By Marvelous Mo
It’s been approximately one year since Ego Trip’s Miss
Rap Supreme aired on VH1 and the winner of
the show isn’t proud of what she’s been a part of. For weeks Rece Steele stood
around women who she claims were not on the show for the love of Hip-Hop, but
for the love of fame and stardom. Where she thought the creators of the show
wanted to present “femcees” in a positive light, she felt it was all an
unsuccessful joke.
Where does the platform become available for women in Hip-Hop
to earn respect? For the last 14 years of her life Rece Steele has struggled to
find that answer and it hasn’t been easy since her reign at “The Fembassy” on
the show. After run-ins with Lady Luck’s sly battle tactics, Nicki Minaj’s foul
mannerisms, and a few “Ego Trips” from industry heads giving her constant
shade, Rece invested her frustrated energy into her work.
Rece is currently preparing for her next mixtape Rece
Steele Reserved and working on new videos
for her current mixtape It’s A Man’s World. While she continues to fight for her space in a Hip-Hop landscape
where women aren’t represented in a proper way, Rece feels too many women favor
gaining a man’s attention instead of relating to other women. Camaraderie she
feels lacks one major ingredient: respect.
AllHipHop.com: Are
you tired of being called “Miss Rap Supreme” yet?
Rece Steele:
[laughs] Yes I’m very tired of being called “Miss Rap Supreme.” Not that the
title is so bad, but the show itself, I didn’t respect the show… I thought it
was unfair. Even for me, I won the show, but all I did was rap when I was on
the show from day one. I felt like I was the only person that was there for
that; everyone else had other reasons.
I really didn’t like how Ego Trip, not VH1, Ego Trip…I really
didn’t like how they did the show when it comes to the essence of Hip-Hop,
because that’s not what it is. I thought it was going to be a show explaining
how women get slept on in the game and maybe they can prove that wrong. It
turned out [to be] how they can make fun of how women [are] getting slept on in
the game. If they do that, then how are we ever going to get respected for
what we do? Obviously that wasn’t their intention, so I’m tired of the Miss
Rap Supreme—just the show. I love
the title, but the show itself is kind of wack to me.
AllHipHop.com: Do
you think Ego Trip just makes fun of upcoming female artists?
Rece Steele: I’m
not going to judge Ego Trip like that. I think they just wanted a funny,
successful show that would get ratings. They just went about it the wrong way.
That’s just how I look at it. The show wasn’t that successful. In ratings it
was better than The White Rapper Show but it wasn’t the biggest
show [compared to] Puffy’s Making The Band
as far as ratings go. I think they just made a mistake.
They didn’t show enough of the grind and the work ethic in
the music; it was just a lot of playing around. Honestly, I don’t think I would
have watched the show. I would have been mad if I watched the show. I was on
the show and I won, so I’m keeping it so
real right now. I thought they learned off The White Rapper Show.
AllHipHop.com: Do
you feel the way they edited the show portrayed you the wrong way?
Rece Steele: Me,
definitely… I felt like they put me in the house to be the hood chick that
flips on everything, because I have a strong opinion and I think that they got
that off of my first casting call that I will flip. Pretty much, it was going
to the point that they were trying to provoke me to flip! When you chop and
edit, I’m not going to be on every show where I’m cursing everybody out and
you’re going to make it look like I’m crazy. I just felt so uncomfortable with
a lot of things, that’s why I fell back a little bit. It’s weird when you put
your life in somebody else’s hands and you’re not even fully trusting of them.
AllHipHop.com: You
talked about purposely not coming out as the aggressive hood chick, but you
didn’t really entertain the other women in the house when they were coming
after you.
Rece Steele: It was
all phony bulls**t. Behind my back people were stealing. I had something
stolen from me before, people looking at me up and down—there was a bunch
of stuff that I could have really, really flipped for that I probably would
have, but I don’t have time for that. I wasn’t on there to do that.
I felt like it was just, “We need more drama, Rece.” I never
fell into that. I think I actually made them kind of mad. They pick you
thinking that you’re going to do these things to the point that everyone is in
the house for a reason, so they will clash, so these things will go down. I heard from the Ego Trip guy—Sacha [Jenkins] actually told me
personally, “They want to get you off of the show.”
Ego Trip, they didn’t want me on the show anymore. They didn’t
want me to win. They wanted me off. A gentlemen by the name of Ken Mok, he’s
behind America’s Next Top Model, he was
the guy who fought for me to stay. He was the boss guy who fought for me to
stay on the show. They wanted me off, because I wasn’t giving them enough
drama even though it was a Hip-Hop show. Sacha told that on the phone to me.
I wasn’t hurting anybody while I was there, I would speak to everybody and give
as much respect as I could. If I speak to Sacha right now he’d be nasty with me…I
feel like it was always a problem. I’m not going to say with VH1, but the Ego
Trip guy, that Sacha guy, he really cannot stand me. Elliott [Wilson] over there is
cool for the most part, I think the other [Ego Trip member’s name is] Gabriel [Alvarez],
he was cool. Sacha was the only one who didn’t like me. Out of everybody on
there, you would want me off?
