Lyte as a Rock

Lyte as a Rock is the debut album of American rapper MC Lyte, released on September 13, 1988[1] by First Priority Music.

Lyte as a Rock
Studio album by MC Lyte
Released	September 13, 1988
Recorded	1988
Studio	I.N.S. Studios (New York, NY) Such-A-Sound Studio (Brooklyn, NY) First Priority Lab (Staten Island, NY)
Genre	Golden age hip hop
Length	38:29
Label	First Priority Music/Atlantic Records 90905
Producer	Alliance, Audio Two, King of Chill, Prince Paul
MC Lyte chronology
Lyte as a Rock (1988) Eyes on This (1989)
Singles from Lyte as a Rock
"I Cram to Understand U (Sam)" Released: 1987 "10% Dis" Released: 1988 "Paper Thin" Released: 1988 "Lyte as a Rock" Released: 1988
Music video
"Paper Thin" on YouTube
Music video
"Lyte as a Rock" on YouTube

It did not have much commercial success, reaching No. 50 on the Billboard Top Black Albums chart. Despite that, it has had a very good evaluation by critics since its publication and it is considered one of the best and most important rap albums, both in the 1980s and in history.[2][3][4][5]

In 1998, the album was listed in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. The album is broken down track-by-track by MC Lyte in Brian Coleman's book Check the Technique.[6]

Overview

In 1987, at the age of 16,[7] Lyte released her debut single, I Cram to Understand U (Sam), about drug addiction and its impact on relationships, being one of the first songs written for the crack era.[8] As she has stated, she was 12 years old at the time of writing.[9]

In September 1988, a couple of weeks before she turned 18, she released her first album, Lyte as a Rock. In addition to being one of the first female rap LPs (previously only some groups like Salt-N-Pepa and J. J. Fad had published), it would be the first full album of a female rapper as a solo artist. As stated in an interview for Okayplayer, all the lyrics on the album are from a rhyming book that she has written over the course of several years.[10]

Most of the songs had the contribution in the composition and production of the rap duo Audio Two (who were also very close to Lyte since childhood)[11] and King of Chill. The track "Mc Lyte Likes Swingin" had Prince Paul of Stetsasonic in production, who later gained much recognition for his work with De La Soul.

Reception and influence

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[14]
The Village Voice	B[15]

Regarding the album "Lyte as a Rock", Robert Christgau from Village Voice has commented "Unlike so many of her femme-metal counterparts, she knows how to talk tough without yielding to the stupid temptations of macho." but also criticized the producers as "chill too close to the max as she attempts to carry the music with her rap.",[16] and following the album's release, that year Village Voice would also call Lyte "hip-hop's best female vocalist."[17] For his part, Ken Tucker from The Philadelphia Inquirer would give a rating of 4/4.

Retrospect

Rob Theakston of AllMusic reviews "(...) Lyte as a Rock has aged better than most records that came out during hip-hop's formative years, although at certain moments it has become dated since its release. But what has aged is more than compensated by the classic tunes and the disc's potent historical impact on a generation of women MCs. A classic."[18]

PopMatters' Mark Anthony Neal called the album "one of the most underrated debuts in hip-hop history".[8]

In December 2016 Gino Sorcinelli from Medium would comment:

Only 17 and still unable to vote when Lyte as a Rock dropped, she demonstrated a keen storytelling ability on her first album that many older rappers couldn’t rival. The perfect combination of fierce lyricism and gritty, hard-hitting beats, Lyte as a Rock is a brief, powerful listen loaded with classics like “Lyte as a Rock”, “Paper Thin”, and “10% Dis”. Even though all of these songs sound great 28 years later, “I Cram to Understand U (Sam)” may still be the best song on the album.[9]

Accolades

In 1998, "Lyte as a Rock" would be listed in The Source's 100 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[5]

In 1999, Ego Trip's editors ranked the album No. 13 in their list Hip Hop's 40 Greatest Album by Year 1988 in Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists.[19]

