MC Lyte (originally, Moorer, Lana)

MC Lyte (originally, Moorer, Lana), one of the most successful female rappers; b. Queens, N.Y., Oct. 11, 1970. MC Lyte’s father, First Priority Records head Nat Robinson, released her debut single in 1986. That record, “I Cram to Understand You (Sam),” graphically upbraided a boyfriend for pursuing other women. Her brothers, known as Milk and Gizmo of Audio Two, produced her 1988 debut album Lyte as a Rock. With an emphasis on social commentary accompanied by a heavy beat, the album established Lyte’s signature sound. A year later, she broadened her message with her next album, Eyes on This, which featured “I’m Not Having It,” an epic on the burgeoning AIDS epidemic. Used in a public service announcement about the disease, it also helped Lyte become the first rapper to play Carnegie Hall when she was invited to perform at an AIDS benefit.

Act Like You Know (1993) thickened her sound with soul samples. Her #14 R&B hit “When in Love,” shared producers with new-jack swingers Bell Biv De Voe. Fans saw this as softening her sound. Two years later, she responded by cranking out the nastier-in-every-way Ain’t No Other. It featured her biggest hit “Ruffneck,” which rose to #35 pop, #10 R&B and went gold, the first single by a female rap artist to do so.

In the mid-1990s, Lyte started to appear as an actress, playing roles in the sitcoms Moesha and In the House, and the show New York Undercover. She also appeared in the film Train Ride. She contributed the song “Keep On Keeping On” to the Sunset Park soundtrack, produced by Jermaine Dupri, and it, too, went gold. She continued working with Dupri on her next album, 1996^/s Bad As I Wanna Be. The record received mixed reviews, but generated another gold single, “Cold Rock a Party,” a collaboration with Missy Elliot. Seven & Seven was a more mature effort, featuring Elliot, LL Cool J, and Giovanni.

Discography

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); Badder Than B-Fore (1998); Seven & Seven (1998).

—Brock Helander