AllHipHop.com: In
the scope of analyzing both inside and outside of the show, women do go at each
other in Hip-Hop. Do you feel like the camaraderie between women in Hip-Hop is
downplayed? Is there respect in it at all?
Rece Steele: I
think it could be, but I don’t have good relationships with women rappers… If
you are a cool female rapper and I meet you, if it’s cool then it’s cool.
Right now I’m focused on myself. If I can do what I do and we’re cool, then
it’d be great. I don’t push the issue anymore, because it doesn’t seem like
it’s going to work out. I’m not as catty as a lot of people, I’ll tell you
that right now. If you’re doing what you got to do, then I’ll respect it. You
disrespect me then I’m going to disrespect you, that’s how I feel.
Even in the Lady Luck battle, she was disrespecting me
hard-body…going at my moms—it didn’t have to be like that. We went on a,
“We’re going to be two MC getting at each other, but it’s an MC battle like
what they used to do.” She took it there. The Niki [Minaj] situation where I
was disrespected again? I was out here minding my business when she was
putting signs up—stuff like that isn’t even necessary. At the end of
the day why can’t she just do her thing and I’ll give her a hand shake and keep
it moving even if you don’t want to be involved with it? It’s just catty.
AllHipHop.com: With
the disrespect that you spoke about, where did that stem from with Niki Minaj?
Rece Steele: Her
publicist held a sign right behind my head. It was just a disrespectful thing.
I’m on my grind and I’m looking at her like, “OK you have Lil’ Wayne over
there with you and y’all shouldn’t be doing that to me!” She has a backing and
I wish I had one. Sometimes I do wish, but now I’m starting not to wish
anymore. I met Niki before in Harlem at a show and she was super stink and she
looked at me up and down and her friends were talking about me. There was
never a respect level from day one. I remember everything. Everybody I meet I
remember every situation.
I’m her competition, I guess, but I’m not her competition
because I’m not trying to do what she’s doing. You can’t look at me as your
comp because I’m going to beat you. You’re just doing it off a look. Even
though I might be pretty, it’s not a gimmick though. So many people wish it
was, but it’s not though. This is real. I write with my hands in this book
myself. This is what I do. It’s not a gimmick and she’s a gimmick. We’re
different. She’s wishing she wasn’t a gimmick but that’s just how it is.
You’re born with certain things and you can’t just get up and say you just want
to rap one day because you’re cute. That’s not going to work in the long run.
AllHipHop.com: So
you don’t think she’s a great lyricist at all?
Rece Steele: Hell
no! Niki sucks! She’s horrible. I’ll give respect when it’s due, period. I
never heard anything I would say I’d bop to. I’m a lover of Hip-Hop. If it’s
good I’m messing with it. They know that over there and she knows that, too.
At the end of the day she knows.
Allhiphop.com: Do
you feel Lady Luck is good? What do you feel about her talent?
Rece Steele: Lady
Luck used to be ill back in the day. I’m not going to lie. When Lady Luck
first got signed I listened to Lady Luck. I think she was better back in the
day, but she definitely won’t be able to go where she’d like to go because she
just doesn’t have that crossover. She’s a female at the end of the day and I
know she might be gay or whatever the case may be, but I don’t know how she’ll
get anybody to accept it.
AllHipHop.com:
Where do you feel like you fit in this equation of the music industry?
Rece Steele: I fit
in as an MC. Even though I am a female, I don’t want them to look at me as
that. I want you to look at me as an MC or a rapper that can do anything that
any guy can do. I know I’m dope. I think the people would be the ones to love
me, not the artists. Maybe some will down the line when I get my name up, I’m
sure. I’m Hip-Hop and people will respect me more and that’s what’s happening
now. I’m not rich and you guys have big money or some of you front like you
have money, whatever the case may be, and I’ve seen people get intimidated by
me. Grown ass men…maybe I’m above a lot of people that are in [the industry]
and can’t accept it. I wouldn’t be intimidated by you if it were the other way
around.
AllHipHop.com:
You’re getting ready to get into a lot of things and you’re doing it on your
own.
Rece Steele: This
is about to be a good look for me. [The Shade45 Morning Show with Angela Yee],
it’s going to be like a reality show every morning at 10AM just following my
grind…It will probably be 15 minutes every Wednesday. It’s a good chance for
me to just play some music and just talk about what happens during the week.
Believe it or not, I am the little dude, but I come into contact with a lot of
people. I just did The Source, which is a real good look for me
because I was working on that from the show and I got to do it recently. The
mixtape It’s A Man’s World I just
dropped that…I have a next mixtape I’m working on called Rece Steele
Reserved. I make beats as well, I sing, I
do a lot of other things. I’m going to start getting into that to show the
world I can do that, too. I want my space and I want my respect because I’m
working.
I run around crazy, but I don’t mind it. It’s not the work
that I mind, I just want to be in a bigger space doing it and get paid more.
Everybody thinks I’m like a workaholic. I call everybody early in the morning
, when everybody’s sleeping I’m up. It’s been 14 years for me to even get a
chance to do this, so I’m a do it and I’m going to go in with my heart.