In 2016, MC Lyte became the first woman to rap at the White House during then President Barack Obama’s second term. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legislation that created the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Obama’s hosted a celebration where Mc Lyte performed Dear John and her 1989 single Cha Cha Cha.
Mc Lyte was introduced by Queen Latifah, who called her “my mentor, my inspiration, my all in all, the ‘Godmother of Hip Hop.”
The event was broadcasted on PBS. Usher, Smokey Robinson and James Taylor were also at the event.
This was not MC Lyte’s first time at the White House, she was there on October 14, 2015, to speak at “A Celebration Of Song: In Performance At The White House Student Workshop” event at the White House.
MC Lyte is also the first rapper to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York.
First Lady Michelle Obama praised one of the First Ladies of Rap; MC Lyte, back in 2015.
Read: Big Sean was the first rapper to perform at the White House
Read: MC Lyte’s “Lyte as a Rock” was the first hip-hop album by a solo female rapper