn Hill artists who were speaking about things bomb India they didn't always get on the radio for those particular discussions so that's always been an underlying problem in hip hop who where. When you're saying something as a woman because I think public enemy you know they received x. On exposure when I'm doing their heyday but you know even like a contract Lamar today but when a woman this is Speaking from this political perspective a lot of times she's not marketed it promoted as widespread it's funny you mention Public Enemy because Public Enemy also had the benefit of flavor flavor being very telegenic and very kind of outlandish and out there and just visually she was one of those are to she kind of couldn't ignore another artist a female artist who at least to me visually is impossible to ignore is Missy Elliott and you devote a lot of time to her in your book here is an exit of her induction speech at this year's Songwriters Hall of Fame she is the 1st female rapper ever to be inducted I'm the one who was. Going to have the this is. Because in the school I was writing the Holmes was the one. And he said to the human family something is home. To her what was the family you know they had and what this was what. Was going to this is was all. I see is you know what you know when. You don't get money for food. That was Missy Elliott speaking at this year's Songwriters Hall of Fame I wonder how you see Missy Elliott contribution she performed at this year's m.t.v. Video Music Awards and burned it down she had this kind of she did her new single throw it back she performed some of her older songs they kind of felt of a peace with one another like they were part of one canon of this very visually outlandish almost absolutist work in hip hop where she was almost a hip hop artist but if you only heard the song and didn't see the video you would almost gotten half of it or less. Oh my gosh Missy Elliott Missy is not an artist she's a movement. But I mean my goodness there's just the thing about Missy has got you remember the 1st well the 1st time I saw Missy was when she was singing back. Up the party with mc Lyte when she came out with the rain and she's wearing the big garbage bag dancing and then she's sitting on the Hill sitting on hills like Lauren. Line from a song and her green jumpsuit and then just exaggerating parts of her face. There was just something about missy that was so abstract it was so tangible and she's managed to carry that through the duration of her career and I just think that's magnificent not a lot of artists whether male or female. Ken Starr so hot and maintain that consistency even in the absence of new cataloguer and music albums whatever even in the absence of all of that you can still look at them and hear and talk and just see that they haven't lost that spark and that's the thing about Missy and when she came back out this year her project I was like wow she she still hasn't missed a beat and she's it's ridiculous she's the only artist ever found who actually make a beat from something playing backwards Oh my goodness and work it well I mean I I never thought I would memorize lyrics that are actually backwards but if I could hear that song and say it's your rim and get like off the top of my head until the day that I die we got a comment from one of our America staff members Lindsey Foster Thomas who's now a w u n c in North Carolina tweeted once I read this amazing Twitter thread about the contributions of female hip hop dancers namely big Liz who you see in classic videos like Mary j. Blige is real love that's also her in silhouette dancing hard in the intro for the sitcom Living Single I'm Joshua Johnson and you're listening to one day before I let you go we should definitely talk about some of the shifts in the ways that female hip hop artists are poor see in the ninety's there was this changing of the guard where you know that there were artists like Little Kim and Foxy Brown who approached kind of earning respect a little bit differently a lot of folks consider the popularity of today's major female hip hop artist as kind of a resurgence or Renaissance but one of the points you try to make is that women have been involved since the inception and never disappeared so are we seeing things like you know the way that some female rappers are very sexual in their appearances or performances are very socially conscious that were always there and we just ignored them were we seeing some things that are genuinely new right now brand new I think it might be a combination of both because I think if we are talking about societal ie what was going on. During these 2 comparative decades if you're talking about the ninety's and you start with like 1902 which was designated the new year of the woman but also was the year where there was the greatest resurgence of sexual assaults and then you have groups like t.l.c. Coming out and speaking. About. Amazing things when you were mentioning Public Enemy and talking about flavor flavor I I would consider left eye to be the female flavor of flavor because what she was doing was she was still hyper political and it was something that we never really got on a commercial level I mean on the 1st t.l.c. Album that you'll see it's hip on the song his story they talk about the want to parley rape trial and you know they have this underlying strong message that I do feel you know carried into waterfalls either by