XXL published a list of “The 20 Best Female Rappers Of All Time” today (April 30).
Queen Latifah made the list. “Queen Latifah was one of the first ever to provide a voice for women in Hip Hop,” XXL’s story says. “Her top chart singles like ‘U.N.I.T.Y.’—which won her a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo performance in 1995—allowed her to use Hip Hop as a platform to address the disrespect surrounding women.”
While Queen Latifah emerged in the 1980s, Foxy Brown rose to prominence in the 1990s. “She definitely held it down for females in Hip Hop during the mid-to-late 1990s,” XXL says of the former Def Jam Recordings artist. “Her album Ill Na Na hit strong with sales the moment it dropped, debuting at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 in 1996 and eventually being certified Platinum by the RIAA.”
Nicki Minaj also makes XXL’s list. “Nicki is arguably the best rapper—female or otherwise—in the game,” the list says of the YMCMB artist. “Ever since she first stepped onto the scene with Young Money, the Jamaica, Queens rapper has grown into one of the most popular artists on the label.”
XXL’s “The 20 Best Females Rappers Of All Time” is as follows:
Queen Latifah
Da Brat
Eve
Foxy Brown
Gangsta Boo
Jean Grae
Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes
Trina
Lil’ Kim
MC Lyte
Missy Elliott
Monie Love
Iggy Azalea
Rapsody
Remy Ma
Roxanne Shante
M.I.A.
The Lady Of Rage
Nicki Minaj
Lauryn Hill
RELATED: XXL Lists 15 Greatest Rapper-Producer Duos Of All Time
Should’ve renamed it “20 Most Popular Female Rappers of All Time.”
No Azealia Banks? Sure…… Good list…. Not!
WHERE IS RAH DIGGA?? SHE IS A TOP 5 FEMALE MC OF ALL TIME BUT SHE NOT IN THE TOP 20 HUH??
They should change the title to “female MC history lesson” this is NOT a true top 20 list wtf
When you have Iggy on the list but no Ra Digga, Mia X or YoYo then a white person made the list.
why do they automatically have to be white just because some people got overlooked? maybe it was a young black person who missed out on some stuff in their searches.
i’m sure there’s lots of rap writers that have no idea who ra digga is.
Yeah right, a young Black person includes Roxanne Shante but diedent know who Ra Digga is?
The inclusion of Iggy was simply payola or a white person who feels Iggy is somehow bettdr than Salt N Peppa or even Shawnaa or Jackie O.
Bahamadia is better than 99 percent of those chicks and AZelia Banks i better than Iggy.
Hahaha! MIA is considered a rapper? Hahaha!
No Rah Digga or Invincible. Garbage ass list.
no Shawnna??? yall some stupid Mother F*uckaz…. Shawnna fucking top 5 !!!
Right?
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
shout outs to Heather B
Heather B!!
Jesus H. Christ
Iggy Azalea but no Rah Digga??
XXL may as well put Boss and Hurricane Gee on this fuck ass list too.
Hurricane Gee lol!
wow, totally biased list. Mia-X was and STILL IS way better than Nikki Minaj, along with Rah Digga, Lady Luck, and many others. But hey, keep trying to convince everyone that Nikki Minaj is right behind L.Hill lyrically, even though she has NO QUOTABLE PUNCHLINES in any of her songs that hold even a pinch of lyrical content..
Rah digga?
Talk about living in the moment wtf has Iggy Azalea and Nikki Minaj ever done to make this list and leave out Rah Digga and there are probably a ton more you could put ahead of them wow
This list is a joke…
My man, they put Iggy over Rapsody
Bahamadia should be on this.
Agreed
that 1 song i know is crazy
No drake?
SHOTS FIRED, hahaha
good one bud!
Want a real authentic list check out wwliradio.com Women of Hip Hop Mixes, its really on point
Where’s mia x
Add:
Bahamadia
Rah Digga
Salt N Pepa
Boss
Conscious Daughters
Paula Perry
Remove singers/ramblers:
Missy
Nicki Minaj
M.I.A.
now i’m convinced xxl trippin…
For the real heads out there check out this chick Sammus. shes undergound (but aren’t all the real MCs today)She’s fire lyrics are fire I dont care what the trolls and haters say. Good day negros!1
Missy Elliot have the best flow out of all of these bitches
No Lady Bug Mecca from Digable Planets, seriously smh
The fact that Minaj and Iggy are on this list is blasphemous. There are freaking French and German girls overseas repping Hip-Hop in their native tongues better than most American female MCs here at home these days. And hell yes Bahamadia and Rah Digga need to be on this.
