MC Lyte

In 1987, at the age of 16,[17] Lyte released her debut single, I Cram to Understand U (Sam), being one of the first songs written about the crack era.[18] She was 12 years old at the time she wrote the song.[19] Lyte was also featured in the remix and music video of "I Want Your (Hands on Me)" by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor, which debuted in May 1988 on MTV.

In September 1988, she released her first album, Lyte as a Rock, with which she became the first female solo rapper to release a full album.[15] In addition to "I Cram to Understand U (Sam)", the album featured songs like Paper Thin, its title track, and the diss track 10% Dis a response to then-Hurby Azor associate Antoinette.[15] Despite not having a great commercial performance, it is considered one of the best and most important rap albums, both in the 80s and in history.[20][21][22][23]From the publication of the album The Village Voice magazine would rate Lyte as "the best female vocalist in hip-hop".[24]

Less than a year and a half later, Lyte followed her debut album with the 1989's album Eyes on This. This album, like its predecessor, received a great critical reception and is recognized as a hip hop classic.[25] This album featured the hit single "Cha Cha Cha"[26] (which spent 18 weeks on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles, peaking at # 1), the socially conscious "Capuccino," and a new diss track to her rival Antoniette, "Shut the Eff Up! (Hoe)." At the beginning of that same year, Lyte joined Stop the Violence Movement with Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy and Heavy D, among others. Together they released the single "Self Destruction" in response to violence in the hip hop and African American communities. The song debuted at No. 1 on the first week of Billboard's Hot Rap Songs existence[27][28] and the proceeds were donated to the National Urban League.[29]

In 1990 she became the first rap artist to perform at Carnegie Hall.[30]

MC Lyte's DJ since the start of her career, DJ K-Rock, is a cousin, Kennith Moorer; aside from a break in 1992, the two have toured consistently to the present.[31][32][33] During that time she also had her own dancers, Leg One and Leg Two, who performed with her both in shows and in music videos.[34]

On May 1, 1991, Lyte performed on "Yo! Unplugged Rap", the first MTV Unplugged to feature rap artists, alongside A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and LL Cool J.[35] In September 1991 Lyte released her third album, Act Like You Know, featuring a new jack swing sound. Even though singles "Poor Georgie" and "When in Love" peaked at # 1 and # 3 on the Hot Rap Singles respectively, the album fell in the charts, only peaking at #102 on the Billboard 200 and #14 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and reviews were generally mixed. That year she also participated in the socially conscious single "Heal Yourself" by the collective "HEAL Human Education Against Lies", which also included Big Daddy Kane, Boogie Down Productions, Run-DMC, Queen Latifah and LL Cool J.

Between 1991 and 1992 Lyte participated in the show called "The Greatest Rap Show Ever" at Madison Square Garden with Public Enemy, Naughty by Nature, Queen Latifah, Geto Boys and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, among others.[36][37] In the fall of 1991, she also performed in the hip-hop special Sisters In The Name of Rap alongside Salt-N-Pepa, Yo-Yo, Queen Latifah and Roxanne Shanté, among many others. it was recorded at the Ritz in NYC as Pay-per-view TV concert and released as VHS the following year.[38]

For 1992 she began work on her next album, titled Ain't No Other, released on June 22, 1993. On this album she returned to a more hardcore sound and had better critical and commercial performance. Following the single "Ruffneck,"[15] (her third song # 1 on the rap list, # 10 on the Hot R & B / Hip-Hop Songs and # 35 on the Billboard Hot 100), which sold half a million copies, she became the first female rapper to achieve gold certification as a solo artist, in addition to earning a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Rap Solo Performance category.

