When we hear the word rappers, we think of black males; they're what feminists would call hip-hop's unmarked category. This makes tough going for pretenders outside of this category, and it's meant that many of the identities that female comers have carved for themselves—Boss' gangsta bitch, Kim's badass nympho, or, recently, Lil' Mama's lunchroom alpha girl—have registered as one-offs or fads. (We see the same thing with white rappers, whether it's the Beastie Boys' nerdy boogie or Eminem's white-trash horror-core.)

A couple of weeks ago, NPR's Farai Chideya spoke to Spinderella and YoYo about the dearth of female rappers in hip hop. Yo Yo said, "I think that hip-hop has not been allowed to grow up… It's not getting better." As for Spinderella, she mused: "I think women need to really take advantage of the moment — the lack of females that are mainstream right now allows for someone else to come and snatch it up."

Unlike pop or rock, hip-hop has always been the voice of the streets, raw words with an un-Photoshopped, un-censored swagger. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Why should the boys have all the fun? In a spirit of celebration and reminiscence, here are some of my favorite hip-hop tracks with women at the helm:

Salt n Pepa, "Push It"

Yo, yo, yo, yo, baby-pop/Yeah, you come here, gimme a kiss/Better make it fast or else I'm gonna get pissed/Can't you hear the music's pumpin' hard like I wish you would?/Now push it/Push it good/P-push it real good

Monie Love, "Monie In The Middle"

Brother what is with you, you can't take a hint?/I need to shove a splint between your eyes for you to see/You and me were never meant to be/Your homeboy likes me, I like him, too, get out the picture/I get your point but I'm not rolling with the punch/I scrunched up the letter you wrote me in lunch

Missy Elliot, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)

I got my umbrella/My finger waves these days/They fall like Humpty/Chunky/I break up with him before he dump me/To have me? Oh yes you lucky

Lauryn Hill, "Everything Is Everything" (Also "Ready Or Not")

I philosophy/Possibly speak tongues/Beat drum, Abyssinian, street baptist/Rap this in fine linen/From the beginning/My practice extending across the atlas/I begat this/Flippin in the ghetto on a dirty mattress/You cant match this rapper slash actress/More powerful than two Cleopatras/Bomb graffiti on the tomb of Nefertiti

Queen Latifah & Monie Love, "Ladies First"

I break into a lyrical freestyle/Grab the mic, look into the crowd and see smiles/Cause they see a woman standing up on her own two/Sloppy slouching is something I won't do/Some think that we can't flow/Stereotypes, they got to go

MC Lyte, "Ruff Neck"

I need a ruffneck/I need a man that's quick and swift/To put out the spliff and get stiff

Missy Elliott: "Lose Control"

I've got a cute face/Chubby waist/Thick legs in shape/Rump shakin both wayz/Make u do a double take

Lil Kim, "No Matter What They Say"

If I was you I'd hate me too/Louis Vuitton shoes and a whole lot of booze/Every other week a different a dude and other crews/I make offers nobody can refuse/You might even see me on the channel nine news/I get paid just for laying in the shade/To take pictures with a glass of lemonade/My rocks shine like it was dipped in Cascade

Additional tracks: Eve, "Who's That Girl"; M.I.A., "Galang", Bahamadia/Roni Size, "New Forms". Oh, and Trina's couplets in Trick Daddy's "Shut Up".

Feel free to let me know if I've missed anyone.

Ladies! I Can't Hear You! No, Really, I Can't Hear You! [Slate]
Ladies Of Hip Hop Tell Their Side Of The Story [NPR]

The Good
I'm not gay, but I would be for Padma Lakshmi. I love her black shoes with the little roses. Usually when I see black and yellow together I think "bumblebee," but this time it never occurred to me. I was too busy being in love.
More black and yellow, this time on Taylor Momsen with a lemony chiffon number that may or may not be Zac Posen.
A+ Bernadette Peters! What a color! What a face! How old are you? You haven't aged since you played Lily St. James in Annie.


The Bad
Aw, come on. Don't make me make fun of Salt N' Pepa. I can't! I won't do it! Salt looks good but Pepa...I'm not really digging on her Vide-ho look.
I reallyI just don't care for this army green number on Vera Wang. The dress isn't the worse thing but the color looks like a booger. A soldier's booger. A soldier's booger in a potato sack race.


The Ugly

I really wanted to like this dress but I can't get beyond the fact that Minka Kelly looks like a baby shower gift.
Now this is a perfect example of what happens when you hire a bad stylist. For some reason I doubt that Aubrey O'Day put this Judy Jetson look together, but I guess at the end of the day it doesn't really matter if you're the one who's wearing it.

[Images viaGetty, AP]

The Good:
Delta Goodrem: Yet another example of the right way to wear white. Bridal designers, take note.
Adrien Brody looks sweet and tame with Elsa Pataky on his arm.
Despite the fact that I really should know better, I do love Alan Cumming.
Ashlee Simpson doesn't look preggers to me.
I don't know who Gisele Mercedes is, but I like her look.

The Bad:
And in the category of "C'mon, you could've done better" we have Cheryl "Salt" James, sporting Lohan-esque leggings...
...and Kim Raver, whose dress is both a little Juniors and a little dowdy.
I can't explain what it is that doesn't sit right with me about Katie Lee Joel, other than the fact that every night she crawls into bed with Billy Joel and lets him lie on top of her.

The Ugly:
Jaslene Gonzalez shall forever be a pox upon Tyra Banks. This woman is so not America's Next Top Model.

[Images via FilmMagic.]

• We discovered that ( now-former ) New York Governor Eliot Spitzer goes to whores.
  
• We also discussed Ashley Alexandra Dupre, aka "Kristen", the woman who was allegedly the whore in question. Her new single is off the chain!
  
• We commisserated with Spitzer's poor wife, Silda.
  
• Bet disgraced Glamour blogger Mike Cherico is happy about the Spitzer scandal! It is one of the few things that makes him look like less of an asshole.
  
• Speaking of assholes, did ya hear? Pooping is the new hot shit!

• Salt n' Pepa said opinions are like assholes and everybody's got one. Well 1,400 of you and counting had opinions about this post.
  
• But who cares what other people think! You're living alone and loving it.
  
• And probably airing the ol' girl out 'cause no one is ever around.
  
• But you guys, Anna Wintour put a big black guy on the cover of Vogue, so we know the apocalypse is neigh.
  
• Whatevs to all that. It's spring break y'all! Pour some out for the homies and have a good weekend.

Total LaToya, right?

The pair's reality show has the potential to be intense, since they're really putting their issues with each other out on the table. When asked about their breakup and dissolved friendship in an interview, they said:

Salt: I still wanted to be friends, but...

Pepa: I was mad.

Salt: She was bitter.

Pepa: (Laughs) I'm still...not mad. But this is, to me, therapy. I'm trying to work through it. Because I held a lot in.

Salt: She's still a little mad.