Shelly B

WOMEN IN HIP HOP: TRIBES’ Top 5 Female Emcees Shaping the Future of Hip Hop

DOWNLOAD THE FREE MIXTAPE NOW!

Where are all the really dope female emcees? was the sparking question that ignited this Spring 2012 edition of TRIBES Magazine. While it became apparent immediately that some purveyors of pop music and commercial hip hop may want us to believe that there aren’t many worthwhile women out there rapping today, make no mistake! Women have not fled the Hip Hop game.

They are out there rapping for their lives and, if the eager response to TRIBES Magazine’s search for the most talented female rappers on the indie scene is any indication, they are steady on the grind and very much a part of Hip Hop’s future. Nearly two-dozen artist submissions and fifty tracks later, TRIBES has compiled a Top 5 from the nominations. From shoe fetishes to paper stacking, loving their children to sexing their men, being independent and maintaining their faith in a higher power, these women rap about life, their dreams and the communities that gave rhythm to their flows and taught them about love.  Not marginalized figures or victims raging against the power machine, these ladies are perfectly confident in their right to rap and cleat about their place in a seat at the Hip Hop table.

Step outside of the mainstream box and meet several female emcees beating the heart of Hip Hop from the underground. Read the reviews now in the TRIBES Magazine Spring 2012 issue!

SHELLY B. – The Queen of North Carolina Hip Hop

Women’s History Month 2012 – Cover Story

ON HER DIVA

Exclusive interview with TRIBES Magazine

By Gabriel Rich

Photos by Emanuel Cole

SHELLY B is not one  to take her work as a  Hip Hop emcee lightly. The Raleigh native has worked far too hard to gain her status as a pioneer in both the Triangle Hip Hop scene and nationally. Strong, dedicated to her   craft and on a mission, Shelly B.’s versatility is what sets her apart from the rest of the pack. You have rappers that can entertain but aren’t lyricist and there are wordsmiths that can fashion a rhyme but can’t entertain. Neither is a problem for Shelly B. She’s more than capable of giving you something for both your mind and your body and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that knows her. After all, Shelly B’s been in the game long enough to know about pleasing fans.

Shelly B. represents a number of firsts for female rappers in North Carolina.  She was the first female rapper from the state to be featured in the Source Magazine’s “Unsigned Hype.” Shelly B. was also the first female artist to make it on Allhiphop.com’s “Breeding Ground” section.  The winner of numerous awards in her home state, Shelly B. is a leader in NC Hip Hop and a leader among Indie artists on the Hip Hop scene. Challenge her to a battle and she’ll clean her claws on you just to let you know why she is who she is. TRIBES Magazine interviewed Shelly B during her photo shoot for the TRIBES Magazine Spring 2012 Women in Hip Hop edition.

TRIBES: You’ve made a name for yourself in the Triangle and beyond.  How are you being received now?

SHELLY B: I think I’ve always gotten love from this area.  It was a little tough when I first started, because at that point in time, the idea of a female emcee was foreign to the entire industry, let alone
 the local industry.  There weren’t very many females in this area grinding and going to the studio.  So in the beginning, I had to fight for my respect; for a couple of years.  But when I started putting myself out there, I had that determination to be known and make sure everybody knew who Shelly B was.  I started doing every talent show and open mic I could find.

I started calling up promoters. I called the radio station until they put me on.  I got my actual start on the Larry Pickett Show, which was like a local talent show that was on TV in the Raleigh area.
That’s where a lot of people know me from. So I always say that’s where I got my start.  After I made my appearance on that show, I started getting my name out there and the respect just grew.

TRIBES: How would you rate the Hip Hop scene in the Triangle and the Carolinas?

SHELLY B: I think with anything, growth is going to get it where it needs to be, to its ultimate destination. There definitely needs to be more growth and a bit more unity here but the talent here is out of this world as far as singers, rappers, producers…just entertainment professionals, period.  This is one of the most talented markets that I know of.  I think that with people getting a bit more in touch with the business side of it, coming together, unity and all that good stuff, we’ll be alright.  But we’re getting there.  Carolina’s got next…No. We got now!  [laughs] READ MORE NOW.

SHELLY B. – The Queen of North Carolina Hip Hop

Women’s History Month 2012 – Cover Story

ON HER DIVA

Exclusive interview with TRIBES Magazine

By Gabriel Rich

Photos by Emanuel Cole

SHELLY B is not one  to take her work as a  Hip Hop emcee lightly. The Raleigh native has worked far too hard to gain her status as a pioneer in both the Triangle Hip Hop scene and nationally. Strong, dedicated to her   craft and on a mission, Shelly B.’s versatility is what sets her apart from the rest of the pack. You have rappers that can entertain but aren’t lyricist and there are wordsmiths that can fashion a rhyme but can’t entertain. Neither is a problem for Shelly B. She’s more than capable of giving you something for both your mind and your body and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that knows her. After all, Shelly B’s been in the game long enough to know about pleasing fans.

