KLASSIC KUTS: Lady B Was On The Beat, Y’all!

Lady B released one of the earliest solo rap records by a woman in 1979.
Lady B's radio show 'Street Beat' introduced Philly to major hip-hop acts.
Lady B's one record exemplified hip-hop's early days of sampling familiar grooves.

Source: Madd Hatta / Madd Hatta

“To the beat, y’all!”

Today, that sounds like something hip-hop has always said.

But back in 1979, this whole rap-on-record thing was still trying to figure itself out.

And over in Philadelphia, a young woman named Wendy Clark — better known as Lady B — stepped up and made one of the earliest solo rap records ever released by a woman.

“To the Beat Y’all.”

Now here’s something I love about those first rap records.

A lot of them didn’t start with somebody sitting around saying, “Let’s invent a brand-new hip-hop beat.”

Nah.

They grabbed grooves people already knew and built something new on top of them.

I loved this about those first rap records.

“Rapper’s Delight” famously rode the groove of Chic’s “Good Times.” “We Rap More Mellow” by The Younger Generation — actually members of the Furious Five recording under another name — leaned on the bassline from Stephanie Mills’ “Put Your Body in It.”

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five showed just how powerful rhythmic storytelling could be over the familiar groove of The Whole Darn Family’s “7 Minutes of Funk.” And Harlem’s Spoonie Gee, one of rap’s earliest solo MCs on wax, brought his smooth storytelling to “Spoonin’ Rap” over the funky foundation of Cloud One’s “Patty Duke.”

That was part of the beauty of early hip-hop.

Take a groove the party already loved.

Put an MC on it.

That was something new.

Lady B’s record followed that same street-smart formula.

“To the Beat Y’all” used the music from Direct Current’s “Everybody Here Must Party,” a Philly dance record released on the same TEC label. It’s a serious jam. I posted it below.

That made sense.

Give people a groove they already liked.

Put an MC on top.

Now let’s party.

Lady B wasn’t even chasing some big rap career. Radio was really her calling. She had started working at WHAT in Philadelphia, and after being heard freestyling, she was encouraged to make a record.

So she did.

And then kept moving.

That one record, though, put her in a very small club.

Women had already been rocking microphones. Sha-Rock was doing damage in New York. The Mercedes Ladies were out there. Paulette and Tanya Winley were getting rhymes onto wax around that same early period. The Sequence would soon break nationally with “Funk You Up.”

But Lady B represented something different.

Philadelphia had its own female voice on wax.

And then she went back to radio and became even more important.

Lady B helped make hip-hop radio real in Philly. Her legendary “Street Beat” show on Power 99 became required listening. She played artists before everybody knew their names and helped introduce Philadelphia listeners to Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah and a young hometown duo named DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

Think about that.

She didn’t just make early hip-hop.

She helped decide what hip-hop Philadelphia got to hear next.

Lady B is still part of Philly radio culture today. The city even renamed a section of Wyndale Avenue “Lady B Way” in her honor.

Not bad for somebody who made one rap record and kept it moving.

“To the Beat Y’all” may sound simple compared with what hip-hop became.

But that’s the beauty of it.

Hip-hop was still learning how to walk.

And Lady B was already on the beat, y’all.

I introduce to you a Klassic Kut – Lady B – to The Beat Y’all. Check it out below.