P.S. y’all need to check out a track Rah Digga guested on with another little known Canadian female MC, Eternia. Drake ain’t the only chick out of the great upper north. And she got more balls than him too.
nicki can rap her ass off when she wants to, dont know if she writes those bars though.
Man they shoulda put M.I.A. last lol
Wow they even put Iggy Azalea over Rapsody LOL what kinda list is this?
No Rah Digga?
Foxy Brown was played by Jay-Z
This list is a joke. Shawnna absolutely shits on about 85% of this list.
Big time Salt n Pepa omission as well.
Iggy Azalea? You fuckin kiddin me?
I think they need to pick some more female rappers of the 80’s and 90’s like Yo Yo. and their is more, I used to see videos of them all the time. when I was a kid.
Trina? no bahamdia, no shawnna! straight bs!
No Mia X, she was dope. No Rah Digga!
terrible
Drake is the number one female emcee in the game.
#1 Bahamadia mother fuckers and they put Nicki over Ms. Hill? Shits fucked up.
This list is horrible. Those who know True female mcs should recognize bahamadia and rah digga. XXL has lost credibility over the years from their suspect top 10 selections to lists like this.nwhy can’t people be properly acknowledged? Like really what the fuck? Iggy Azealea just put a dayum album out and you say she’s a top rapper? Aunt no way nicki is as high as she is. I put jean grae and missy above her.nthis list is bullshit! XXL is desperate for buzz and sales!!!!!!!!
No Shawnna?? Wow.
I just want my music heard thats all, im not looking for no record deal, getting famous ‘r anything like that.! so please just spare a few sec. to check me out, & if you like what you heard please SUBSCRIBE so ill know you actually listen & support
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaSNK0pm4eY
How the hell you gonna have a list without bahamadia?? she is better than half the chicks on here, another clear example of another mag that his lost its way and clearly the writers have no idea about hip hop which is why it is dead and no Antonette either.
Where is Rah Digga?!!!
they got IGGY and NICKI. FFS. I swear these niggas need to stop putting lists out. this might be their worst
that list can’t be in a particular order, just a list of 20 female rappers.
this list is basically on point. tbh sometimes nickis arrogance rubs me the wrong way but i know that just like kanye she has earned the right to say whatever she wants until somebody can prove they are better
however, SNOW THA PRODUCT should definitely be on here, check out NOT FOR THE WEAK MINDED with crooked i to see why
no rah digga or bahamadia…this is a wack ass list…
Tragic that RAH DIGGA is not on this list. TRAGIC!!!
Ummm this list is WRONG….where the f**K is Salt N’ Pepa…Mia-X…and Rah Digga….how the f**k did Iggy Azalea, M.I.A., and Monie Love ( on hit wonder ass ) make the list….
Where the fuck is Snow Tha Product? She’s the best female rapper!
Sacramento rapper Marvaless !!!!!!!
Rarely does someone else’s opinion actually irritate me, but that quote about Nicki Minaj which opens this article is just fucking ridiculous.
Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea are the best female rappers, hands down! Iggy just made a classic album and Nicki is a lyrical monster backed up by YMCMB heroes Drake and Weezy Fuckin Baby. swag
Plz kill yourself for saying that.
Iggy azalea, M.I.A., Nicki minaj, monie love. List is an absolute joke…… They all still rap better than drake tho.
Rapsody can spit. But she ain’t no G.O.A.T. Female MC either
RAH DIGGA!!!!!!!!!!!
bahamadia???? left eye lopez??? anita tijoux??? mala rodriguez??? shadia mansour???
whhhoooooo?
Mystic, Cuts for luck and scars for freedom is certified classic by life. True B-girl.
Iggy and Nicki? SMH good lord, hip hop magazines are ran by nerds for real
why is Iggy Azalea on there, she sucks????..Bahamadia, Rah Digga, Charli Baltimore, LinQue, Mia X should be on there
Iggy Azalea and M.I.A. are horrible…Charli Baltimore and Bahamadia should be on the list..and where’s Rah Digga????