Lyte collaborated on pop star hits like Janet Jackson's You Want This and Brandy's I Wanna Be Down alongside Queen Latifah and Yo-Yo.[15][39] She also participated in the rap version of "Freedom" on the soundtrack for the movie Panther, alongside Meshell Ndegeocello, Patra, Yo-Yo, Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa and Left Eye Lopes of TLC.[40]

During the summer of '94 participated in Janet Jackson's Janet World Tour.[41]

In August 1996, after signing with Elektra Records affiliate East West, Lyte released the fifth album of her career, Bad as I Wanna B. With a sound more oriented to R&B and dance music, it became one of her most commercially successful albums. On this album she had the two most commercially successful singles of her career: "Keep On Keepin' On" featuring the R&B group Xscape (# 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and # 3 on Hot R & B / Hip-Hop Songs and # 27 on the UK Singles Chart) and the Puff Daddy remix of his song "Cold Rock a Party", (# 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, her fourth # 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart and # 14 in the UK between other charts in Europe), featuring Missy Elliott.[15]^:8 With both she achieved gold certifications in the US market, and for "Keep On Keepin 'On" she also won a Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards in the category of best R&B, Soul or Rap video.

MC Lyte in Hamburg, Germany in 1998

Her 1998 follow-up album, Seven & Seven received both lackluster commercial and critical reception, which resulted in Lyte leaving East West Records.

Lyte at the October 14, 2007 BET Hip Hop Awards

In March 2003, Lyte released the independently produced record The Undaground Heat, featuring Jamie Foxx. The album has little commercial impact and mixed reviews, but does earn a Grammy nomination in the "Best Female Rap Vocal Performance" category for the single "Ride Wit Me". She was also nominated for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist at the BET Awards.

MC Lyte's song "My Main Aim" was the title song of the basketball video game NBA Live 2005 by EA Sports. In 2005, she released two songs produced by Richard "Wolfie" Wolf called "Can I Get It Now" and "Don't Walk Away" (with Meechie).

During October 2006, MC Lyte was one of the honored artists on VH1's annual award show Hip Hop Honors.[42] She was joined by fellow female MC's Da Brat, Remy Ma, and Lil' Kim as they performed some of her tracks, such as "Cha Cha Cha", "Lyte as a Rock", "Paper-Thin", and "Ruffneck". She became the first female emcee to be inducted into the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors.[43]

In 2007, she released a song called "Mad at Me" and, in 2008, two songs called "Juke Joint" and "Get Lyte". In 2009, a song titled "Brooklyn" was released, as well as "Craven".

In 2013, MC Lyte received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2013 Hip Hop Inaugural Ball. She was the first female solo hip hop artist to receive BET's "I Am Hip Hop" Icon Lifetime Achievement Award.[13][44]

"Dear John" (featuring Common & 10Beats) was released on September 9, 2014 and peaked on the Billboard Twitter Trending 140 chart at number three.[45] After twelve years without an album, MC Lyte's eighth album, Legend, came out on April 18, 2015. "Ball" (featuring Lil Mama & AV)[46] and "Check" are also singles from the album.[47]

In January 2019 received The Trail Blazer Award at the Trumpet Awards in Atlanta with rappers Yo Yo, Lil Mama, Da Brat, Big Tigger, and Dj K-Rock helping to celebrate with a performance.

MC Lyte's diary displayed in National Museum of American History.

Her first acting role was in 1991, an off-Broadway theater play titled Club Twelve, a hip-hop twist on Twelfth Night alongside Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, and Lisa Nicole Carson. After she made her film debut in the 1993 movie titled Fly by Night, starring alongside Jeffrey Sams, Ron Brice, and Steve Gomer, she also starred other films, such as A Luv Tale (1999), Train Ride (2000), Civil Brand (2002) and Playa's Ball (2003). In 2011, she guest starred in the Regular Show episode "Rap It Up", portraying a member of a hip-hop group also including characters voiced by Tyler, the Creator and Childish Gambino. Lyte signed with the production unit, Duc Tha Moon, for three years and eventually made a deal with Sirius Satellite Radio.[26] Lyte also made appearances on the following television shows: Lyric Cafe, Hip Hop Honors, and Black in the 80's.[26]

In June 2006, MC Lyte was interviewed for the documentary The Rap Report, Part 2. MC Lyte talked about her career in rap music and what it was like during the beginnings of hip hop. She also performs a concert of her most famous hits. The program is produced by Rex Barnett.

