MC Lyte
Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap,[5][6][7] MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a full solo album with 1988's critically acclaimed Lyte as a Rock. The album spawned the singles "10% Dis" and "Paper Thin".[8][9]
MC Lyte
Lytro
Hunter College (no degree)
1984–present
- Founder of Sunni Gyrl Inc.
- Charles Hamilton (cousin)
- First Priority Family
- Stop the Violence Movement
- H.E.A.L. Human Education Against Lies
- Def Squad (honorary member)[4]
- Almost September
In 1989, she joined the supergroup Stop the Violence Movement, and appeared on the single "Self Destruction", which was the inaugural number-one single on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart. That year also released her second album Eyes on This, which became one of the first albums by a female solo rapper to chart on the Billboard 200.[10][11] That album included the single "Cha Cha Cha", the first song by a woman to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles. In 1991, MC Lyte released the hit single "Poor Georgie", which marked her first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100. Her 1993 single "Ruffneck", made her the first solo woman rapper to achieve a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[12] In 1994, she collaborated with Janet Jackson on the song "You Want This", and was featured alongside Queen Latifah and Yo-Yo on the remix track "I Wanna Be Down" by Brandy. Her 1996 single "Keep On, Keepin' On" featuring Xscape, reached the top ten on Billboard Hot 100. She then collaborated with Missy Elliott on the hit song "Cold Rock a Party", which would become her fifth number-one song on the Hot Rap Singles chart. In 2004, she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance for the track "Ride Wit Me".
Throughout her career, MC Lyte had collaborations with mainstream artists such as Sinéad O'Connor, Will Smith, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, Moby, Aerosmith, Beyoncé and will.i.am; and has been cited as an influence to many women in hip hop. Billboard & Vibe ranked her as one of the 50 greatest rappers (2023).[13] She has received the "I Am Hip Hop" Icon Lifetime Achievement from the BET Hip Hop Awards, and was honored at the VH1 Hip Hop Honors. In October 2014, Lyte become the first female artist to perform Hip Hop at the White House.[14] In September 2016 she was awarded with the W. E. B. Du Bois Medal, Harvard University's highest honor in the field of African and African-American studies.[15] In addition to her career as a rapper, she has worked in parallel as voiceover talent for various events, writer, DJ and has starred in various roles in film and television. In 2022 has her directional debut with the short film Break Up In Love.[16] Lyte has also worked with several charities, including her own foundation, Hip Hop Sisters.[17]
Early life[edit]
Lana Michele Moorer was raised in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City. She began rapping at the age of 12.[18] MC Lyte's original stage name was Sparkle.[19] She began recording her first track at age 14, although it took two years before it was able to be released.[20]: 1
She regards Milk Dee and DJ Giz, the hip hop duo Audio Two, as "totally like [her] brothers", because the three grew up together. Audio Two's father, Nat Robinson, started a label for them called First Priority.[19] After making the label, Robinson cut a deal with Atlantic under a condition that Lyte would get a record contract with Atlantic as well.[21]
Other ventures[edit]
Acting[edit]
Her first acting role was in 1991, an off-Broadway theater play titled Club Twelve, a hip-hop twist on Twelfth Night alongside Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, and Lisa Nicole Carson. After she made her film debut in the 1993 movie titled Fly by Night, starring alongside Jeffrey Sams, Ron Brice, and Steve Gomer, she also starred other films, such as A Luv Tale (1999), Train Ride (2000), Civil Brand (2002) and Playa's Ball (2003). In 2011, she guest starred in the Regular Show episode "Rap It Up", portraying a member of a hip-hop group also including characters voiced by Tyler, the Creator and Childish Gambino. Lyte signed with the production unit, Duc Tha Moon, for three years and eventually made a deal with Sirius Satellite Radio. Lyte also made appearances on the following television shows: Lyric Cafe, Hip Hop Honors, and Black in the 80s.
