ON THE RISE
My life. Freedom of expression through lyrics, music, dance, art. Community. It means family," shares legendary emcee MC Lyte (neé Lana Michele Moorer) when asked what hip hop means to her during our Zoom call.
In the late 1980s, the Brooklyn-born rapper entered the industry with intention. For her, it was important to make her mark on the genre while also speaking directly to issues and topics that not only affected her immediate community, but the Black community as a whole. From drug addiction, racism, and even the way Black women were viewed and treated—the "Ruffneck" lyricist was instrumental in pushing conscious rap forward.
"Hip Hop is the one thing—no matter race creed, religion, culture, environment—that has this way of permeating any blockage of comprehension of the next person."
MC Lyte
With a total of 8 studio albums in her discography and plenty of chart-topping collaborations, MC Lyte has certainly earned her spot among hip hop's greats. Today, she's still ensuring that the story of the culture shifting genre is always told in the right way. From her voice-over work on several award shows and commercials, to her philanthropic efforts with her organization, Hip Hop Sisters Foundation.
"We've given over a million dollars to young people who have chosen to further their education at places like Dillard University, an HBCU, in New Orleans. It's been wonderful to see them do that, and then go on to procure themselves within chosen career paths."
She's certainly earned plenty of deserving accolades, including: the BET Hip Hop Awards "I Am Hip Hop" Icon Lifetime Achievement Award, recognition by Vh1 Hip Hop Honors, as well as the W. E. B. Du Bois Medal which is Harvard University's highest honor in the field of African and African-American studies.
As EBONY continues to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip hop, and its role in pushing the culture forward, we sat down with MC Lyte to delve more into the earlier parts of her legendary career, her thoughts on the future of the music genre as well as what she's most excited about during this celebratory year.
EBONY: How did your upbringing in Brooklyn and NYC as a whole influence your career and love for Hip Hop?
MC Lyte: Growing up in Brooklyn was definitely a beautiful musical experience. My mom played a lot of different genres in our home. Then, there were different sounds when I would go to Far Rockaway, Queens and in Spanish Harlem, where I would go visit my grandmother, there was hip hop. My upbringing prepared me for what was to come. But it wasn't until I heard Salt-N-Pepa that I believed I could rhyme.
Speaking of your early career, why was it important to speak to the social issues that affected Black and Brown communities?
The first root began long ago, when I attended school in Brooklyn. Around age 9 or 10, we had to create our own picket signs to go to the United Nations and protest on the steps to let our brother [South African activist] Stephen Biko go. So from a very early age, I was serious about the social issues and topics that affected those I knew and loved, and the communities I was a part of.
I released "I Cram to Understand U" in 1988, which was an anti-drug message, because I wanted kids my age to know how vital it was for them to stay away from drugs, or anything associated with drug use. Part of that was seeing the drug addicts when I would visit my mom at her job at Harlem Hospital. I just knew that never could, or would, be my story, and I wanted to share that with my peers.
What are you most excited about during this milestone year in hip hop?
This is something I've been involved with for over 35 years now. So for me, it's a like a parent that attends their child's graduation. Wow, just look how far we've come, and there are so many contributors to it. Hip hop is this thing that nobody owns, and everyone has the right to listen to and become a part of it. For me, that's always a plus when you have something that's so inclusive and has still managed to persevere, even when people have tried to put a stop to it. There's been so many things we've come against, but we're still standing with legends that have gone on to do great things. Like own empires, enterprises and companies that have created opportunities to put many other Black people to work.
" For me, it's a like a parent that attends their child's graduation. Wow, just look how far [hip hop has] come."
MC Lyte
LL Cool J's Rock The Bells, to me, is an extension of that—an extension of a man that started living his dream very early on in life and continued to do that in other mediums. But true to his heart, hip hop always comes first for LL Cool J.
Talk to the next generation of hip hop and where you see the genre going.
Hip hop is endless. The youth are extremely special and what they bring keeps it alive, and keeps it moving. I believe we will continue to have many subgenres that will go around the world. Hip hop is the one thing—no matter race creed, religion, culture, environment—that has this way of permeating any blockage of comprehension of the next person. Everyone loves music.
ON THE RISE
As Belle & Sebastian share their buoyant 2026 Scotland World Cup anthem ‘It Only Takes One Lion’, frontman Stuart Murdoch has spoken to NME about capturing the feeling back home and his hopes for the team since childhood.
Released today (Tuesday June 2), the Scottish indie heroes’ bid for their nation’s tournament anthem was written after the team’s surprise 4-2 qualifying win against Denmark.
“I felt like we were watching history in the moment, like the hand of God from the old National Lottery adverts was pointing at us,” Murdoch told NME about that game-changing victory. “It was meant to be. Scotland aren’t a terrific team and Denmark are better, but it just felt that day that Scotland were destined to win. Three out of the four goals were things of beauty.”
Produced by and co-written with Pete Ferguson and premiered at the band’s recent London Royal Albert Hall show as part of the anniversary tour for their classic first two albums ‘Tigermilk’ and ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’, the soaring song is intrinsically Belle & Sebastian as it morphs from a hymn to a an orchestral disco jam as Murdoch sings of a nation’s hopes and his own boyhood dreams.
