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.