In February 2008, Rolling Stone included "Lyte as a Rock" along with other albums such as N.W.A's debut album Straight Outta Compton and Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back on their list of the best albums of 1988, which considered "Rap's greatest year".[1]

In August 2013 was included No. 3 on NME's "25 Albums That Changed Hip-Hop Forever" list.[2]

In October 2017 the album was ranked No. 30 on Complex magazine's "Best Rap Albums of the 80s" list, which Michael Gonzales commented "MC Lyte emerged from the depths of Brooklyn caring more about her rhyme skills than her make-up.(...) Homegirl might've been Lyte as a Rock, but her debut album was heavy as a boulder."[3]

In September 2018 Pitchfork included "Lyte as a Rock" in their list "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s".

Groundbreaking and unconfined, the album has a take-on-all-comers bravado buoyed by Lyte’s aerodynamic style. She is unflappable—as cool as Big Daddy Kane, as cerebral as Kool Moe Dee, harder than Salt-N-Pepa but just as cheeky. (...)That monumental chip on her shoulder was a byproduct of all the naysayers claiming women couldn’t rap, and it drove her to outdo everyone: "If a rap can paint a thousand words, then I can paint a million," she proclaims proudly on the title track. This is a record about being a woman in a boys’ club and blowing up the spot with uncompromising attitude. She wasn’t in it to pander to the male gaze, or to play affirmative action girl. She was in it to win. – Sheldon Pearce[4]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Lyte vs. Vanna Whyte"	Lana Moorer Freddie Byrd	Alliance	2:47
2.	"Lyte as a Rock"	Lana Moorer Nat Robinson Kirk Robinson	Audio Two	4:17
3.	"I am Woman"	Lana Moorer Freddie Byrd	King of Chill	2:45
4.	"Mc Lyte Likes Swingin'"	Lana Moorer	Prince Paul	3:17
5.	"10% Dis"	Lana Moorer Nat Robinson Kirk Robinson	Audio Two	5:00
6.	"Paper Thin"	Lana Moorer Freddie Byrd	King of Chill	5:14
7.	"Lyte thee MC"	Lana Moorer Freddie Byrd	Alliance	4:13
8.	"I Cram to Understand U (Sam)"	Lana Moorer Nat Robinson Kirk Robinson	Audio Two	4:39
9.	"Kickin' 4 Brooklyn"	Lana Moorer Nat Robinson Kirk Robinson	Audio Two	2:20
10.	"Don't Cry, Big Girls"	Lana Moorer Nat Robinson Kirk Robinson	Audio Two	3:57
Total length:				38:29

Sample credits

Song title	Sample(s)
"Lyte vs. Vanna Whyte"	"Grease" by Frankie Valli (1978)[20] "Change the Beat (Female Version)" by Fab 5 Betty (1982)[21]
"Lyte as a Rock"	"Sweet Pea" by Tommy Roe (1966)[22] "Solid" by Ashford & Simpson (1984)[23]
"I Am Woman"	"I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy (1972)[24]
"Mc Lyte Likes Swingin'"	"Sing a Simple Song" by Please (1975) "Kool Is Back" by Funk, Inc. (1971) "Don't Tell It" by James Brown (1976) "Cold Sweat" by James Brown (1967) "2001" by The Cecil Holmes Soulful Sounds (1973)
"10% Dis"	"Roxanne's Revenge" by Roxanne Shante (1984) "Impeach the President" by The Honey Drippers (1973) Top Billin' by Audio Two (1987) Super Bad by James Brown (1970)
"Paper Thin"	"17 Days" by Prince (1984)[25] "Hit the Road Jack" by Ray Charles (1961)[26] "I'm Glad You're Mine" by Al Green (1972)[27] "Shining Star" by Earth, Wind & Fire (1975)[28]
"Lyte thee MC"	"Synopsis Two: Mother's Day" by 24-Carat Black
"I Cram to Understand U (Sam)"	"Hard to Handle" by Etta James
"Kickin' 4 Brooklyn"	"Starlight" by Stephanie Mills
"Don't Cry, Big Girls"	"El Gato Triste" by Chuck Mangione "Kitty with the Bent Frame" by Quincy Jones

