Why MC Sha Rock is Still the Luminary Icon

“What up, y’all? And do-do it up.
And Sha-Rock is gonna show you how you get real rough”
— “That’s The Joint” by Funky 4 + 1

As a member of the group Funky 4 + 1, MC Sha Rock is the first prominent female emcee in Hip Hop history and is considered one of the greatest female Hip Hop artists of all time. Thus, her influence on other female emcees has been profound, with legendary female artists such as MC Lyte citing her as an influence. And her pioneering accomplishments have earned MC Sha Rock the titles “Mother of the Mic” and “Luminary Icon.”

But while her achievement as a female emcee was indeed groundbreaking, focusing on this milestone exclusively risks obscuring MC Sha Rock’s broader contribution to Hip Hop culture as one of the first emcees in Hip Hop, period.

When the Funky 4 + 1 signed with Enjoy Records, they became the first Hip Hop group to receive a record deal. When they accompanied Deborah Harry on Saturday Night Live, they became the first Hip Hop group to be on national television. Rolling Stone has called their song “That’s the Joint” one of the greatest Hip Hop songs of all time. And MC Sha Rock has been a noted influence on legendary male emcees, such as Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run-DMC.

Now, MC Sha Rock is sharing how she attained her success so that others can benefit from her experience. And in doing so, she is letting us know that her contributions are not only her accomplishments in the industry or the music that she’s made, but also the process by which she achieved her goals - namely, passionate and consistent devotion to developing her emcee skills, improving herself and connecting to the culture she loves.

To understand how MC Sha Rock developed her life approach, it is important to consider the role Hip Hop played in her life. MC Sha Rock grew up in the South Bronx in the 1970s when New York City — and the Bronx in particular — was plagued with poverty and crime.

She told me, “Growing up in New York with it being drug-infested — and the ‘stickup kids’ — you had all of this craziness going on around you.”

At an early age, music was a fun escape for her.  Her parents filled the house with the sounds of artists from a range of genres, including jazz, soul, R&B and country. But what really captured MC Sha Rock’s attention was how different artists would connect with the audience.

“I grew up on the Millie Jacksons, the James Browns, the Elvis Presleys, the Nikki Giovannis, the Tom Joneses. It opened up the love and respect for the artist and the music for how they put everything together. I got to have a love for the music and artistry in general,” she said. “And I always used to like the way these people commanded their crowds. How they always had the engagement — the partygoers, the crowds, whoever was there at that time — how they mesmerized them.”

Soon, MC Sha Rock found that she was on the ground floor of a new culture — Hip Hop — that was developing in the South Bronx. Hip Hop was a broad cultural movement that consisted of “the Five Elements,” which are emceeing, deejaying, b-boying or b-girling, graffiti art and knowledge.

And she saw that by getting directly involved — by contributing to this culture — she had a strong buffer against the potentially damaging effects of poverty. “I’ve lived it. I’ve seen the violence. This is the reason why we embraced these elements. It was a way for us to get away,” she explained. “For me, as a woman growing up, Hip Hop and pop culture, it has always meant peace, unity, love and having fun.”

Hip Hop culture also gave MC Sha Rock a sense of purpose. Research suggests that one of the keys to thriving is the ability to find a “meaningful” or “purposeful” life, in which one uses his or her strengths in the service of something “greater” than oneself. And having a sense of purpose has tangible positive health consequences.

For example, one research study followed more than 6,000 people over the course of 14 years and found that those who lived longer were more likely to have had a sense of purpose.

MC Sha Rock’s involvement with Hip Hop culture started with break dancing. “I was a b-girl. I started break dancing before I became an emcee. I started on the streets of New York, in the community centers. I’m there — B-girl in ’76 — I’m there.”

To be sure, the path was not easy. First, there was no way of knowing that Hip Hop would become the widespread phenomenon it is now and no guarantee that the performers would be accepted.  “What’s so crazy is that we’re talking about the ’70’s, way before 1979 when the onslaught of rap music began. In my era, radio wasn’t playing black music,” she explained. “They didn’t want to play any type of rap music at all. Radio turned their back on it. We’re not talking the ’80s, where the world accepted rap music and Hip Hop when they heard the Sugar Hill Gang.”

Moreover, she and others who participated in Hip Hop culture still feared for their safety when performing. “We used to have to walk over dead bodies and people shooting up the clubs, and stickup kids,” she said.

