Top 10 Hip Hop Queens That Changed the Game

Is there anything this trailblazer can’t do? Born Eve Jihan Jeffers[a], she played a major part in orchestrating the female rapper takeover of the early 2000s, becoming the third female rapper to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart with her debut record, “Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady”. Selling over 200,000 copies in its first week, that 1999 album was followed up by 2001’s “Scorpion”. That album featured the smash hit “Let Me Blow Ya Mind”, a Gwen Stefani collaboration that won the very first Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in 2002.

This swaggering megastar had a less-than-conventional rise to fame. Following a troubled upbringing, Cardi, whose real name is Belcalis Marlenis Cephus[b], went viral on the social media platforms Vine and Instagram. Following this, she was recruited to appear on the sixth season of the VH1 reality show “Love & Hip Hop: New York”. Becoming a breakout star in the process, Cardi left the show to more seriously pursue music. And it definitely paid off — her eventual debut album, “Invasion of Privacy”, debuted atop the Billboard 200 and became the first project by a solo female rapper to win Best Rap Album at the Grammys. She followed up these achievements by becoming the female rapper with the most Billboard #1s. Not bad!

Where are our Barbs at? In all seriousness, there’s a reason that Onika Tanya Maraj[c] is sometimes referred to as the “Queen of Rap” — or, several reasons. Since being signed to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Records, Minaj has ticked off an increasingly impressive list of accomplishments and accolades. Following waves of social media buzz, her 2010 debut album “Pink Friday” reached the peak of the Billboard 200, the first of three, giving her the most #1 records of any female rapper. Acclaimed for her musical versatility, outlandish personal style, and sharp lyricism, Minaj has also garnered praise for advocating for artists to retain a greater share of their streaming revenue.

There’s a nonzero chance that you’ve never heard of Roxanne Shante. And that’s a shame, because Shante deserves her flowers as one of hip hop’s founding figures — she’s even been described as the genre’s first female star. While we can go back and forth as to who truly deserves that distinction, what’s inarguable is that Shante gave the genre one of its pillars: the diss track. A 14-year-old Shante freestyled “Roxanne, Roxanne”, which took aim at rap group UTFO for reneging on a scheduled concert, ushering in the “Roxanne Wars”. While Shante has mostly stayed out of the spotlight since the early ‘90s, her influence on shaping hip hop can’t be understated.

Sometimes referred to as the “First Ladies of Rap”, the trio consisting of Salt, Pepa, and DJ Spinderella crafted some of the nascent genre’s earliest major hits. In fact, their debut album, 1986’s “Hot, Cool & Vicious”, was the first record by a female rap act to hit both gold and platinum status. As if that wasn’t enough, the hip hop trailblazers’ 1993 album “Very Necessary” became, up to that point, the best-selling album by a female rap act, with over 7 million copies sold worldwide. The group won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, just ahead of Queen Latifah’s win at the same ceremony, becoming one of the first Grammy-winning female rap outfits.

For a video full of women who have amassed an impressive amount of firsts, Lana Michele “MC Lyte” Moorer[e] may have one of the most impressive. That remarkable achievement would be becoming the first female rapper to record a full-length album: 1988’s “Lyte as a Rock”. Upon its release, “Lyte as a Rock” was hailed by critics as one of the genre’s most important — not just at the time, but especially in retrospect. Said Pitchfork’s Simon Pearce, “This is a record about being a woman in a boys’ club and blowing up the spot with uncompromising attitude.” One of the first artists to call out the misogyny and sexism that were unfortunately all too common in hip hop, Lyte is more than deserving of a place on today’s list.

After escaping a fraught home life and dropping out of high school, Kimberly Denise Jones met Christopher Wallace, whom you might know better as “The Notorious B.I.G.”, forever changing her life. Initially a member of the rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A., Lil’ Kim (as she now went by) broke out with her debut solo album “Hard Core”. The record was on the receiving end of intense controversy over its raunchy, explicit rhymes, and Kim’s exuberant joy in delivering them. Rolling Stone noted that “Hip-hop had never seen anything like Brooklynite Kimberly Jones at the time of her solo debut”. As such, Lil’ Kim is often imitated, but never quite duplicated.

Billboard named her the greatest ever female rapper. She’s won eight Grammys, the most for any female rapper. She was the first rapper to appear on the cover of “Time”. Need we go on? Ms. Lauryn Hill is one of the most innovative, most beloved, and often most controversial hip hop performers of this and any other era. First rising to prominence via her film roles and membership in the Fugees, Hill’s debut solo album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” became the first album by a female rapper to debut atop the Billboard 200, and Hill herself the first rapper — regardless of gender — to win the Grammy for Album of the Year. Now, can we please get a sequel?

Owning the music charts in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, reliable hitmaker Elliott’s absence from the recording industry has been deeply felt. Debuting as part of the ill-fated R&B group Sista in the ‘90s, Elliott went on to nourish one of hip hop’s most commercially successful careers. Crucially, Elliott’s considerable solo success was instrumental in proving that female rappers could not only compete with the guys — they could roundly outdo them in every way. A four-time Grammy winner, Elliott is also the highest-selling female rapper of all time, having sold over 40 million records. Said ABC’s Gab Burke, Missy Elliott “railed against the male-dominated mainstream rap scene throughout her career, constantly pushed the boundaries, and cemented a place for women in hip hop.”


Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Bahamadia[f]


Megan Thee Stallion


Remy Ma


Tierra Whack[g]


Trina[h]

Yeah, maybe you saw this one coming. But how could you blame us? Born Dana Elaine Owens, Queen Latifah is the definition of a game-changing — well, you get it. Boasting a powerful singing voice in addition to her skills on the mic, Latifah first garnered critical acclaim for her take on rapping. Specifically, she turned her focus both inward and outward, speaking on issues important to her, and to Black women as a whole. Often referred to as the Queen of Rap (and for good reason), AllMusic’s Steve Huey summed it up by noting that Latifah was “certainly not the first female rapper, but she was the first one to become a bona fide star.”