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YoYo’s Make Way For The Motherlode introduced her as the leading woman rapper on the West Coast in the 90’s. Her emergence as Ice Cube’s outspoken protege was the perfect counterbalance to the misogyny of N.W.A. and rap music in general. YoYo’s first collaboration with Ice Cube was “It’s A Man’s World” inspired by James Brown’s “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” from his AmerKKKa’s Most Wanted album. “You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo” was another rare instance of a woman’s perspective in a male-dominated genre. She called her posse the Intelligent Black Women’s Coalition, which she promoted in her video for “Stompin’ To Tha 90’s.” Her exploration of unpopular topics included colorism on her Black Pearl sophomore album. Another collaboration with Ice Cube came in the form of “The Bonnie and Clyde Theme” from her third release, You Better Ask Somebody. She also used her success to speak before Congress about censorship in rap music. For three episodes of the TV show Martin, she played the character Keylolo. There were other television show appearances and she started doing film work with Boyz In The Hood. Her appearance on Brandy’s “I Wanna Be Down” remix is another one of her defining moments in rap. YoYo ultimately recorded five albums and four were released before she left music to become a radio host and start her YoYo School of HipHop.
