By Martin A. Berrios
After presidential history was made and the hype died down; TOP 5 DEAD OR ALIVE is the only thing people still talking about. Last week RZA made the headlines with his digi picks. This edition we put one of the most respected female MCs on the hot seat Rah Digga.
Digga Digga first name Rashia hasn’t stopped putting in that work. With a single bubbling (“Little Phattie”) and a couple of guest spots on the newly released Afro Samurai Resurrection soundtrack, the former first lady of Flipmode is still getting it in. Learn what MCs make her tick and why.
Nas
Rah Digga: He’s my favorite MC. I think Nas is a dam good rhymer. I like the way he puts his words and his syllables together, I just dig his syntax. My favorite song from Nas has always been “The World Is Yours”. Picking out his best rhyme is tough. Immediately I think of his verse on “Eye For An Eye”. Also “N.Y. State Of Mind”, and “What Comes Around” too. As far as albums Illmatic is his best album and I liked Stillmatic a lot. Stillmatic was like okay, he’s still got it.
[In regards to Streets Disciple]
I wasn’t a fan of it; that was probably my least favorite Nas album. I think he tried to step outside the box too much musically there. I don’t like when he does the “I’m not trying to make music by everyone else’s standards”. I just want to hear him rhyme.
Kool G Rap
Rah Digga: When I was listening to Kool G coming up, he set the standard and showed me what a dope rhyme was. He introduced me to all the similes, metaphors, punch lines, and triple rhyme patterns. I learned that from Kool G Rap. Not to say he was the only person doing it, but he was the one that I was listening to.
Like through him I saw that you can rhyme things other than the last two words in the bar. I can rhyme stuff in the middle of the bar too. I learned all of that from Kool G. I used to play Road To The Riches backwards and front words. I learned how to perform my verses from him and that album.
Jay-Z
Rah Digga: I personally choose Jay-Z because he personally inspires me. I’m not a kid playing with these rhymes. I’m a grown woman that’s been doing this for a long time. I feel like he inspires me to still want to rhyme even with me being older. I always dug his music from the beginning. The reason why people always pick Jay-Z and Biggie is because you can visualize what they are saying.
For example, you got a lot of MC’s who talk sh*t about the stuff they did, Jay-Z is one in a handful of people are actually telling the truth. People can hate all they want on me choosing Jay-Z, but lyrically he’s sick. He’s not corny! As far as his lyrics, he brings more swagger to the game compared to being a technician like Kool G. Rap.
I like Reasonable Doubt but the reason why I couldn’t really relate to it all the way was because it was made for the hustlers. When that album was out I was hanging out more at the Lyricist Lounge and battling in ciphers. I thought the album was dope and he was rhyming dope, but a lot of those stories weren’t capturing me. When he was talking triple beams, I really was rocking more with Nas and Gangstarr and all of that. I like The Black Album the best. With Jay you shouldn’t really compare his stuff to other people’s albums; you should only compare him against his own work.
The Notorious B.I.G.
Rah Digga: I don’t want to sound redundant because I know a lot of people choose him for their TOP 5 list. But Biggie is special to me because before he blew up, I saw him perform “Party & Bullsh*t”. I was at a show with Das Efx that day and after seeing the Notorious movie, I want to say it was that Howard Homecoming show. We saw this big fat guy on stage rhyming and I knew that he was going to be somebody.
It was a whole bunch of people with us at our table; groupies, entourage. And me just not being the party type person and just thinking nothing but rhyming, I kept trying to get people to pay attention to Biggie on stage. I was just enjoying this guy’s performance while everyone was concerned with the hoes at Howard.
I liked the way he played with his lyrics and flows. One of the things I could appreciate about B.I.G., I feel like I was too calculated on how I put together my stuff. I never relaxed and let the words flow. That’s what B.I.G. did. He broke up a word and finished the word going into the next bar and made it hot. He broke down different words and sayings into syllables, he would chant and all of that. He would go outside the standard protocol with his flows. How 50 Cent is known for his melodic flows, B.I.G. was the one who made me take notice of that.
MC Lyte
Rah Digga: She just taught me how to be me period. Kool G Rap taught me how to rhyme; Lyte taught me how to be me. There’s no other way how to put it. I feel like I got the validation from her that being a female MC was something I could pursue. Looking at the things she accomplished, becoming a rapper became a more tangible goal for me. Looking at her and Queen Latifah made me take my writing more serious and I grew from that so I have to roll with MC Lyte.
THE SIDEBAR:
Despite all the spicy rumors of signing with Irv Gotti and The Inc. Records, Digga is indeed a free agent.
**For the latest in AllHipHop Reviews sign up to our Twitter @ twitter.com/ahhreviews