The Style. The Pen. Too Fly.
MC Trouble was a Highroller’s Girl, and when her EP dropped in 1988, there was no doubt she was the next big thing. Born in Los Angeles, California, where the West Coast was deeply engulfed in hip-hop, it was only a matter of time before Trouble swung at the ball and hit a home run.
She was LaTasha Rogers, a brilliant sweetheart to friends and family, but had a different persona when it was time to spit fire into a microphone. And that talk? You know, smooth wordplay with a vibe on the side? Yeah, that was her.
Lyrics from her minor hit, “(I Wanna) Make You Mine,” featuring The Good Girls, proved that. “Trouble’s the name, and I ain’t a Good Girl/ The attitude would never be funky/I’m hunky and spunky.”
MC Trouble was the ultimate fly girl
The hip-hop artist was the truth: too fly and straight-up, a combo lethal for female rappers in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
“Why lie? For that, I’m too fly/ It takes no time to throw a line/ I ain’t with it, that ain’t my kind/ Straight up, I wanna make you mine.”
The song was released on May 25, 1990, just in time to hit the summer streets. It reached number 15 on Billboard Magazine’s Hot Rap Singles and opened the door for her follow-up single, “Gotta Get a Grip,” to make its rounds on airplay. Gotta Get a Grip was also the title of her debut album and offered a glimpse of Trouble’s versatility.
The message behind her hit follow-up, “Gotta Get a Grip”
“To crush the stereotype/ That if you’re brown, you’re down/ The constitution wasn’t written for me/ So check your history, we’re still in slavery.”
The message behind this single was pure insight into injustices and the scarcity of knowledge in black and brown communities. Many artists, like Trouble, used their influence to educate.
“So I’m undertaking responsibility/ To educate our minds/ So we can, self-education/ In order to be fit to fight for power.”
She signed to Motown Records
MC Trouble was the first female rapper to sign with Motown and was well on her way to the top, but unfortunately didn’t get to see the impact of her success. She passed away in her sleep in 1991 after an epileptic seizure. A posthumous single, “Big Ol’ Jazz,” appeared on House Party 2‘s soundtrack.
Although she didn’t get to receive her flowers, I’m making sure I do my part to keep her name alive.
Image credit: Motown Records
