The Miseducation of Ms Dynamite
By: Tom Hurst
A Little Deeper (2002), by Ms Dynamite (Niomi Arleen McLean-Daley) and The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), by Ms Lauryn Hill can be considered two of the most influential hip hop albums by female artists, ever. Each one appears in ‘1001 albums to hear before you die’, both for their musical quality as well as for their important feminist messages.
Ms Dynamite was recently ranked as the 5th best UK MC, ever, by Noisey, with presenter, A Dot, acknowledging A Little Deeper as "our miseducation of Lauryn Hill", for her "it’s like the UK version of it". Both artists can be recognised as inspirations for female rappers beyond themselves, forging a path for artists such as Nicki Minaj and Lady Leshurr.
A Little Deeper was Ms Dynamite’s platinum-selling, Mercury prize-winning debut album. Conversely, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill marked Hill’s first solo album, outside of The Fugees, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and breaking the record for first-week sales by any female artist.
Below are links to the two albums, The Fugees’ The Score and to Noisey’s discussion of the top 10 UK MCs.