WHERE IS RAH DIGGA ON THIS LIST? SERIOUSLY, SHE IS THE ONLY FEMALE MC THAT I HAVE WENT OUT TO THE STORE AND PURCHASE HER CD…XXL, U DROPPED THE BALL WITH THIS. DIGGA NOT IN THE TOP 20, U BUGGIN!
CO-Sign Rah Digga better than most that list that track Break Fool’s was hard
Thats some tru shit Rah Digga killed it IDK how they forgot about her L hiphopdx
FUCK IGGY SHE AINT A NIGGY
Rah Digga what the fuck that’s some arrogant shit
I was thinkin the same shit
charlie chuck you fools over iggy
Who cares not one of them could even get near the male top 30 .
You’re a fool. In her day, Lauryn Hill could murder the majority of today’s rappers, male and female. Same goes for Diggah and Mc Lyte
Roxanne Shante got battles against dudes on Youtube. If Mos Def, Taleb Kweli, jay Electronica or Pharoahe Monch are on your top 30 then check jean grae songs with them she kills her verses.
Jean Grae
(like others have said) Rah Digga Bahamadia
and fuck what you heard why isn’t LYTE the MC
#1??
No Rah Diggs or Mia X? Your list failed HARD.
Just fuck up Females Rappers ,my list: Lil Kim,Foxy,MC Lyte. keep it up Nicki.
Iggy Azalea. and no rah digga or Mia x. ok
No Mia X?
List invalid.
The Biggest Mama cooking up like Betty Crocker would’ve destroyed half of that list. These dummies actually put M.I.A. on there?
smh
jean grae doesn’t deserve to be there. what influence does she have? how many aspiring mcd have heard of her or even want to be like her. fail list
U must be a kid, Jean Grae has real bars and songs and has been around since the mid 90’s…..
Jean grey will lyrically eat half this list. Do ya research kid.
If you never heard of Jean Grae you shouldn’t even be engaging in any hip hop conversation ever again. Go listen to kidz bop til you grow up.
had to respond to this 5 month old comment to tell you you’re dumb as all hell. go to sleep. forever.
katiegotbandzzzzzzzzzzz, yall sleep for leaving baetie off the list. and janelle mobae had a crazy verse on the end of her electric lady track, khia? lachat? chyna white? fuck xxl. xxsmall.
1. Mc Lyte
2. Lauryn Hill
3. Lil Kim
4. Queen Latifah
5. Foxy Brown
6. Eve
7. Bahamadia
8. Rah Digga
9. Missy
10 Lady of Rage
11 Nicki Minaj
12 Trina
Yo cant play with my YoYo damn over MIA and Izzy
Bahamadia and Heather B are not on the list. Rah Digga is missing as well. Left Eye was not a rapper in my opinion.
Like others have said, no Rah Diggah or Mia X makes this list fraudulent.
Shawnna from DTP isnt on there ,no Rah Digga I can’t take this list serious. No Queen Pen, Mia X,not even a Ms Jade or Yo Yo.. Idk about this XXL
No Newsense from Psychodrama!!!!
Queen Iggy!!!
Lauryn Hill isn’t a rapper so take her of the list. Also subtract add
Gangsta Boo Rah Digga
Iggy Azalea Queen Pen
Rapsody Mia X
M.I.A. charlie Baltimore
conscious daughters
yeah Lauryn Hill is a rapper idiot. don’t say stupid shit
Dudes right she isn’t a rapper. A few bars can’t justify putting her on a “rap” list
DA FUCK YA TALKIN ABOUT>>>LBOOGIE IS ONE OF THE DOPEST FEMALE RAPPERS. HAVE U EVEN LISTEN TO “THE SCORE”???? SHE WAS THE DOPEST IN THE GROUP!!!
Missing Rah Digga or even Lady Luck is just wrong, I’m surprised they put Rapsody on there but MIA? and left eye if they needed a token dead female rapper MC Trouble or Miss Melody are better qualified. It’s obvious this is an affirmative action list, not a who’s actually nice list. The rappers on the list that can’t really rap are the participation trophy bitches.
so they had Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea but not Mia X or Shawnna? Most importantly Mia X not being on this list makes XXL a joke
this is easy….
Lady of Rage
Lauryn Hill
MC Lyte
Heather B.
Rah Digga
Mia X can out rap any of these women on the list
Whoever put this list together needs to do their homework…..Miss Elliot, Left EYE, Iggy, …REALLY!?