Personnel

Lead vocals – MC Lyte Producer, Programmed By – Alliance (tracks: 1 and 7), Audio Two (tracks: 2, 5, 8 to 10) King of Chill (3 and 6) and Prince Paul Art Direction – Bob Defrin Design – Carol Bobolts Engineer – Dan Sheehan, Gary Clugston, Mike Dee, Phil DeMartino, Shlom Sonnenfeld, Yoram Vazan Executive-Producer – Nat Robinson Photography By – John Pinderhughes

Charts

Chart (1988)	Peak position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[29]	50

See also

• List of hip hop albums considered to be influential

References

1. "Hip-Hop's Greatest Year: Fifteen Albums That Made Rap Explode". Rolling Stone. February 12, 2008. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
2. "25 Albums That Changed Hip-Hop Forever". NME.com. August 5, 2013. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
3. "The Best Rap Albums of the '80s". Complex. August 5, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
4. "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork. September 10, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
5. "The Source: 100 Best Rap Albums". rocklistmusic.com. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
6. Coleman, Brian. Check The Technique: Liner Notes For Hip-Hop Junkies. New York: Villard/Random House, 2007.
7. "I Cram To Understand U - MC Lyte". Genius (website). Retrieved July 24, 2020.
8. "MC Lyte: The Very Best of MC Lyte". PopMatters. September 3, 2001. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
9. "MC Lyte Was 12 When She Wrote "I Cram To Understand U"". medium.com. January 7, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
10. "MC Lyte Speaks on the Legacy of Her Iconic Debut 'Lyte as a Rock' [INTERVIEW]". Okayplayer (website). Retrieved July 24, 2020.
11. MC Lyte. "MC Lyte". HalftimeOnline.net (Interview). Retrieved September 2, 2016. Actually Milk and Giz are totally like my brothers but they are not my blood brothers but I was basically raised within that family.
12. Theakston, Rob. "Lyte as a Rock – MC Lyte". AllMusic. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
13. Tucker, Ken (May 22, 1988). "Debut album of rapper MC Lyte". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
14. Harris, Keith (2004). "MC Lyte". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 526. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
15. Christgau, Robert (July 26, 1988). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
16. "Robert Christgau Review". Robert Christgau (website). Retrieved July 26, 2020.
17. "BROOKLYN'S M.C. LYTE RAPS IT LIKE IT IS ON THE STREET". The Morning Call. November 26, 1988. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
18. "MC Lyte - Lyte as a Rock". AllMusic. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
19. "Hip-Hop's Greatest Albums By Year (Ego Trip Magazine)". Genius (website). Retrieved July 27, 2020.
20. "MC Lyte's Lyte vs. Vanna Whyte Sample of Frankie Valli's Grease". WhoSampled. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
21. "MC Lyte's Lyte vs. Vanna Whyte Sample of Beside's Change the Beat (Female Version)". WhoSampled. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
22. "MC Lyte's Lyte as a Rock Sample of Tommy Roe's Sweet Pea". WhoSampled. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
23. "MC Lyte's Lyte as a Rock Sample of Ashford & Simpson's Solid". WhoSampled. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
24. "MC Lyte's I Am Woman Sample of Helen Reddy's I Am Woman". WhoSampled. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
25. "MC Lyte's Paper Thin Sample of Prince and The Revolution's 17 Days". WhoSampled. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
26. "MC Lyte's Paper Thin Sample of Ray Charles's Hit the Road Jack". WhoSampled. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
27. "MC Lyte's Paper Thin Sample of Al Green's I'm Glad You're Mine". WhoSampled. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
28. "MC Lyte's Paper Thin Sample of Earth, Wind & Fire's Shining Star". WhoSampled. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
29. "MC Lyte Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard.