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Courage comes in many forms. For The Undefeated‘s Senior Correspondent Jemele Hill, it was challenging the establishment — even against her own bosses at ESPN.

HipHopDX caught up with the former His & Hers host at the Culture Creators Awards where she cited the current class of female MCs as her inspiration for the way they handle their business.

“I think [the current class of female MCs] is strong. You have Nicki [Minaj], you have Cardi B, you have Rapsody you have so many different female artists that there is an artist for every taste,” Hill relayed to DX. “I enjoy the variety, I enjoy the fact that these women they don’t just see themselves as artists they see themselves as individual businesses and so I’m inspired by their creativity and their sense of empowerment.”

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Jemele had a cameo in season two of Marvel’s Luke Cage where she got to chop it up Cheo Coker, one of the OGs of Hip Hop journalism, when he told her one of his most memorable moments with the late great Notorious B.I.G.

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“Cheo the creator of Luke Cage was a former music journalist and he told me an awesome story about the first time he interviewed Notorious B.I.G. on his stoop in Brooklyn,” she recalls. “Two members of Junior Mafia came up to B.I.G. and asked him where this gun was cause they wanted to rob somebody and Biggie wouldn’t tell them where it was so in the middle of their interview he witnesses somebody plotting to commit a robbery so it was one of those interesting folklore tales that happen.”

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Hill continued, “I think a lot of people have to stop being so defensive and understand that there’s nothing wrong with having your mind changed. I have my mind changed every day and when I got into writing and journalism I always wanted to have that approach of being open to having my mind changed cause nobody knows everything.”

Season two of Marvel’s Luke Cage is currently streaming on Netflix. Follow @jemelehill on Twitter for her unfiltered takes on things of the culture.

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