In June 2006, MC Lyte was interviewed for the documentary The Rap Report, Part 2. MC Lyte talked about her career in rap music and what it was like during the beginnings of hip hop. She also performed a concert of her most famous hits. The program was produced by Rex Barnett.
In 2007, Lyte joined the cast of MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar[93] and coached Shar Jackson to a hip hop emcee victory in a mere eight weeks.
In 2017 Lyte played Detective Makena Daniels in the drama series Tales. Immediately following she played DEA Special Agent Katrina 'K.C.' Walsh in the Police drama S.W.A.T. and Tiffany in TV ONE production Loved to Death. Lyte has been featured on television as herself on such shows as In Living Color, Moesha, Cousin Skeeter, New York Undercover, My Wife and Kids, and Sisters in the Name of Rap. She also acted on such TV shows as In the House, Get Real, Half & Half, Queen of the South, and The District.
In 2020, Lyte starred in Bad Hair directed by Justin Simien,[94] and Sylvie's Love, a period piece set in the 1960s opposite Tessa Thompson.[95]
In 2021 and 2022, Lyte starred as Tina Nixon in VH1's Hip Hop Family Christmas and its respective sequel, Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding alongside Keri Hilson, Ne-Yo, Terrence J, Redman, and Serayah.
Business and commerce[edit]
MC Lyte opened Shaitel, a Los Angeles boutique that specialized in accessories from belts to sunglasses. "We sell a mixture of new and vintage [items]," she explained. "We also have a few signature pieces that are done just for the store. We boast to bring a little New York flavor out here to California."[96]
In 1997, MC Lyte launched Sunni Gyrl Inc., a global entertainment firm that specializes in artist management and development, production, and creative services and consulting.
Voiceover[edit]
In 1996, MC Lyte began doing voiceovers, working on a short-lived BET show called The Boot and doing some branding for the Starz network, Tide, AT&T, the National Urban League, and many others. She did the voice of Tia for the Mattel toy line Diva Starz from 2000 to 2002.
DJing[edit]
DJ MC Lyte served as the DJ of choice at Michael Jordan's 50th Birthday Celebration, at his 2013 wedding reception, and at Jay Leno's farewell party. Lyte has gone on to provide music for The Image Awards, Nissan, Google, Black Enterprise, and many others.
Speaker[edit]
MC Lyte has spoken at colleges and universities, for organizations around the globe, and with notable people like Iyanla Vanzant, Russell Simmons, and Soledad O'Brien bringing a message of empowerment from her book Unstoppable: Igniting the Power Within to Achieve Your Greatest Potential. She also partnered with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund on the iLEAD international tour[97] in South Africa to empower the continent's youth and up-and-coming leaders.
Leadership and philanthropy[edit]
In 1991, MC Lyte was featured in TV informercial promoting pro-choice abortion rights political action "The Most Exciting Women in Music" alongside Corina, Juliet Cuming, Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Lady Miss Kier (Deee-Lite), Kate Pierson (The B-52's), Crystal Waters, Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club).[98][99][100]
In February 2006, her diary, as well as a turntable, records, and other assorted ephemera from the early days of hip hop, were donated to the Smithsonian Institution.[101] This collection, entitled "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, the Rhymes, the Life" is a program to assemble objects of historical relevance to the hip hop genre from its inception.[102]
MC Lyte served as the President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Recording Academy (the Grammy organization) from 2011 to 2013.[103] She was the first African American woman to serve in this role.[103]
She is the founder of Hip Hop Sisters Foundation,[17] which presented two $100,000 scholarships to college students each of the first two years of its inception and three $50,000 scholarships as a part of its #EducateOurMen initiative during its third year during the Soul Train Music Awards Red Carpet Preshow.[104]
Artistry[edit]
Influences, style and rapping technique[edit]
