The Mercedes Ladies

The Mercedes Ladies are not only musically an absolutely valuable gold find for the Hiphop culture – these ladies have literally written Hiphop history! The Mercedes Ladies formed the first all-female* MC and DJ crew in the Bronx, NYC, in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The female Hiphop-group was made up of the following female* members: Baby D (D’Bora), Sheri-Sher, RD Smiley, Zina-Zee, DJ LaSpank, Eve-a-Def, Sweet P and Sty-Sty. Their all-female* crew, however, consisted of 21 female* members who met, supported and proclaimed female* empowerment at performances in the parks and on the streets of the Bronx. Although, The Mercedes Ladies performed along with big names as Red Alert, Dj Kool Herc, The Furious Five, Grandmaster Flash etc., they never had their own record deal, nor did they receive the recognition they deserved within the Hiphop culture as female* pioneers. Even on the internet it is hard to find videos or audio recordings of The Mercedes Ladies. The 10-minute YouTube-video features the rap-skills of the Hiphop pioneers* on the “Rapper’s Delight” beat by TheSugarhill Gang. Anyone who wants to go in search of the history of the Mercedes Ladies and find out more about Hiphop history in general should get oneself the biographical novel ‘Mercedes Ladies’ (2008) by Sheri Sher – based on her experiences and her diaries – because, to use the words of KRS-One, “When you’re looking for Hiphop’s history, the best place to get it, is from those who were there, not just an interview with those who were there, but books written by the actual pioneers themselves. That’s scholarship, that’s called primary source. This is not a secondary source. This author is HipHop!”