By Odeisel

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Planet Ill as part of our coverage will be presenting various albums by female emcees that have left indelible marks on the landscape via market performance, stylistic advancement, artistic brilliance, or paradigm shifting execution.  There are a wide variety of femcees whose albums made the list. Some are widely lauded, others may have been given the side eye at one time or another, but all of these albums have a distinct relevance in the history of female Hip-Hop and in the overall course of rap history. First up:  Funkdafied.

We haven’t heard from Da Brat for a while, and as she has grown up, she’s become fairly polarizing. Some ride with her despite her occasional hood spazzings (the most recent of which resulted in her getting sent  up north) while others have never gotten over her initial debut where she looked like the daughter of Snoop Dog in appearance and a Redman knockoff with her funkdafied sensibilities. Both sides have a point with her ferocious Chi-town flow delivering some impressive performances in guest spots through the years, while Jermaine Dupri’s penchant for “flattery” back then was evident.

But in 1994, Da Brat did something no other solo woman had ever done on the mic.  Not MC Lyte. Not Latifa. Her debut Funkdafied was the first certified platinum album by a solo female rapper. Think about that for a second. Hip-Hop’s first commercial recording was 1979’s Rapper’s Delight and Funkdafied dropped 15 years later. Da Brat wasn’t pushing it like Salt N Pepa. She couldn’t ride positivity or her crew like Queen Latifah. She didn’t have that instant lyrical respect like MC Lyte. She wasn’t from New York, She wasn’t from Los Angeles, and the south wasn’t the rock that it is now.  She didn’t have a major label like Def Jam or Death Row or a particular movement backing her. What she did have, however was impresario Jermaine Dupri.

Jermaine had a penchant for melody. He had a strong track record with funky R&B ( Xscape, TLC). He had also had tremendous success with kiddie group Kriss Kross. His strengths were funky basslines and poppish arrangements that had enough soul to be taken seriously but were built for the clubs. Jermaine focused on Da Brat’s energetic personality and her crass, yet charming raw demeanor. Her look was tomboyish; rocking those Snoop-like French braids and Treach-like clothing. Beneath that brusque exterior was the defiance of youth and the refusal to be disregarded and that energy was essential to making Funkdafied the success that it would eventually become.

Lyrically there wasn’t much to this album, but it was in line with its contemporaries for the most part.  What carried the album aside from Da Brat’s charisma and flow was the production. Dupri ran a guerilla warfare stick and move approach.  Each song was short and to the point and the entire work was a little over a half hour.  You never got the chance to get tired of Da Brat’s limited subject matter or occasional bouts with repetition. The production was as the title would suggest, funky with tons of basslines and live guitars.  Construction was clean, catchy, and easy to sing along; tailor-made for radio. Whether or not you ride with Funkdafied, its undeniable success secures its place in important albums in Hip-Hop history.