MC Lyte has considered artists such as Salt-N-Pepa,[105] Rakim,[106] Roxanne Shanté,[107] Doug E. Fresh,[108] Kool Moe Dee,[106] Sha-Rock from Funky 4 + 1,[109][110] and Run-DMC[106] as her inspirations early in her musical career. In an interview with XXL in 2013, Lyte talks about the influence in her early days of Melle Mel and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (specifically the song "The Message"). She also claimed to know "all the words" on Kurtis Blow's records.[106] Throughout her career, has also paid tribute to other artists such as Spoonie Gee (who she covered on Act Like You Know), Slick Rick,[111] The Rock Steady Crew,[112] LL Cool J[113] and Queen Latifah.[114] In an interview with The Source in 2015, when asked about her motivation to record her latest album, Legend, Lyte said she was inspired by Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West and Drake, among other rappers.[115]
Her style of rap has been described in the book Listen to Rap! Exploring a Musical Genre as "mid-tempo but aggressive (lots of plosives) and carefully articulated, with emphasis on end rhymes."[116] Her alto voice tone[117] is one of the generally most highlighted features in her music, being described as "husky",[118][119] "raspy",[120] "raw",[121] "throat-grabbing"[13] and "authoritative".[122] Her voice is also considered by Public Enemy's Chuck D as "one of the greatest voices of all time."[123] According to the Hip hop Archive and Research Institute, "MC Lyte combined a deep, rich, strong voice with emotional vulnerability, insightful artistic and social analysis, and a playful sense of humor."[124] Much of the lyrical content of MC Lyte's repertoire is based on braggadocio rap, although she recorded a considerable number of songs that address social issues, such as addictions ("I Cram to Understand U (Sam)",[125] "Poor Georgie",[126][122] "Eyes Are the Soul",[127][128] "Lola from the Copa"),[12][129] misogyny/gender issues ("Paper Thin",[130][125] I'm Not Havin' It, "Please Understand",[2] "Eyes Are the Soul",[127] "Mickey Slipper",[129] "I Go On",[131] "Freedom"),[52] HIV/AIDS ("Eyes Are the Soul",[127] "Lola from the Copa")[129] and crime ("Self Destruction",[32] Cappucino",[132] "Not wit' a Dealer",[133] "Eyes Are the Soul",[127] "Druglord Superstar",[134] "King of Rock").[129][12] Other themes present in her songs are spirituality ("Search 4 the Lyte", "God Said Lyte", "Better Place")[12] and sexuality ("Like a Virgin", "Ice Cream Dream", "Ruffneck", "Keep On Keepin' On").[135]
Personal life[edit]
In 2016, producer and rapper Q-Tip revealed on his Apple Music 1 show Abstract Radio that he used to date Lyte in his days before landing a record deal with A Tribe Called Quest. In the early 1990s, Lyte was in a relationship with Todd "Todd 1" Brown (1970–2019), then the producer of Yo! MTV Raps[159] and at that time she would also make public in an interview that they were engaged. Brown later said that the latter was part of a joke started by one of the hosts of the show Tyrone "T Money" Kelsie "he came up with the marriage idea and then mayhem ensued. After the initial show, the story got so big that an interviewer actually asked Lyte about her "marriage"... and instead of her shooting down the rumor, she went along with it." Later it was speculated in the media that for a few years she had a relationship with actress Tichina Arnold. Later these rumors were denied by Arnold.[160] In May 2015 some media speculated that Lyte had dated R&B singer Janelle Monae, but these rumors have not been confirmed by either of them.[161][162]
In early 2016, she started dating Marine Corps veteran and entrepreneur John Wyche, after meeting him on Match.com. They announced their engagement in May 2017. "What can I say, except thank you Lord!!!... It's been a long time, this single life, and I thank you all for your prayers and kind words of hope," she wrote in an Instagram post dated January 21, 2017. "God has sent me true love. For all of you waiting on LOVE- don't give up – keep God first and he will see that you meet your match." In August they exchanged their vows during a musical wedding in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Reggae Congo bands played as Lyte walked down the aisle, and the couple's friend Kelly Price serenaded them during the ceremony. Afterward, an intimate gathering with only close friends and family members was held.[163][164]
In August 2020 she filed for a divorce after three years of marriage.[165]
She is an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority.