For 2025’s International Women’s Day, Hip-Hop heads and RnB fans in Toronto looking to celebrate women’s impact on the music and culture could look no further than the She Be Lady annual showcase at The Phoenix Concert Theatre. Now in its 6th year, She Be Lady sets out to celebrate African women by putting the spotlight on their music, and they put together an incredible, diverse lineup of artists ranging from RnB to Soul, Afrobeat and Hip-Hop. This year’s showcase would include both local, Toronto-based artists as well as international stars, and would be headlined by none other than the legendary MC Lyte.
For Toronto Hip-Hop heads, or even Hip-Hop heads in general, it’s been rare to see MC Lyte headline a concert over her 40+ years in music. When it comes to touring, MC Lyte’s performances have often been part of larger showcases with other golden era emcees to debut in the ’80s, where she would typically get an opener’s time slot on stage, and that’s not to mention the rarity of pioneering Hip-Hop artists coming up to Canada to tour north of the border. Not only for International Women’s Day but for Hip-Hop as a whole, it’s only right that fans now get their chance to see MC Lyte command a stage on her own, celebrating an incredible discography with 9 albums released between 1988 and 2024. This show would be part of her 1 of 1: Reflections of Lyte Tour, which sees her headlining stages across North America for the very first time and performing new music off of her first album released in almost 10 years, 2024’s 1 of 1.
In true Hip-Hop fashion, the show would get started with a cypher featuring local artists. They would set it off with a bang as Toronto veteran Eternia made a surprise appearance and ripped a ferocious freestyle over Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre’s “Deep Cover” beat. After simply killing it and leaving, Eternia was followed by a relatively newer artist, Sage The Goddess, who got the crowd bouncing to her song “Focused.”
The first artist to get to perform a full setlist would be Nigerian-born, Toronto-based singer, Ṣẹwà, who would be backed by a full band including live drums, guitars, keys, and a saxophone player who’d often standout throughout the evening. Ṣẹwà herself would play acoustic guitar on her more mellow songs, seamlessly going from softly sung to powerfully projected vocals as she brought her blend of RnB, Soul and Afrobeat to the stage. While I wasn’t familiar with her music, she captivated the crowd with songs about breakups, getting the crowd to join in with some harmonies and clapping along to the beat.
Following Ṣẹwà would be another Toronto-based artist, Shantel May, who would be performing live with a full band for her first time. This was another artist whose music I was experiencing for the first time at this show, and she made an incredible first impression as she opened her set with “The Ex,” which is a stripped-down, slow and emotional cover of Mya’s “Case of the Ex (Whatcha Gonna Do)” with just keys and synths backing her vocals. Shantel May’s performance would resonate with ’90s Hip-Hop & RnB fans, as another standout track would be “Dangerous,” which features her sampling the same drums from Biggie’s “Dead Wrong” to make a more aggressive style of RnB track, even singing the lyrics “you make me wanna Kick In The Door, wave the 4-4” in the hook. Much of her setlist would feature songs off of her new 2024 album, Triggered, But Here, and she definitely gained some new fans with her performance.
The final opener to bless the stage before MC Lyte would be a British-Nigerian singer from the U.K. performing for her first time in Toronto before going out on her first ever U.S. tour, Shae Universe. Starting with some acapella singing to highlight her vocal abilities right away, Shae Universe brought a more soulful style of RnB to the stage, getting the crowd to sway as she brought on the romantic vibes with her songs “Summer Time” and “L.O.M.L.” Her setlist would lean heavily into her 2024 album, Love’s Letter, and she would get more interactive with the crowd as her performance went on, sitting down at the front of the stage to mellow out to “More Than Enough.” The climax of her steamy performance would come when she performed her newest single, “O.O.T.W.,” appropriately released on Valentine’s Day, as she picked a fan in the front row to sing directly towards, holding hands and crooning her provocative lyrics.