Shelly B. represents a number of firsts for female rappers in North Carolina.  She was the first female rapper from the state to be featured in the Source Magazine’s “Unsigned Hype.” Shelly B. was also the first female artist to make it on Allhiphop.com’s “Breeding Ground” section.  The winner of numerous awards in her home state, Shelly B. is a leader in NC Hip Hop and a leader among Indie artists on the Hip Hop scene. Challenge her to a battle and she’ll clean her claws on you just to let you know why she is who she is. TRIBES Magazine interviewed Shelly B during her photo shoot for the TRIBES Magazine Spring 2012 Women in Hip Hop edition.

TRIBES: You’ve made a name for yourself in the Triangle and beyond.  How are you being received now?

SHELLY B: I think I’ve always gotten love from this area.  It was a little tough when I first started, because at that point in time, the idea of a female emcee was foreign to the entire industry, let alone
 the local industry.  There weren’t very many females in this area grinding and going to the studio.  So in the beginning, I had to fight for my respect; for a couple of years.  But when I started putting myself out there, I had that determination to be known and make sure everybody knew who Shelly B was.  I started doing every talent show and open mic I could find.

I started calling up promoters. I called the radio station until they put me on.  I got my actual start on the Larry Pickett Show, which was like a local talent show that was on TV in the Raleigh area.
That’s where a lot of people know me from. So I always say that’s where I got my start.  After I made my appearance on that show, I started getting my name out there and the respect just grew.

TRIBES: How would you rate the Hip Hop scene in the Triangle and the Carolinas?

SHELLY B: I think with anything, growth is going to get it where it needs to be, to its ultimate destination. There definitely needs to be more growth and a bit more unity here but the talent here is out of this world as far as singers, rappers, producers…just entertainment professionals, period.  This is one of the most talented markets that I know of.  I think that with people getting a bit more in touch with the business side of it, coming together, unity and all that good stuff, we’ll be alright.  But we’re getting there.  Carolina’s got next…No. We got now!  [laughs] READ MORE NOW.

DOWNLOAD TRIBES’ 2012 ALL FEMALE HIP HOP MIXTAPE!

 GET ONE OF THE HOTTEST MIXTAPES OF 2012! 

DOWNLOAD FREE! 

WARNING: Parental Advisory! Some tracks contain explicit lyrics! 

Where are all the really dope female emcees? was the sparking question that ignited this Spring 2012 edition of TRIBES Magazine. While it became apparent immediately that some purveyors of pop music and commercial hip hop may want us to believe that there aren’t many worthwhile women out there rapping today, make no mistake! Women have not fled the Hip Hop game. They are out there rapping for their lives and, if the eager response to TRIBES Magazine’s search for the most talented female rappers on the indie scene is any indication, they are steady on the grind and very much a part of Hip Hop’s future. Nearly two-dozen artist submissions and fifty tracks later, TRIBES has compiled a Top 5 from the nominations. From shoe fetishes to paper stacking, loving their children to sexing their men, being independent and maintaining their faith in a higher power, these women rap about life, their dreams and the communities that gave rhythm to their flows and taught them about love.  Not marginalized figures or victims raging against the power machine, these ladies are perfectly confident in their right to rap and cleat about their place in a seat at the Hip Hop table. Step outside of the mainstream box and meet 5 Female Emcees beating the heart of Hip Hop from the underground. Featuring the hot new single, “On My Diva” by NC’s Queen of Hip Hop, SHELLY B.,; KRISTEN B. and KARINA LOPEZ bring the New York flavor; southern raps’ LADY CAM from Texas, ACE REIGN representing Chocolate City, and Greensboro’s own TREZURE are also featured! DOWNLOAD FREE!

View the latest issue of TRIBES Magazine now!

DOWNLOAD TRIBES MAGAZINE’S 2012 ALL FEMALE HIP HOP MIXTAPE!

 GET ONE OF THE HOTTEST MIXTAPES OF 2012! DOWNLOAD FREE! 

WARNING: Parental Advisory! Some tracks contain explicit lyrics! 

In celebration of our SPRING 2012  Issue, TRIBES Magazine presents the 2012 ALL FEMALE HIP HOP MIXTAPE, featuring some of the hottest female rappers on the scene today.

Where are all the really dope female emcees? was the sparking question that ignited this Spring 2012 edition of TRIBES Magazine. While it became apparent immediately that some purveyors of pop music and commercial hip hop may want us to believe that there aren’t many worthwhile women out there rapping today, make no mistake! Women have not fled the Hip Hop game. They are out there rapping for their lives and, if the eager response to TRIBES Magazine’s search for the most talented female rappers on the indie scene is any indication, they are steady on the grind and very much a part of Hip Hop’s future. Nearly two-dozen artist submissions and fifty tracks later, TRIBES has compiled a Top 5 from the nominations. From shoe fetishes to paper stacking, loving their children to sexing their men, being independent and maintaining their faith in a higher power, these women rap about life, their dreams and the communities that gave rhythm to their flows and taught them about love.  Not marginalized figures or victims raging against the power machine, these ladies are perfectly confident in their right to rap and cleat about their place in a seat at the Hip Hop table.