In 2007, Lyte joined the cast of MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar[48] and coached Shar Jackson to a hip hop emcee victory in a mere eight weeks.

In 2017 Lyte played Detective Makena Daniels in the drama series Tales. Immediately following she played DEA Special Agent Katrina 'K.C.' Walsh in the Police drama S.W.A.T. and Tiffany in TV ONE production Loved to Death. Lyte has been featured on television as herself on such shows as In Living Color, Moesha, Cousin Skeeter, New York Undercover, My Wife and Kids, and Sisters in the Name of Rap. She also acted on TV in such shows as In the House, Get Real, Half & Half, Queen of the South, and The District.

In 2020, Lyte starred in Bad Hair directed by Justin Simien,[49] and Sylvie's Love, a period piece set in the 1960s opposite Tessa Thompson.[50]

MC Lyte opened Shaitel, a Los Angeles boutique that specialized in accessories from belts to sunglasses. "We sell a mixture of new and vintage [items]," she explained. "We also have a few signature pieces that are done just for the store. We boast to bring a little New York flavor out here to California."[51]

In 1997, MC Lyte launched Sunni Gyrl Inc., a global entertainment firm that specializes in artist management and development, production, and creative services and consulting.

In 1996, MC Lyte began doing voiceovers, working on a short-lived BET show called The Boot and doing some branding for the Starz network, Tide, AT&T, the National Urban League, and many others. She did the voice of Tia for the Mattel toy line Diva Starz from 2000 to 2004.

DJ MC Lyte served as the DJ of choice at Michael Jordan's 50th Birthday Celebration, at his 2013 wedding reception, and at Jay Leno's farewell party. Lyte has gone on to provide music for The Image Awards, Nissan, Google, Black Enterprise, and many others.

MC Lyte has spoken at colleges and universities, for organizations around the globe, and with notable people like Iyanla Vanzant, Russell Simmons, and Soledad O'Brien bringing a message of empowerment from her book Unstoppable: Igniting the Power Within to Achieve Your Greatest Potential. She also partnered with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund on the iLEAD international tour[52] in South Africa to empower the continent's youth and up-and-coming leaders.

In 1991 MC Lyte was featured in TV informercial promoting pro-abortion rights political action "The Most Exciting Women in Music" alongside Corina, Juliet Cuming, Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Lady Miss Kier (Deee-Lite), Kate Pierson (The B-52's), Crystal Waters, Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club).[53][54][55]

In February 2006, her diary, as well as a turntable, records, and other assorted ephemera from the early days of hip hop, were donated to the Smithsonian Institution.[56] This collection, entitled "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, the Rhymes, the Life" is a program to assemble objects of historical relevance to the hip hop genre from its inception.[57] MC Lyte served as the President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Recording Academy (the Grammy organization) from 2011 to 2013.[58] She was the first African American woman to serve in this role.[58]

She is the founder of Hip Hop Sisters Foundation,[59] which presented two $100,000 scholarships to college students each of the first two years of its inception and three $50,000 scholarships as a part of its #EducateOurMen initiative during its third year during the Soul Train Music Awards Red Carpet Preshow.[60]

• Lyte as a Rock (1988)
• Eyes on This (1989)
• Act Like You Know (1991)
• Ain't No Other (1993)
• Bad as I Wanna B (1996)
• Seven & Seven (1998)
• Da Undaground Heat, Vol. 1 (2003)
• Legend (2015)

• The Almost September EP with Almost September (2008)

• 2006 – VH1 Hip Hop Honors – Honoree[64][65]
• 2013 – Hip Hop Inaugural Ball – Honored with the Lifetime Achievement
• 2013 – BET Hip Hop Awards, Honored with the Icon Lifetime Achievement I Am Hip Hop Award for his contributions to hip-hop culture[13][66]
• 2019 – Trumpet Awards – Trail Blazer Award