she was the first female solo rapper to release a full studio album score a gold single and be
nominated for a grammy iconic hip-hop pioneer m.c light took the rap world by storm upon her debut
in the late 80s and immediately commanded respect from the male dominated industry she also dealt
with her fair share of professional and personal issues from a major beef with another female
rapper to battling for the rights to her name and people constantly questioning her sexuality
lana michelle moore better known as mc light was raised by her mother in brooklyn new york she was
exposed to a variety of musical genres during her childhood in her neck of the woods that was mostly
comprised of people from the caribbean she heard a lot of reggae and dancehall when she would go to
spanish harlem where her grandmother lived it was 24 7 hip hop then when she'd make her way over to
queens she'd get her fill of traditional r b light counts some of her own personal musical influences
as rock kim run dmc curtis blow and sultan peppa her dream profession when she grew up
changed every time the wind blew one minute she wanted to be a teacher the next a doctor
eventually she would begin rapping at the age of 12 and adopt the stage name sparkle it was clear
as anyone within earshot that heard her spit would agree that she had something special three years
later light would find herself at a manhattan nightclub where she met a guy she called tony tony
later went on to be known as dj clark hand light wound up going over to his basement studio to lay
down what would end up being her very first single in 1987 at the age of 16 light released that song
called i crammed to understand you a story about a man named sam who is addicted to
crack cocaine the inspiration for the lyrics came from light's own personal experiences
of coming into contact with the heroine and crack addicts at the rehabilitation center
in the hospital where her mother worked as well as the ones she'd witnessed on the street in
her grandmother's neighborhood another couple of major players in light's success were milk d and
gizmo of the hip-hop duo audio 2. they all grew up and pursued their musical dreams together the duo
even had lights back when it came to her securing her first record deal milde's father took matters
into his own hands by starting a label for his son to release his music on called first priority the
label then formed a distribution relationship with atlantic records before that could happen though
there was a catch atlantic had to agree to they would have to give light a deal in may 1988 she
released her first album titled light as a rock with which she became the first female solo rapper
to release a full studio album it featured the title track paper thin and 10 dis a diss track
response to bronx bred female rapper antoinette light and antoinette had a beef with one another
that according to light was really brought on by the men in their company antoinette had been
accused of stealing the beat from audio two's hit top villain for her track i got an attitude the
duo wanted to say something but being men they didn't think it was a good look to go at her
so they volunteered light for the job they went back and forth for a period of time taking shots
at each other in various songs eventually the two women would squash everything when they took to
the stage together in 2018 along with several other female hip-hop artists for the queens of
hip-hop concert antoinette made the first move by coming to light's dressing room they had a
real heart-to-heart conversation where light took the opportunity to apologize and admitted
that she didn't realize the power in her tongue and how it could ruin someone's career and life
light quickly followed up her debut album the following year with eyes on this it featured the
hit single cha-cha-cha which peaked at number one on the billboard hot rap singles chart
as well as cappuccino and stop look listen as the 80s ended and the 90s began light then embarked
on a relationship with the producer of mtv's hip-hop music show yomtv raps todd brown also
known as todd wang at one point she would reveal in an interview that they were engaged todd later
said that the engagement story really started off as a joke made up by one of the hosts of the show
however when later asked about her quote marriage in an interview light decided to just go along
with it instead of setting the record straight many would attribute the reason why to her using
the rumor for publicity more rumors about light's love life as well as her sexuality
would continue to circulate throughout her career but we'll get into those details a little later
unlike her first two albums being considered hip-hop classics lights third effort 1991's act
like you know received mixed reviews the album still managed to produce the successful singles
poor georgie and went in love on a 2019 episode of untold stories of hip-hop light spoke about
making the decision to bring her sexy back for the project by wearing more revealing outfits for
the promo shoot interestingly enough her label reprimanded her for the pics and told her to
go put her jeans back on light didn't really understand what the problem was since as a woman
in the male-dominated field of hip-hop she was well aware of the expectation and encouragement
covertly or overtly for women to use their looks and body to get attention and advance their career
her label let her know that it wasn't necessary for her to play that card because her fans already
loved her just the way she was ain't no other light's fourth album would drop in the summer
of 1993 the first single and smash hit roughneck would grab another number one spot on the rap
singles chart a top 10 position on the r b hip-hop songs chart and break the top 40 on the hot 100.
the song also secured light two more first the first female rapper to achieve a gold
single certification as a solo artist and the first to earn a grammy award nomination
fun fact light revealed in a 2021 interview with hot 97 radio station
that left eye from r b trio tlc recorded a verse and was supposed to be featured on the track but
her record label didn't approve it after the song grabbed a grammy nomination though light
happened to run into la reid who proceeded to profusely apologize for the obvious bad decision
as hot as light solo career was she was still down to collaborate with other artists and did so on
several standouts like self-destruction as part of krs-1 stop the violence movement janet jackson's
you want this and brandy's i want to be down remix by 1996 light was ready to move on to a new label
and drop another project the r b and dance music heavy bad as i want to be would feature the two
most commercially successful singles of her career keep on keeping on with the r b group
escape and cole rock a party with missy elliot her next two albums received a lackluster reception
and had little commercial impact a 12-year hiatus would follow before light would release her next
album her eighth and last to date title legend in 2015. while in the midst of promoting her
new project more gossip about her love life would take center stage some media speculated
that she had entered a relationship with r b singer janelle monae neither janelle nor
light have ever confirmed the rumor a few years prior she was also asked to respond to a lyric
by tyler the creator on the track rella of hop collective odd futures debut album tyler rhymes
let's get it poppin like mc light around some light told hip hop dx that she did feel insulted
and found the act to be very irresponsible actress tashina arnold's name was also thrown around there
was talk surrounding her having left her husband to be with light those rumors though were later
denied by tashina herself in january 2017 light posted a photo of herself looking very cute and
cozy next to a man with a caption expressing her gratefulness to god for bringing true love into
her life it came as a big surprise to everyone since she's never been one to talk about her
personal life that man marine corps veteran and entrepreneur john wyche whom she met on match.com
would go on to become her husband that summer three years later light would file for divorce
when the couple married it seemed that people were finally ready to let the speculation about
her sexuality go but as soon as she announced their separation they started up again almost two
years later she spoke to the ladies at the reel about how distraught she was over the decision
to call it quits it's hard in the beginning but you realize to have happiness doesn't mean you
have to remain together and it doesn't mean that you are a failure because the marriage failed
it's all ego you just have to be able to let go when asked why the process was taking so long
light said matter-of-factly that it's because her soon-to-be ex refuses to sign the papers
a professional battle that light was engaged in for decades finally ended with a win in 2021 she
announced in december that she now owned the trademark to her name she expressed in a video
on instagram unboxing the official paperwork how important it is to own your own brand music is far
from light's only talent she's also an author motivational speaker philanthropist actress
and voice over artist she purposely designed her career that way after her very first manager told
her that they needed to work together to make her brand popular whether she had a hit record out or
not her voiceover work especially as the announcer for dozens of hollywood events including the bet
awards emmys and grammys has been very successful and lucrative currently she's got her hands full
starring in the new all black sitcom partners in rhyme where she also holds co-creator writer and
executive producer credits as light's character attempts to create a superstar out of her niece
the series she hopes gives audiences a new perspective and resolves some generational
gaps in the music industry thanks for watching please like share and comment also don't forget
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