Respectez-nous as We Feminize the Rapped Rhyme
Ladies first , there ' s no time to rehearse
I ’ m divine and my mind expands throughout the universe
A female rapper with the message to send The Queen Latifah is a perfect specimen .
Stimulated by this new wave of women artists gaining prominence and respect in American hip-hop , things started to evolve in France as well . In the late 1990s , a rapper from the French-Caribbean island of Guadeloupe named Lady Laistee ( née : Aline Farran ) emerged onto the scene . Her last name “ Laistee ” means “ style ” when the word is reversed and restated in Verlan , which is a linguistic code that is spoken by urban youths in France . After working alongside one of the pioneer groups of French hip-hop ( NTM ) and issuing a few songs on compilation albums ( notably “ Respecte mon attitude ,” which appeared on the release entitled “ Cool Sessions 2 ”), Lady Laistee enjoyed popular success not previously seen for a female performer . Following this small bit of initial visibility via her contributions on those male-dominated compilations , Lady Laistee put forth a few successful albums of her own , two of which deserve denoting . For example , the first of these releases , entitled “ Black Mama ,” became a top selling record in France , a first for a woman rapper . The most popular track of this groundbreaking album was the song “ For the ladies .” As its title suggests , the song ’ s lyrics challenged everyone in France who dismissed females as second-class citizens , as shown here :
Lower your arms , my status as a woman makes me excluded
The closed universe , past up , let ’ s share the monopoly ( ... )
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