With this weeks Dart Tosser I felt it only proper to shine light on what to me has become a forgotten treasure: The female emcee. We (The hip hop community) have be blessed to receive Mother Earth’s expressions in lyrical form throughout the years, but as of late the skill of an MC Lyte,Bahamadia or Rah Digga seems to be….unseen. In a game that promotes looks and hooks over subject matter and pure heart, song format and concepts have taken a back seat to the era of “sex appeal rap”….So enters Ghagged, not a female rapper or female lyricist but flat out an emcee with a plan to “bust through the roadblocks” and “let the world feel the shock”….

(Stead) Peace…Aight,I know you get this a lot but, how do you pronounce your name?

(Ghagged) LOL it’s “Jagged”

the GH is a long story kinda but all in all it’s developed into an acronym that has spiritual meaning for me. Surprisingly some people figure out the pronunciation

(Stead)…Lol…Unfortunately I was 1 of them folks that got it wrong at first. So where are you from and who would you say your influences are (musically)?

(Ghagged) I was born in Florida and raised in Virginia Beach, VA and currently reside in Atlanta, GA. My influences range from my father who’s a musician, my older brother Triple M who is am emcee as well. Mc Lyte, Salt N Pepa, Big Daddy Kane ,Krs One, Tribe, En Vouge, Mariah Carey and Mary J Blige

(Stead) That’s an impressive list of influences. How long have you been emcee-ing?

(Ghagged) I’ve been emceeing since 14 years old.

(Stead) Good morning!!! You’re officially an O.G with the skill then….If you could pick any artist to collab with,who would it be?

(Ghagged) That’s a hard one, there’s so many dope artist, I will randomly pick M.I.A..shes different, she seems fun, and her beats are crazy!!

(Stead) Word. She is definitely a unique soul. With her being your choice, how do you feel about the current status of female emcees? Do you think that they are a dying breed?

(Ghagged) In the mainstream they are! But on an underground level, the pulse is very strong!!! The last show I performed at had at 3 of us on the bill. I think the reason for the lack of female emcees in the mainstream is industry politics, but I am confident that we will get our shine again. All it takes is that one undeniable phenom to break through and help push us back to the forefront. You know everything in the mainstream is cookie cutter. So if “A” gets it first and it’s successful then “B” is gonna hop on it automatically then behold, female emcees are back!! We just have to keep making noise. I am beginning to see major pubs write columns on it & hip hop sites blogging about it, so eventually the big boys are gonna realize a void needs to be filled.

(Stead)That’s real. Hopefully I’m doing a part to influence that as well. What projects do you have in the works and what producers do you plan on working with?

(Ghagged) I have a project I am working on for digital release in the summer of 09’. Right now I am calling it Ghagged 3.0. The production as of right now comes from my husband G.I.M.J, myself and “Choo”. DJ Manipulator of SLS has agreed to fancy some tracks with his cuts so it should be bananas. But if anyone else would like to contribute for this project or in the future please hit me up @ ghaggedinc@gmail.com

(Stead) Shout out to DJ Manipulator and way to slide your email in there,lol…You must have known what I was gonna ask next..Where can the people find your music?

(Ghagged) You can go to my myspace page www.myspace.com/ghaggedmusic and cop my free download called “Lost Scripts”.  It is just a quick combination of tracks I have done over the years so people who are just beginning to hear of me can get familiar.

Dart Tossers 09

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