Step outside of the mainstream box and meet 5 Female Emcees beating the heart of Hip Hop from the underground. Featuring the hot new single, “On My Diva” by NC’s Queen of Hip Hop, SHELLY B.,; KRISTEN B. and KARINA LOPEZ bring the New York flavor; southern raps’ LADY CAM from Texas, ACE REIGN representing Chocolate City, and Greensboro’s own TREZURE are also featured!

DOWNLOAD FREE!

TRIBES Magazine Spring 2012 – Women in Hip Hop. View Now.

MY FIRST SONY 

I was seven years old when I met Salt and Pepa. My mom bought me an apple-red My First Sony and a cassette copy of their 1988 album, A Salt with A Deadly Pepa, for the sixteen-hour road trip to Georgia with my Aunt Carolyn and a bucket of cold fried chicken. That car ride with two princess pioneers of the Hip Hop movement and the hours I’ve spent in the years since, chanting their rhymes and living the word of female emcees like our winner, Lauryn Hill, and others like Lil Kim (the baddest b’ on Mobb Deep’s “Quiet Storm”), Queen Latifah (“Who you callin’ a bitch!?”), and my personal all-time favorite, Rah Digga, gave me something very special that carried me through the insecurities of adolescence, the difficult teenage years and on into the present.

As purposeful as everything my mother did for me then, that gift of audacious role models, speaking boldly from the margins was invaluable. Salt and Pepa and the women that picked up the mantle of Hip Hop and helped carry it onto worldwide popularity were in their very being progressive, political, feminist, and committed to opening doors not only closed for women in the music industry but for women and marginalized people in society-at-large.

We honor these iconic women and the artists that carry on their legacy in the Spring 2012: Women in Hip Hop edition of TRIBES Magazine,  featuring SHELLY B and TRIBES Top 5 FEMALE EMCEES to Watch, because they were groundbreakers that did things never before done (like talking about sex on MTV in frank terms to curb the epic scourge of AIDS on the nineties). They found transcendence over sexism, racism, homophobia, and social disenfranchisement through Hip Hop,  not in spite of it, and, contrary to popular notions about misogyny and rap music, they teach us that Hip Hop was never a boys club and assert that the Hip Hop community has always welcomed them and supported their art. I hope you will too.

ALANA JONES

Editor, TRIBES Magazine

DOWNLOAD TRIBES’ 2012 ALL FEMALE HIP HOP MIXTAPE!

 GET ONE OF THE HOTTEST MIXTAPES OF 2012! DOWNLOAD FREE! 

WARNING: Parental Advisory! Some tracks contain explicit lyrics! 

In celebration of our coming SPRING 2012  Issue (available March 2012), TRIBES Magazine presents the 2012 ALL FEMALE HIP HOP MIXTAPE, featuring some of the hottest female rappers on the scene today.

Where are all the really dope female emcees? was the sparking question that ignited this Spring 2012 edition of TRIBES Magazine. While it became apparent immediately that some purveyors of pop music and commercial hip hop may want us to believe that there aren’t many worthwhile women out there rapping today, make no mistake! Women have not fled the Hip Hop game. They are out there rapping for their lives and, if the eager response to TRIBES Magazine’s search for the most talented female rappers on the indie scene is any indication, they are steady on the grind and very much a part of Hip Hop’s future. Nearly two-dozen artist submissions and fifty tracks later, TRIBES has compiled a Top 5 from the nominations. From shoe fetishes to paper stacking, loving their children to sexing their men, being independent and maintaining their faith in a higher power, these women rap about life, their dreams and the communities that gave rhythm to their flows and taught them about love.  Not marginalized figures or victims raging against the power machine, these ladies are perfectly confident in their right to rap and cleat about their place in a seat at the Hip Hop table.

Step outside of the mainstream box and meet 5 Female Emcees beating the heart of Hip Hop from the underground. Featuring the hot new single, “On My Diva” by NC’s Queen of Hip Hop, SHELLY B.,; KRISTEN B. and KARINA LOPEZ bring the New York flavor; southern raps’ LADY CAM from Texas, ACE REIGN representing Chocolate City, and Greensboro’s own TREZURE are also featured!

DOWNLOAD FREE!

WATCH FOR THE SPRING 2012  TRIBES MAGAZINE ISSUE FEATURING A SPECIAL MUSIC TRIBE FEATURE on these WOMEN IN HIP HOP!

GET READY FOR THE SPRING 2012 ISSUE OF TRIBES MAGAZINE!

WATCH THE QUEEN OF NORTH CAROLINA HIP HOP, SHELLY B.!  Get the exclusive interview and photo shoot with TRIBES MAGAZINE for the coming SPRING 2012 issue in celebration of Women’s History Month and WOMEN IN HIP HOP! Watch for more details to the HOTTEST TRIBES issue yet – Spring 2012 TRIBES Magazine, the WOMEN IN HIP HOP ISSUE – coming March 2012.

Coming Spring 2012 – NC HIP HOP DIVA, SHELLY B! Exclusive interview and photos!

Shelly B., the Queen of North Carolina Hip Hop! Photo by Emanuel Cole

TRIBES Magazine presents the WOMEN IN HIP HOP issue featuring NC hip hop diva, SHELLY B. Featuring Exclusive Photos, Video and Interview!  

Coming Spring 2012!