MC Lyte

Hip hop artist Lana “MC Lyte” Moorer was born on October 11, 1970 in Queens, New York, New York to Constance Moorer and John Crawford. She began performing at age twelve under the name “Sparkle” and recorded her first song in 1984. She graduated from George W. Wingate High School in 1988 before briefly attending Hunter College in New York. However, Moorer soon left to pursue her career in hip hop music.

In 1987, Moorer released her debut single “I Cram to Understand U (Sam)” with First Priority and Atlantic Records. She wrote songs and recorded four albums under these labels, starting with her debut album Lyte as a Rock in 1988, which made her the first solo female rapper to release a full album. Her 1989 album, Eyes on This, was one of the first albums by a female solo rapper to chart on the Billboard 200. In 1989, Moorer joined fellow East Coast Hip Hop artists in KRS One’s “Stop the Violence Movement” to record the song “Self-Destruction.” The group raised money to combat violence in the Black community. Moorer went on to write and record Billboard-charting albums and socially conscious singles, including the anti-addiction track “Poor Georgie” in 1990. This was the first of four MC Lyte songs to chart at number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs. In 1993, Moorer wrote and released her single “Ruffneck,” which topped US and international charts and made her the first Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) gold certified female solo rapper. She earned a Grammy nomination for “Best Rap Solo Performance” in 1994. From 1996 to 1998, Moorer was signed with East West Records and released two albums before creating her own record label, Sunni Gyrl Inc., in 1997. She continued to perform at various events such as the Essence Music Festival (2007, 2011, 2016) and at the White House in 2014.

Moorer also expanded her career in other areas of the entertainment industry, including in film (with twenty-one credits), television (forty credits), vocal recordings, and DJing. In 1991, she starred in the off-Broadway play Club XII. From 2011 to 2013, she was the first Black female President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Recording Academy. In addition to her work in entertainment, Moorer is also a philanthropist and founder of the nonprofit Hip Hop Sisters Foundation.

A recipient of multiple accolades, Moorer’s awards include the BET Hip Hop Icon Lifetime Achievement “I Am Hip Hop” Award (2013) and the Trumpet Trail Blazer Award (2019). Moorer obtained three RIAA gold certified records and was labeled a “pioneer of hip hop” by RIAA in 2023. In addition to her musical accolades, Moorer obtained the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal from Harvard University in 2016.

Moorer resides in Los Angeles, California.

Lana “MC Lyte” Moorer was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on September 19, 2024 and January 29, 2025.