NME spoke to Murdoch from the band’s North American tour, where we found him in a graveyard in Texas. “I was just looking for a park because Austin is a pretty scary place downtown now, so I’ve ended up in the Texas Cemetery,” he shared via Zoom.
Was there anyone famous buried there?
“I was looking around and I found the founder of Austin City Limits, which is pretty cool as that’s where we’re playing tonight. I’m looking at one now and it just says, ‘Martin: he loved the law’. Then underneath it says, ‘Billie Louise: she loved the lawyer’.”
We joke that there’s the opening to a Belle & Sebastian song if there ever there was one. “It’s great! It’s given me inspiration.”
For now, read the rest of interview with Murdoch below as he tells us about Scotland’s chances, 30 years of hurt, if fans will be singing it at the top of their lungs in Canada, the US and Mexico this summer, and what’s next for the band.
NME: Hello Stuart. Here we are with ‘It Only Takes One Lion’ Who needs three?
Stuart Murdoch: “Who needs three? Good question. I wouldn’t know!”
What’s the mood been like in Scotland since you qualified?
“It’s funny. I’ve noticed this everywhere: with the World Cup there’s a mixture of cynicism and anticipation. When the actual tournament starts, everyone will get excited about it. Because of FIFA, the peace prize, the ticket prices, people seem quite down about it. I found that in Mexico. They were quite fed up with the general hype about it. I’m in the States just now and you shouldn’t believe all the hype: people are people. The States are just as ‘great’ as ever. We love coming here, we love the cities. The general sense of North American optimism will make for a good tournament.”
“With Scotland though, people will definitely be excited about it. You have to understand, it’s been 30 years since Scotland qualified so I think everybody and their dog has written a song for the team.”
How do you meet the challenge of penning a World Cup anthem, when there have been so many legendary bangers and absolutely shite duds?
“I never planned it. I woke up with a tune in my head and a feeling. That’s the way it should always be for songs. I couldn’t control myself and it was quite straight-forward. I wrote this initial bit about how I felt about the current World Cup team and the qualifying game. It was more introspective.
“When it starts off with, ‘The days are dark and long…’, it’s just my general feeling about football. I’ve been going to see my own team quite a lot recently. It’s my little anthem for how I feel about football and following Scotland for the last 50 years, just the ups and downs. It’s quite a heartfelt thing. When I was eight or nine, the Scottish team meant so much to me, it the thing I was most invested in. There’s a line in there about how I used to memorise the whole squad before ‘78 and 82.”
Tell us about lyric: “This is Scotland, where everyone knows you start with nothing… where you can join an army for peace”…
“My wife made the video for it and she said, ‘I’m not sure I like that line about everyone starting with nothing’. Our first game is against Haiti and they really have nothing. Their country is pretty poor and they’re going through hard times. It was almost a throwaway line and I’m not sure what I meant by it, but in a footballing sense every game starts with nothing. Even if it’s against Brazil, you’ve always got a chance!
“The army refers to The Tartan Army, which has really been quite a remarkable institution for the past 30 years. We changed from drunken buffoons that used to wreck things to this excellent supporting brigade.”
It’s not your standard football sing-along. Can you see it being sung in the terraces?
“I’m not sure, I didn’t cynically design it for that. Many people have said to me in the past, ‘None of your songs have a chorus, you need to write one’. ‘This is Scotland’ is a chorus! They things need to happen organically. I’m sure the fans will still be singing ‘Yes sir, I can boogie’ for years to come.”
What do you actually think of Scotland’s chances right now?
“With the last Euros, they maybe got stage fright or didn’t have that tournament experience. I think Andy Robertson [captain] will be telling them, ‘We really need to produce our best stuff’. If they do and we see them actually playing football, then I don’t really care about the results that much. I just want to see Scotland exceeding our expectations of them. That Denmark game was so crazy that everything after just feels like a bonus.”
If miracles do happen and Scotland make it to the final, how will you celebrate? A free gig in Glasgow?
“Of course, yes! Free everything. If we even got close, I think the whole country would shut down for a year and the GDP would drop. We’d go into a massive recession but no one would care.
“We were playing a gig in Mexico City and I told the crowd, ‘It’s you and us, Mexico and Scotland in the final’. Mexico have never really got close either. I told them it would be five goals a piece, even after everyone takes a penalty and we have to share the trophy. I would settle for that.”
You released two albums in quick succession with 2022’s ‘A Bit of Previous’, 2023’s ‘Late Developers’ and then your debut novel Nobody’s Empire in 2024. You’ve been busy! Is there any progress on new material?
“We went through a period where we recorded a lot and we said, ‘Let’s not record for a while and give ourselves a couple of cycles off’. We’re doing these 30th anniversary shows so we’re just going to lean on the back catalogue and cruise for a while. We’re doing a year on and a year off so everyone can focus on different things.
We’re not looking at new Belles stuff for a while. I’m meant to be developing Nobody’s Empire into a film, so that’s my next task. It’s a long way off from being made but I’m going to write the script for that.”
Scotland’s first World Cup tournament match is against Haiti on Sunday June 14, before they go on to play Morocco on Friday June 19 and Brazil on Wednesday June 24.
The band’s ‘Tigermilk’ and ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ anniversary tour continues throughout the summer, performing the iconic albums in full during across the UK, Europe, North America, Mexico, Australia, Singapore and Japan. Visit here for tickets and more information.
