Yo-Yo

Gebore Yolanda Whitaker in 1971 in Los Angeles, CA; dogter van 'n skool sekuriteitswag. Adresse: Platemaatskappy– Oos Wes Records Amerika, 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019.

“Hip Hop mag seksuele politiek geneem het uit die sale van swart akademie en in die "kap,” weerspieël Joan Morgan in 'n 1991 Village Voice review, “maar feministiese bly 'n woord so gelaai selfs 'n Superwoman soos [rapper] Queen Latifah stappe daaruit. So as hip hop se eerste self-geproklameerde feministiese aktivis, 19-jaar-oue Yo Yo gegee moet word om haar stutte op dapperheid alleen.” Inderdaad die jong rapper het arriveer op die toneel ry 'n golf van die gloed en suksesvolle vroulike rhymesters, maar sy beweer dat die mantel van die feminisme meer openlik as die meeste van haar maats. Met die hulp van die produsent-mentor Ice Cube, Yo Yo haarself gevestig as 'n kragtige werking in rap; then she launched the Intelligent Black Woman’s Coalition (IBWC) te “help sisters of all races make positive changes in their lives,” as she explained in Wese. Although the social agenda underlying many of her songs helped secure her place in the forefront of the hip-hop community, Yo Yo achieved fame primarily via her skills on the microphone. “She rhymes with charm and mischievous attitude,” commented Michael Small of Mense tydskrif, declaring also that Yo Yo “makes an unwavering call for self-respect that reaches her young urban audience as no polite pre-election speech could.”

Gebore Yolanda Whitaker in 1971, Yo Yo grew up in south central Los Angeles with her mother and seven siblings. A school security guard, Mev. Whitaker’s energy and determination provided an early example for her daughter. “My mother is my inspiration,” Yo Yo told The Source, daarop te let dat met haar eie kinders gegroei, Mev. Whitaker “werk met jong meisies met babas, n groep die huis kinders, jy weet, kinders soos ons.” Na haar ma se voorsprong, Yo Yo begin swaai by seksisme van 'n vroeë ouderdom. Deur die ouderdom 16 Sy verdien het nogal 'n reputasie by die George Washington Preparatory High School. “Ek het uit klop van 'n vrou se oogpunt want ek het gesien dat daar niemand praat vir die dames,” het sy gesê Wese. “En ek gee nie 'n damn as mans benoem vir my 'n feministiese. Dit is hoog tyd dat iemand vir mans terugvoer en gesê, "Ek is nie jou ho of jou teef, Ek is 'n sterk, intelligente swart vrou!',en”

Gou het die rapper Ice Cube–bekend vir sy werk met die groep N.W.A.–wou haar te ontmoet. Hy het uiteindelik haar genader by 'n vlooimark, “hou van die manier waarop sy hom sassed,” in the words of Dimitri Ehrlich in Pulse!, and eventually signed her to his production company, Street Knowledge. Despite having made part of his reputation on the basis of lyrics widely condemned by critics as misogynist, Ice Cube asked Yo Yo to lend her feminist perspective to a track on his album AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted. The two went head to head on “It’s a Man’s World,” and though critics were divided about who came out ahead, most admitted that Yo Yo held her own.

Ice Cube aided Yo Yo in brokering a deal with East West Records and then, he and his Lench Mob cohorts produced her 1991 debut album, Make Way for the Motherlode. Kim France of Rolling Stone instantly dubbed Yo Yo “the strongest female rapper to come out of the Los Angeles scene,” bewonder die rapper se taaiheid en haar “profemale agenda.” Alhoewel sy bedenkinge oor die preachiness van sommige van Yo Yo se Raps, 'n aantekening oor die rekord in die tydskrif se jaareinde kwessie het bygevoeg dat “die reëlings slammin ", as Steely as enigiets op Ice Cube se eie rekords, maar met 'n verrassende, vloeistof sensualiteit in kolle.” Maak Way opgelewer “Jy kan nie speel met my Yo Yo” en “Stompin’ to the 90’s” sowel as die “Intelligente Swart Vrou se volkslied”; op “Wat kan ek doen?” Ice Cube trap in te Spar met die ster. “Geseën met 'n verskeidenheid van rym style en 'n ongelooflike vermoë om die rol te speel, Yo Yo praat met die sterk punte, onsekerhede, f—-ups, en epifanieë besonder aan ons geslag,” opined Morgan in haar Village Voice review.

1991 het ook Yo Yo sluit Ice Cube op die groot skerm, though her role in John Singleton’s film Boyz N the Hood was far smaller than his. She contributed the song “Mama Don’t Take No Mess” to the movie’s soundtrack; Rolling Stone noted that she “raises a good ruckus” with her rapping. In the wake of her album, Yo Yo was also able to publicize the IBWC, and chapters around the country hosted discussions of current issues. Describing her outlook to Spin, Yo Yo remarked, “I’m not Sister Yo Yo, one of those Afrocentric, X-cap wearing niggas that won’t bust a gut for the cause.” Of her organizational goals she said, “I don’t want to be one of these sisters on a black thing mission. I’m on a sister-to-sister mission and that’s worldwide.”

Yo Yo’s sophomore record, Black Pearl, utilized a variety of producers with Ice Cube serving as executive producer. The album’s title song sampled the 1969 soul tune of the same name by Sonny Charles and The Checkmates. As Yo Yo remarked in her East West biography, “Back in the ’60s, that song meant a lot to my parents…. Young people don’t know. Being black or too dark was supposed to be ugly. Back then the song was so powerful. It meant so much to black people who had been scared to express themselves.” Morgan, writing for Spin, commented that ” Black Pearl certainly rocks harder. Its production mixes gospel R&B moments, sinewy bass lines, and Afro-club classics–a refreshing deviation from the South Central standard of ’70s funk and manic urban hysteria. Yo Yo’s skills have also improved. Haar vinnige-vuur dienslewering en sinkopasie toelaat om haar te kus afgelope hardcore diere soos sy druppels wetenskap met haar nuwe skool feminisme.”

Nog 'n hersiening Spin, egter, gekla dat die rekord was “gedemp.” Arion Berger van Entertainment Weekly opgemerk dat Yo Yo se “hoë, hees stem is soms moeilik om te hoor, en die rekord kronkel op die eerste, maar Black Pearl is 'n broodnodige reassertion van die vroulike waardigheid van die al-te-misogynistic Weskus rap toneel.” Die album sluit “Homegirl nie speel nie Dat,” 'n aanval op philandering mans genoem “Hoes,” en die verleidelike finale “Sal jy my,” 'n lied Rolling Stone Se Diane Cardwell nietemin het die album se “enigste ware laagtepunt” en “omtrent so sexy as monopolie.”

Dit kommentaar nieteenstaande, Yo Yo klaarblyklik het geen afrigting in die sake van romanse. Droom Hampton van The Source beskryf 'n nag op die dorp met die ster, waartydens Yo Yo is genader deur tellings van verslaan jongmanne. As Hampton waargeneem, “Yo Yo se "rondom die manier meisie’ posisie in die politiek van hip-hop het 'n ruimte vir Sistas wat weier om iemand te onvoorwaardelik ondersteun (brotha of geen) en wil, benewens opsigte, die vryheid om hul Thangs te skud–As die maat so beweeg hulle.” Na alles, die IBWC nooit iets nie 'n goeie tyd gesê.