their next project but slowly they were pushing left as rapping away from the forefront as they became more regarded as an r. And b. Group you know waterfalls makes a commentary about HIV crisis at the time refers to someone who's 3 letters took him to his final resting place one of the 1st rap songs that I can remember that ever dealt with each of us in any kind of direct way yes and also one song pepper remade Let's talk about sex to quote Let's talk about. That was another great example of just women speaking about things way ahead of their time but but this time you know Little came Foxy Brown arrived we were at this point where gangsta rap had so fully. Enforce this me on to hip hop and what they were doing was they were taking a hold of their own sexuality and their own sex positivity and now if we're drawing a parallel from the ninety's to today. A lot of these artists who are. Promoting sex positivity and embracing their own sexuality. And body positivity we're coming through these couple of years with movements like me to in times where more women are are speaking up and really just saying they were not going to be shamed to any longer and I really consider these artists to be an offshoot of that before I let you go Kathy what's next Who are some of the household arsole artists out today that you think are on the rise to becoming a household names or what's the next movement in hip hop as it relates to female artists before we let you go My gosh there's so many I would say making the stallion Rico nasty Sierra whack city girls cash dollars raise the I'm missing so many because now I'm on the spot but these are just a few of the brilliant brilliant female hip hop artists that are out there doing so many different things and yeah I know the product check her out as well there's just so many and I think what we're doing now is they're just going women are here it's no longer a great female hip hop artist it's a great hip hop artists Kathy Ireland to lead as a journalist to quote a little chronicle some of those great artists in her new book God Save the Queens the essential history of women in hip hop Kathy thanks for talking to us thank you so much and he listen if there are tips that you are thinking of that should get more attention tweet us tell us about them at 1 am this conversation was produced by station Brown to learn more about our team visit the one a dot org this program comes to you from w. Am you part of American University in Washington distributed by n.p.r. Until we meet again I'm Joshua Johnson thanks for listening this is one a page. Next minute. This is the cool. Kids Mondays. Are No. Going to get out of. This I got the juice because. These It is all my body so. I'm. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Capital One offering the spark cash card for businesses committed to helping business owners turn purchases into meaningful investments that can help drive business forward Capital One what's in your wallet more at Capital One dot com and from Motley Fool providing a variety of solutions for individuals investment portfolios and personal finances Motley Fool is a resource for investors when buying stocks find out more it Fool dot com you might call them accidental heroes over the years they've stepped up to defend the 1st Amendment people think they live in a free country. 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Why in Philadelphia I'm Terry Gross with fresh air today covering the Syrian civil war and trumps decision to withdraw American forces from what was the Kurdish controlled area of Syria we talk with Liz Sly The Washington Post Beirut bureau chief She's covered the Syrian civil war since it started in 2011 tonight she receives an award for courage in journalism from the International Women's Media Foundation has spent decades in war zones the idea that nothing will happen to you is something that goes away the more experience you have because you see the narrow escapes and you see all the things that do happen to people you knew. It couldn't happen to me it's not something you say after a certain age also Marine Corrigan reviews the essay collection ecstasy and terror from the Greeks to Game of Thrones that's on Fresh Air. Personal. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying the acting u.s. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor is now providing closed door testimony as part of the Democratic led impeachment inquiry in the u.s. House against President Donald Trump N.P.R.'s Claudio grease Alice has the latest His name has come up in the testimony of previous witnesses in this impeachment inquiry they say Ambassador Taylor voiced concern that President Trump's allies pressured Ukrainians to find dirt on 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter they're referring to text messages exchange with other u.s. Officials in which Taylor said it was quote crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign the longtime diplomat is one of several witnesses expected to testify behind closed doors this week Clottey said this n.p.r. News the Capitol President Trump is comparing the impeachment inquiry against him to a lynching and that's drawn swift backlash from a number of Democrats who say Trump has no right saying one process is constitutional and the other was part of the terror that blacks faced during an era of racism and segregation by whites However some Republicans.