MC LYTE GIVES IT UP TO DIANA ROSS

MC Lyte, who was honored last month by VH1’s Hip Hop Honors, is working on a new album. The release will be her first since 2003’s Da Underground Heat, Vol. 1. The rapper recently shared who her musical influences were. She said, rn

MC Lyte released her debut set, Lyte As A Rock, in 1988. The rapper has scored three gold-certified hits in her career, including 1993’s “Ruffneck,” and 1996’s “Keep On, Keepin’ On” and “Cold Rock A Party.”

“My main music influences, I couldn’t lock’em down to a person but an era. That would be the mid-70s, late 70s. I was a child, no doubt but my mom, she played Al Green. She played Barry White and Diana Ross and Donna Summer. These are the people that gave me the strength to speak about what I love to speak about. Not only that but not be afraid to talk about who I am and what I want. Just be real on record.”