I thoroughly enjoyed this book for its vital exploration of hip hop artists and their impact on art and fashion. However, I found myself wishing for more illustrations to complement the insightful content.

Although my ARC only included a few chapters, I recognize the significance of this book and its potential to be a valuable addition to my personal library. It's a gem that deserves to be shared widely for its celebration of creativity and cultural influence.

Long live women in rap may they reign! Very excited to see a book documenting the significance of women in rap, and their influence in art, fashion and pop culture as well.

The excerpts shared were very detailed. Not sure if the cover captures the essence of this book

I loved this a lot.

This book had a lot of nostalgia and it brought the facts!! I love how this book was broken down into different categories and gave the rap girls their flowers.

You can tell that the Author, Nadirah Simmons, really put their true heart and energy into this book. The attention to detail, the research. It brought back memories of seeing the late 90's and 2000's again. This is definitely one of those books that you would want to keep on your coffee table as a conversation piece. Relieving the moment Nicki Minaj's feature on "Monster" came out and her EP, "Beam me up scotty" so many beautiful moments in this book, so many past and present. Lil' Kim being listed in the fashion section, giving us a taste of her 90's fashions that STILL influence the girls in 2024.

GET THE BOOK!! READ IT!!


I volunteered to read a copy of this book through NetGalley.

This is a fun book for hip hop lovers! This ARC only contained a couple of chapters, but I can see myself purchasing the book so I can get the full story! Such a fun trip down 90s and early 2000s hip hop memory lane. This will make a great gift for the female rapper fans in my life!

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher & of course the author for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun read. I enjoyed the way that the author presented the Queens of Hip-Hop. You can definitely feel the author's joy in the subject matter. This was a good book to get more insight into the beings of some of today's top female artists.

This book is just ok. It’s kind of all over the place. It reads like a transcript of a podcast. Each “track” (chapter) would probably do well as a podcast episode or YouTube video. The information is interesting. The format is nice but it just isn’t cohesive enough to make it that good of a read.

Definition of, don’t judge a book by its cover. I absolutely love the cover, but it does not match what is in the book… And not in a good way. I do love that it starts off with a tracklist instead of your typical chapters but I really thought that this was gonna be more of a picture book. The layout just was a bit confusing for me, and I think it was just trying too hard to be so different. I did like the stories in it and the content but I think it could’ve been better present.

I was granted digital access to an extended preview of 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭: 𝐇𝐢𝐩-𝐇𝐨𝐩 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 by Nadirah Simmons.
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Pub date for this new release is Tuesday, January 30, 2024
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My extended preview allowed me access to 3 of 35 chapters.
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Chapter 8 ~ THE LADIES IN AND AROUND THE FIRST HIP-HOP MOVIE, WILD STYLE
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Chapter 25 ~ NICKI MINAJ, THE FIRST WOMAN RAPPER TO COMPLETELY DEMOLISH TWO GOATED MEN ON A TRACK
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Chapter 27 ~ HONEY, THE FIRST MAGAZINE TO SPEAK TO BLACK WOMEN OF THE HIP-HOP GENERATION
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(Note: Because my access is from an ARC, the above titles are subject to change by final print).
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I’m a hip-hop head! I love all things old school hip-hop. And from what I can tell this book is filled with great stories about the first ladies of hip-hop. I enjoyed the three chapters I read. They were short yet entertaining. It is clear Nadirah Simmons has a lot of personality and it comes through in her writing.
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In the chapter titled, NICKI MINAJ the author provides a breakdown of the song MONSTER. She displays the lyrics of Nicki, Jay-Z and Kanye West to show exactly how Nicki destroyed these men on the track. The layout was unique. She stated her case in a very noteworthy way.
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I learned a lot from chapter 27 titled 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺. I remember this magazine because I used to read it. What I didn’t know is that the female creators of Honey were robbed of their publication. I love reading unknown facts like this.
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Other artists included in the book are:
• Millie Jackson
• MC Lyte
• MC Trouble
• Roxanne Shanté
• Big Lez
•Queen Latifah
• Lil Kim
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And many, many more!!!!
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Judging from what I’ve read, this looks like it’s going to be a pretty good one! I definitely plan to check out the finish copy once it’s in stores.
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Thank you to #hachettebooks #grandcentralpublishing and #netgalley for the extended preview!

Made me nostalgic for the '90s! Featuring MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Salt N Pepa, and Missy Elliot, among others - including contemporary queens like Cardi B. I enjoyed the "Monster Match-up" between Nicki Minaj and male rappers of the era (Kanye being Kanye, and then Jay-Z). That part's a fave. Inventive, felt cinematic.

First Things First celebrates ladies in hip-hop and their iconic moves in the industry. With engaging and individualized graphics this book is SO interesting and has so much great information.

I was excited to read this book as I grew up loving female hip hop artists. Reading the book was nostalgic as it took me back to the days of waiting for the hip hop magazine issues to drop such as Honey. I looked forward to seeing the hairstyles, outfits etc. The book was entertaining and spoke about artists such as Lil Kim,Da Brat, Nikki Minaj, and Missy Elliot success in the industry.
This book would be better read in physical form though in my opinion. The ebook was a bit choppy and the pictures didn’t line up as well.

Overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to all hip hop lovers.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher & of course the author for gifting me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Description
This enlightening book reframes the history of hip-hop—and this time, women are given credit for all their trailblazing achievements that have left an undeniable impact on music.

FIRST THINGS FIRST, hip-hop is not just the music, and women have played a big role in shaping the way it looks today. FIRST THINGS FIRST takes readers on a journey through some notable firsts by women in hip-hop history and their importance. Factual firsts like Queen Latifah becoming the first rapper to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Lauryn Hill making history as the first rapper to win the coveted Album of the Year Award at the GRAMMYs, April Walker being the first woman to dominate in the hip-hop fashion game, and Da Brat being the first solo woman rapper to have an album go platinum, and metaphorical firsts like Missy Elliott being the first woman rapper to go to the future. (Trust me, she really did.)

There are chapters on music legends like Nicki Minaj, Lil’ Kim and Mary J. Blige, tv and radio hosts like Big Lez and Angie Martinez, and so many more ladies I would name but I don’t want to spoil the book! There are games, charts and some fire images, too.

Altogether, FIRST THINGS FIRST is a celebration of the achievements of women in hip-hop who broke down barriers and broke the mold. So the next time someone doesn’t have their facts straight on the ladies in hip-hop, you can hit them with “first things first”…

My Take:
I have only viewed an extended preview from Netgalley-sans illustrations. That said, what I did read has inspired me to add this to my collection; I used some of the artists they highlighted to a playlist about avant garde Black femme and nonbinary people in rap. If you are interested in hip hop history and women in hip hop, this book is for you.