A strong sense of purpose, coupled with formidable barriers to achieving this purpose, led MC Sha Rock to focus fiercely on developing her skills. And one day, when the opportunity to join the very artists she emulated presented itself, she was ready.  “I had the opportunity to audition for a Hip Hop group that was going to be the Funky Four. And I went home and practiced and practiced and practiced,” she said. “And recited my lines that I had wrote in front of a mirror with a broom, a comb, anything I could get my hands on. But I knew from watching these people, these artists, growing up, that I wanted it - to be entertainment.”

What MC Sha Rock is talking about could be considered conscientiousness. Specifically, people with a strong sense of purpose and motivation may develop higher levels of conscientiousness — or the ability to envision a goal, to plan and to carry out the steps necessary to achieve that goal. This conscientiousness appears to be associated with improved health behaviors and well-being, as well as increased longevity.

This conscientious approach to being a break dancer and emcee marked the beginning of a philosophy that MC Sha Rock has continued throughout her entire life: Become your best through constant practice. “Anything you do, you have to do it to the best of your ability and practice. Some people are natural, and some people have to practice,” MC Sha Rock explained. “I was a natural, but I also practiced as well. If it hit me in the shower, just saying a rhyme over and over again so I can perfect it.”

And the pressure to deliver was intense. “The issue at hand was that you were ready to rock the next week or the next day for your peers who came to see you. The only pressure that you had was being the best that you could be and having your rhymes ready so that you can get another jam and have them come out there again,” she said. “The only pressure was to make sure that you were on point with your rhymes the next time you came to that park jam, schoolyard park, community center or little hole-in-the-wall club.”

As MC Sha Rock began to work towards that goal, she saw that the fact that she was a female emcee when all of her peers were male emcees didn’t matter. What mattered was her skill, and that she could keep delivering good performances show after show.

“I grew up in the era of the inception of Hip Hop, when everything started, and was on the front line in ’81. So I didn’t experience sexism or the misogyny. We were all trying to make sure that we solidified ourselves in the Hip Hop culture — that I’m the best at what I do,” she described. “So what I had to do was basically be able to say that I was as prolific as the next man or male artist at the time. Because we were trying to prove ourselves to our communities,” she explained. “So they didn’t look at me as, ‘Sha-Rock is a female emcee.’”

“They looked at it as, ‘Sha-Rock is a prolific emcee.’”

MC Sha Rock soon realized that she had the talent and tenacity to rock the crowd. “I’m holding it down for New York City and Hip Hop culture in general. The partygoers, I gave them what they came for, to make them feel that they were right there with me. And everything I was saying, they were living it with me,” she explained. “It’s about engaging the crowd and your delivery. Even if they pay a dollar or two to get into a party — when they left they know that the dollar that they paid was well worth it. Because they knew they were going to get a good delivery from Sha Rock.”

Soon, the Hip Hop world took notice as MC Sha Rock and the Funky 4 + 1 took off behind the strength of their single That’s The Joint. And as they signed their record deal, and appeared on TV and started touring, they began to influence others in the Hip Hop community — male and female. One of the people who took notice was a young Hip Hop artist, Run-DMC’s Darryl McDaniels.

“I am one of the first emcees, and it opened up the floodgates for all emcees. And let me take you back. DMC — from Run-DMC — said that I, Sha Rock, was better that 85 percent of the fellas that were out there at the time,” she explained. “That I, Sha Rock, encouraged them to do the Tougher Than Leather album and to use the echo chambers behind me. He told Jam Master Jay, ‘Make me sound like Sha Rock.’”

“I didn’t just inspire women, I inspired men. Why? Because being a female and being a dope emcee, I held New York City down. And everybody followed my group,” she said.

Eventually, MC Sha Rock earned the name “Mother of the Mic” and “Luminary Icon,” and her influence went beyond Hip Hop culture. She eventually wrote a book called Luminary Icon about her life, and her impact was also felt in other areas, such as fashion.

“Luminary Icon was actually a name that came about when a young man was trying to do a clothing line called Sedgewick and Cedar by Ray Riccio,” she explained. “And he was actually trying to do a clothing line that represented the birthplace of Hip Hop, which was Sedgewick Avenue. And he was like, ‘You’re like a luminary of all emcees.”

“So with that, I just decided to call myself the ‘Luminary Icon.’”

As time went on, MC Sha Rock had to make decisions about how she would approach her career and live her life. And she was keenly aware of the fact that she viewed being an emcee and being a part of Hip Hop culture as a lifetime commitment. And as such, she wanted to be able to continue the urgency of building her skills and focusing on projects about which she felt passionately, without being concerned about relying on Hip Hop for money.

