Hip hop has always been said to be a man’s game. I don’t know if it’s the attitude, the misogynistic overtones in the music, or what that led to this mentality back in the day. Women have always seemed to have a hard time breaking in to the hip hop industry. Now there are of course some notable exceptions to this but by and large a woman who can rap and opt to keep her clothes on is a rarity in this genre. When you think of ladies in the CHH sphere, you automatically go to a few names such as Butta P, Lauren Natalie, Jackie Hill Perry, and up and comer Angie Rose. I know I probably missed your favorite but those were the first few that immediately came to my mind. There has always been a cry from the fans about not having or including enough women in the discussion when it came to CHH, well now we can add another new name to the list: the phenomenal lyricist Lauren Michel.
Lauren Michel is an artist who I was introduced to by the miracle of Soundcloud (never underestimate the power of social media new artists). I follow the King’s Dream Soundcloud account as well as listen to the King’s Dream podcast. A few months ago the Dream Junkies had a Good Religion Remix Contest and invited artists to remix a song from the Good Religion project that dropped a few months back. In August on the podcast, Ruslan announced that the winner of remix contest was Lauren Michel from Birmingham Alabama. King’s Dream flew her and a friend out to California to perform with them at their Open Mic event. This is a huge deal to get a co-sign from a roster of talented individuals like King’s Dream. In addition to announcing Michel as the winner, Ruslan also pubbed her Mixtape: The Re-Education of Lauren Michel.
This mixtape in the words of Ruslan is “fye” and I have to agree, this mixtape has excellent production and excellent raps. As you might think from the title of the project, Lauren Michel was influenced by the great Lauryn Hill. Ms. Michel rapped on some of Ms. Hill’s instrumentals and laced old interviews from Lauryn throughout the project. Lauren Michel can rap and rap well, and the clarity in her voice and tone was much appreciated. One complaint I have with some rappers (especially some of the ladies) is that they rap through their nose and sound very nasally. Lauren did not have that issue and she snapped on several of the tracks throughout the project. I suggest you listen to it and see what you have been missing. This project dropped back in July but no one is really talking about it, and that’s a shame. Consider yourself informed: you need to listen to this project and get to know who Ms. Lauren Michel is, I promise she’s going places.
Check out the competition winning track by Michel:
https://soundcloud.com/loxlove/junkiii
