MC Lyte is one of hip-hop's premier legends, and few femcees have reached her level of acclaim and influence since. However, as every other rapper under the sun, her lyrics– especially early ones– often fell under much scrutiny with differing or shifting societal standards of what can and can't appear in a rap song. To explain, Ray Daniels of the Culture Report podcast recently brought up lines from the New York rapper's 1991 cut "2 Young 4 What," which she released when she was 21 years of age. In them, she makes some worrisome remarks on the age gap between her and a potential male partner.
"It may sound nasty and it may sound mean, but I’m into little boys that are about seventeen," the 53-year-old rapped back in the day. "I don’t know why, but they put up a fight, and hot damn that excites the MC Lyte." "I gotta ask: why are we not up in arms about the MC Lyte line?" Ray Daniels inquired about these lines. When asked what to do about them, the host said that folks should hold her to the same standards of– in his words– the likes of Bill Cosby and Russell Simmons. "I want the same thing everyone else got, I want the same anger, and the same vigor, and the same grooming, that they talked about… I want the same anger for this!" he expressed.
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Ray Daniels Questions MC Lyte's Old Lyrics: Listen
Of course, this prompted a lot of debate on social media surrounding double standards and how seriously folks should take lyrics like these. Some defended MC Lyte's very young age when writing these lines, whereas others believe that folks don't make these excuses for men. What many did agree on is that these lyrics aged quite poorly. Still, four bars don't invalidate decades of hard work, and the Lyte as a Rock artist is still a leading figure for hip-hop these days.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if she responds to this discussion or her lyrics in any way. A lot changed since 1991, including the wider acceptance of rap by society. With that evolution came more perspectives than ever, ones that we must continually learn from to understand why bars like these aged as such. For more news and the latest updates on MC Lyte, check back in with HNHH.
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