MC Sha Rock explains how she developed this approach. “Back then, it was about love — loving what you’re doing, loving the culture. The money was never the issue,” she explained. And so she began a career in law enforcement that she continues to this day.

“No matter what — even if I’m going out on tour — I’ve always had a job. Because once you start thinking of it as being a career, then somewhere along the line, you lose … you’ve got to love what you’re doing,” she explained. “You’ve got to be able to get up every morning and say, ‘I get on that stage and I love doing that.’ So, for me, this is not a career. Once you start considering it a career and looking at it that way, it puts more pressure on you.”

This approach allowed her to be more careful about the projects she took on. “I refused to sign any other contracts unless I had control of how I recorded and when I recorded. And I didn’t want to feel closed in or tied in to something or some record label where I was not able to move around the way I wanted to,” she explained. “I passed up on a lot of things because I wanted to be in control. And I wanted to be able to breathe again without having to have someone over my shoulder and demanding. I still dictate how I move around, without letting the fame or the industry dictate how I move around.”

MC Sha Rock feels that having a career in law enforcement and Hip Hop is the best balance for her, because whatever money she makes from Hip Hop is bonus. “If I’m making money from being out on tour and if I’m making money from engagements and special appearances or whatever, it’s a plus for me. I don’t count on that money to pay my rent.”

“I have the best of both worlds.”

Moreover, the lessons she learned from Hip Hop have translated into other areas of her life. In particular, MC Sha Rock approaches all of her life skills with the same determination that she used to approach Hip Hop.

“Everything is about me being that young woman, that young emcee, leading up to my adult life, and how I handled my adult life and the career that I chose, to make sure that I maintain and uphold the legacy of Hip Hop and the people,” she explained. “It’s everyday life. It’s not just focusing on your skills as an emcee or an artist.”

“So when you’re talking about delivery, you’re talking about being the best you are.”

And MC Sha Rock feels that her choice to have a career in law enforcement reflects the spirit of the positive goals of Hip Hop culture to help someone lead a healthy and productive life.

“I’ve been in law enforcement for so many years. I targeted a job that I knew could help me stay out of the trouble, not get mixed up in the drugs. So I can be that person I really was,” she said. “I let being an emcee lead over into my adult life, because there’s a lot of things that could help you go the wrong path. And I chose that career in order to stay on the right path.”

And she encourages others to learn from her path and focus on the process of achieving their purpose. “It’s the process. And the process is, ‘So what do you want out of this?’” she explained.

And she feels that up-and-coming artists would benefit as she did from connecting to and learning from the broader Hip Hop culture. “The question is, are you willing to open up for the learning process in Hip Hop culture? I have knowledge of Hip Hop culture. It makes you a better person and a better person in your craft if you are open to continuous learning,” she said.

Ultimately, MC Sha Rock is very happy about how Hip Hop is so prominent in the world culture. “The Hip Hop culture — being an artist, being an emcee — we know that we are talking about rap within the Hip Hop culture, it’s influenced everything that you could imagine,” she said. “From the record industry to the car industry to different commercials. Hip Hop has a huge influence.”

Even with the success of Hip Hop, for MC Sha Rock, it’s still all about her direct connection with, and love for, Hip Hop culture. “But once you’ve made it, are you just stuck in time? Or do you want your legacy to carry over in time?” she asked. “Because for me, I love the Hip Hop culture so much that I felt that it’s not about being a role model but it’s about making sure that you uphold what the culture meant. Now, that may sound corny, but this is what got me through life all the time.”

And she knows that it was that love that continues to inspire her to keep moving forward in Hip Hop and in her life in general. As an example of her ongoing service to Hip Hop, MC Sha Rock is the chairperson of the Universal Hip Hop Museum’s (UHHM) Women’s Committee dedicated to preserving the history of women in Hip Hop, and she helped organize the June 3rd  Women of Hip Hop Gala that celebrates the contribution of women in Hip Hop and raises money for UHHM.

“You know why I didn’t give up? Because this was something that was in my heart. This was something that I felt, that I breathed, that I loved, that I wanted to protect — that I lived for,” she explained. “I was into emceeing. It gave me a thrill to get up on that stage, and I would just pump it straight on my delivery. So my thing is that it was something that I loved — that I still love today, that I feel in my heart.”

“That’s how you wind up leaving your legacy behind.”

Michael Friedman, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in Manhattan and a member of EHE International’s Medical Advisory Board. Follow Dr. Friedman onTwitter @DrMikeFriedman and EHE @EHEintl.

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