Lady Of Rage will demolish 85% of the women listed on this list. Listen to Microhone Pon Cok…that is all!!! And if you disagree, then you too need to do your homework. The othere 15% will give her a good challenge.
Charlie Baltimore deserves to be on this list.
MC Lyte, Lauryn Hill, Digga, Bahamadia, jean, and a few others on the list are TRUE MC’s..the other are just not on their level.
Hey hey woa there. Missy Elliot wasn’t the most lyrical, but late 90’s and early to mid ’00s she owned the female rap game. People want her back so bad. She is Mos def top 2o if not top 10
listen to Boss Bitch – Mac (feat. Mia X)
One the greatest No Limit songs
one of the greatest “no limit” songs…not in all of hip hop.
No Limit records ran a whole decade of southern rap are you high? stop being ignorant
FUUUUUUCK NO LIMIT.
Um…Iggy just dropped her album…Just stop.
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what about Bahamadia ????? Iggy Azasomething…..really???? from the same generation Snow is better by far on every level!!!! and roxanne shante….big respect but Big Daddy Kane wrote all her best lyrics including the beef with the real roxanne so I’m not sure. There was CES (mos def’s sister) part of Urban Therm Dynamics who was crazy!!!!!! so I’d say I agree 90% which is good ratio. ONE
Big Daddy Kane wasn’t in the Juice crew during the Roxanne beef she was going off the top. Kane was next to last to join the juice crew Masta Ace was the last.
No wonder this list is out of whack…A white boy made it…so he made the list from all the female rappers the dj played at his bat mitzvah…the whackness of it all!!!
Maybe if you’ve had your head in the sand for the last decade when it comes to hip-hop.
The best quality female MC in America is Jaeda
She raps with some other hot girls in her new project The Muzes
Some other good ones are
Bliss
Invincible
Agonie (french rap artist)
Dessa
Soom T
Snow the product (for fastest rap)
SA-ROC
Narubi Selah
Rissa
and
BE ONE
Who the fuck is Rapsody?
Dessa from DOOMTREE trumps most these artists lyrically and musically.
LAUREN HILL / DESSA TOP 2 WOMEN MC’S (IMO)
keysssssss nuff said
East list to make seeing as that’s all the relevant female artists ever ..
BOOG BROWN ALL DAY!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmVbhUrJsrM
some people on there havent put in enough work…tf with iggy azelea??? should have put SNOW THA PRODUCT in her place
NONE OF THOSE GIRLS ARE BETTER THAN “L BOOGIE”
This story really fuels my argument that at the end of the day I can’t be mad at all these wack ass rappers saying they Hip-Hop. They (wack rappers) are being told they are the hottest new thing by DJ’s (radio stations) that play they bullshit, and magazines (XXL) I use to support when shit was all Hip-Hop. So now my fuck you goes out to them cause if this is seriously your list you don’t know Hip-Hop.
Hurricane G!
Why the fuck is Apani B so underrated? Only female rapper I actually listen to. Story 2 Tell is classic, shits on any album from any of these chicks..
Haven’t had time to chime in but not that I do; HOW THE FUCK DID IGGY AZLALEA EVEN GET ON THIS LIST? I didn’t even know who this broad was until last week. Second, who the hell is Rhapsody? I’ve never heard of this chick second. I really hope this list isn’t in numerical order, cause how the HELL can you have Lauryn Hill at the bottom of this list. Also, MC Lyte is never second to Da Brat; and finally. Where is Yoyo on this list? She definitely held her own with the men and rep well for the West Coast.
Rah Diggah anyone?
“Nicki is arguably the best rapper female or otherwise in the game,
And with that, all respect is lost for XXL and/or the person who uttered this ridiculous statement. Holy. Shit.
I guess taking semi nude instagram pics that show off her ass makes her “a great female MC”. SMDH.
Read first sentence, commented this, then closed tab
I don’t agree with this list
Nicki Minaj “best rapper in the game”? Iggy Azalea ANYWHERE in this list? No Salt N Pepa or YoYo? Lady of Rage? XXL has lost all credibility and respect.
i like wayne that much hes my number favoured rapper he always makes me happy when ever he put it in em lyrics he makes me feel big i hope and wish that one day my dream will come true to see him personal he got my appite for all em artist non of em bt him hes the best