The New Breed(s): Nikki Lynette

This woman is so far beyond current rap AND hiphop music, she was one of the first people I personally hesitate to say Nikki Lynette is an emcee. But she's probably the most of an emcee, let alone a femcee, of our time. I almost hesitate in calling her a femcee because of my own upbringing in categorizing, and to me she is that far left of hiphop music. However, she wins my heart as a femcee because she drops some of the dopest rhymes over the most laissez-faire of music. To hear her rap over Peter Bjorn & John's "Nothing to Worry About" and Guns 'N Roses "Welcome to the Jungle" was heart-racing at first because it hadn't been done in a looong time, but the feeling turned into joy because of what she has said. Musically, Nikki Lynette has every right to call herself Bad Ass!

I first caught wind of her while looking for the beat to PB+J's "Nothing to Worry About", and found her featured on 2Dopeboyz. At first I thought, "she sounds a lot like the other Nicki.... Ew." Fortunately, the next week HiphopDX posted a video of her fresh 16 Bars which she rips the world apart in one verse. That's when she won my attention!

What makes me place her amongst the greatest ladies to ever rock a mic is that she has a TRUE EDGINESS! A lot of other emcees and musicians that claim to be edgy and bad ass fail to make those sort of attempts in their music, but Nikki Lynette actually is. Most artists will say they've been through "so much" and fail to show it in their music, but Nikki Lynette actually does it. How many emcees will not only tell you a story about a trip to the psyche ward, literally, but take you on a wild (feeling) ride of their trip to the psyche ward as a teenager? Don't worry, I'll wait.... This particular femcee not only did that, but put it over a Guns N' Roses track ("Welcome to the Jungle") in her single "Take This Pill." Instead of just linking the video, I'll just post it here with the lyrics, and let you experience the ride yourself:

She dropped a mixtape last month called Roses N' Guns: The totally bad ass mixtape that rocks! that has almost every song she's done in her short time in the rap game, which is actually a lot. She has released a video for one of my favorite songs on the mixtape called "Civil War", which flaunts her ability to take on current issues head-on. And for someone to go in so soon is astonishing!

Not only is she lyrically dope, but her potential gravitates me towards her more. As I mentioned in the beginning of this series, most people, especially artists in hiphop, are afraid to step outside the box because of the complacent and conformant community, not to mention the fear of failure. However, you have artists like Nikki Lynette, who will tell you her story as soon as you meet her, Jean Grae, who will rebel against any and everybody, and Invincible, who will teach you how to be revolutionary, who all conform in not conforming, which makes them as hiphop as it gets.