Female Rappers

Newark, New Jersey native Dana Elaine Owens, known worldwide by her stage name Queen Latifah, has enjoyed a long career in hip hop music. She began as an amateur beat boxer for the group Ladies Fresh and went on to become a part of the group Flavor Unit. While performing with Flavor Unit, Queen Latifah … Read more

Australia native Iggy Azalea, born Amethyst Amelia Kelly in 1990, has been in the hip hop and rap music industry for six years, accruing a modest Iggy Azalea net worth of $6 million. Her income has been generated during her professional career in music, which began before she turned 16 years of age. In fact, … Read more

Angel Haze, born Raeen Roes Wilson in 1991, grew up in Detroit in a religious household. In fact, she has gone on record as saying that her family belonged to what she has called a cult, a religious organization called Greater Apostolic Faith. She reported that the cult told her and other members what to … Read more

Hip hop recording artist and actress Eve set her sights on making music in high school. Born in 1978 in Philadelphia, she began focusing on becoming a legitimate performer by forming her own hip hop groups and writing music well before she graduated from school. She also gained experience by joining her school’s choir and … Read more

Born in Harlem in 1991, Azealia Banks grew up in a self-described abusive household. When she was two years old, her father died from pancreatic cancer. His death left Azealia’s mother so distraught that she became emotionally and physically abusive to both Banks and Banks’ older sister. Both girls endured years of physical torment until … Read more

The daughter of former country music heartthrob Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus was born in 1992 and initially named Destiny Hope. Her family noted that she was always smiling, thus giving her the nicknames “Smiley” and later “Miley”. The latter nickname stayed with her, and in 2008 she changed her name legally to Miley Ray … Read more

MC Lyte, whose birth name is Lana Moorer, is hailed as one of the leading hip hop feminists in the world of music today. She came onto the music scene in the 1980s at a time when women had few female hip hop stars to look up to and model themselves after personally and professionally. … Read more

Born in Barbados in 1988, Rihanna moved to the U.S. at the age of 16 to pursue her musical career. She was invited to perform for Jay-Z, who was then the CEO of Def Jam Records. Rapper Jay-Z signed her to the label, and she soon was recording her own albums, the first of which was Music … Read more