MC Sha-Rock Goes Off Over First Female MC Claims, Name-Checks Debbie D And Pebblee Poo

MC Sha-Rock apparently reached a point where she could no longer tolerate numerous accounts of Hip-Hop history as it relates to women in rap. On Tuesday (March 14), the “Mother of the Mic” hopped on Facebook and Instagram Live and went in on Debbie D for insisting she’s the first solo female rapper.

Noticeably frustrated, MC Sha-Rock—a founding member of the Funky 4 and later, the “plus one” in the Funky 4 +1, sailed though her trailblazing contributions to the culture, which includes being the first to be on national television and first to land a record deal. She also challenged anyone who thinks she’s lying to come with receipts.

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A post shared by MC Sha-Rock (@iammcsharock)

MC Sha-Rock and Debbie D have been going back and forth for more than 30 years.

Lisa Lee, Debbie D and Sha-Rock appeared in the 1984 film Beat Street as one-third of Us Girls, one of the highlights of the seminal movie. Pebblee Poo, another rapper claiming to be the first solo female MC, was given the harshest language from Sha Rock.

Sha said people had taken her “kindness for weakness.” As Sha-Rock explained in the Live, she was “brought to this point.”

On Monday (March 13), Debbie D went on Instagram to restate her position. She wrote, “My claim is hip hop’s first female SOLO MC/Rapper. In plain English, this means, in the 80s, whenever I performed, the only person you saw on stage with the mic, was me. This is a promotional picture of me and my deejay, Wanda Dee. MC Debbie D and DJ Wanda Dee are the female counterpart to MC Busy Bee and DJ AJ. In the 80s, prior to records becoming the norm, pioneers performed a show created between the Emcees & the DJ. Having your own DJ, guaranteed the Emcee a successful show because you rehearsed it; a soloist can’t do that changing DJs every week!

“This is why if someone claims to be a soloist, I ask, who was their DJ because every soloist who promoters booked to perform, had one. To know about me and my work as a soloist I’d like to point you to flyers, DJs and Promoters such as: Kool Herc, Sandwich, Afrika Bambaataa, Armstrong, Mike and Dave, RC Pac Man, Man Dip Lite, Mix Master Mike (NJ) and many others, including Fly Ty (Cold Chillin/Juice Crew) who secured my record deals as a soloist.”

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A post shared by MC Debbie D, Ph.D. (@mcdebbied)

Pebblee Poo has been quiet, but Debbie D doubled down on her position and mentions MC Sha-Rock at the end of her post.

She continued, “Either of these DJs and Promoters mentioned above, have ever booked any female MC who makes a claim as the first soloist. Let us not confuse or try to champion a female Emcee who you saw at a jam rhyming on the mic alone ONLY WITH THEIR CREW or at one or two parties, with Debbie D, the female Emcee who built an entire early career performing as a soloist every week, with her OWN DJ on 100s of shows, including battles, as evidenced on flyers and cassette tapes.

“Sha Rock, in her memoir Luminary Icon (p. 180), wrote: ‘Debbie D was holding it down by herself on stage, with her DJ Wanda Dee, as her back up. She was on fire! I figured since she was making a name for herself as a soloist, we could really benefit from making her a part of the group.’ You tell me, is Sha Rock, the first female MC in hip hop wrong? MC Debbie D holds the title as the first to carve the path for the female MC/Rap SOLOIST, one who performs alone. Point. Blank. Period.”

AllHipHop has reached out to both MC Sha-Rock and Debbie D for comment.