Shae Universe would gracefully thank the crowd after captivating them with her smooth Soul and RnB performance, and Toronto icon DJ Mel Boogie would get behind the turntables to bring us back to the Hip-Hop vibes before MC Lyte hit the stage. Mel Boogie would hit us with an all-ladies playlist, showcasing all generations of women in Hip-Hop with songs by Michie Mee, Lil’ Kim, Rah Digga, Missy Elliott, Lil’ Mama, and Doechii. After a solid DJ set, Mel Boogie would make way for MC Lyte’s tour DJ, DJ Jermaine, and the She Be Lady hosts would highlight MC Lyte’s accolades as they introduced her to the stage. Making sure to highlight MC Lyte’s legacy as a pioneer in Hip-Hop, mentions of her being the first woman to release a full-length Hip-Hop album, first female rapper to be Grammy-nominated, and first female rapper to have a gold-certified single got the crowd hyped for the history they were about to witness.
Putting the projector screens to full use, the intro from MC Lyte’s 1 of 1 album would play along with a video interlude, showing images of her throughout the years, until the screen showed the year 1984, and Lyte herself came out to her hit single “Cha Cha Cha.” The original music videos from her songs would be synced to her performance, as MC Lyte got the crowd hyped with hit after hit, performing classics like “Cold Rock a Party” and her cover of Audio Two’s “Top Billin’.” MC Lyte’s performance of “Top Billin'” would turn into a dope call-and-response segment, as the lyrics “I get money, money I got” of course got sampled and flipped into the beat from 50 Cent’s “I Get Money,” and Lyte got the crowd chanting along to hooks from Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.” and Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic Three’s “The Roof Is On Fire.” The raw Hip-Hop energy was definitely felt, as MC Lyte next got into her DJ Premier collab with the track “Wonder Years,” spitting her verses word-for-word with no backing vocals and proudly proclaiming “this is Hip-Hop in the flesh!!”
With a live drummer adding energy to the beats and MC Lyte’s raw performance getting the crowd hype, it was time for things to mellow out. A stool and laptop would be placed on stage for MC Lyte to take a seat, and she would take a moment to speak on The 1 of 1: Reflections of Lyte Tour and what it meant to finally have the time on stage to really share herself with the fans. She would also mention having been in the ER just before the show for possible dehydration, lowkey hinting that she needed to pace herself with her performance. She would spend the next segment of the show telling a bit of her life’s story, with a backdrop of her childhood photos, between playing a curated DJ set with songs that she grew up listening to. She would start with the artist that was the first concert she ever went to, Rick James.
The show would turn into a singalong as MC Lyte played several classics from the ’70s and ’80s, following Rick James’ “Mary Jane” with Anita Baker’s “Caught Up In The Rapture,” Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together,” Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing,” Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You,” and Debra Laws’ “Very Special.” She would often cut the song off midway and have the crowd sing the lyrics on their own, and the fans were definitely with it. Being appreciative of the fans allowing her to relax and vibe out to these throwbacks, MC Lyte would get back on the mic with one of her new 2024 tracks, the appropriate “Thank You.”
MC Lyte would do one more 1 of 1 track with “Life & Luxury” before getting back into her own throwbacks. Getting back into the raw Hip-Hop, she would spit an acapella freestyle verse before performing more of her ’90s hits, including her Brandy collab “I Wanna Be Down” with the crowd singing along, and her classic “Poor Georgie,” getting everyone to two-step to the beat as we vibed out. The energy would continue to get cranked as MC Lyte spit another freestyle, this time over the beat from Pharoahe Monch’s “Simon Says.”
Nearing the end of her time slot, MC Lyte would tell the story of how she became a part of the Stop The Violence movement in 1988, leaving gaps for the sharp Hip-Hop historians in the crowd to fill in by shouting out the key names of the story like KRS-One and Scott La Rock. This would of course turn into a hype performance of Lyte’s verse from the massive posse cut, “Self Destruction,” during which she’d actually autograph a fan’s vinyl record of the single while rapping. The energy of “Self Destruction” continued as she transitioned straight into her solo 1988 single with a similar tempo, “Paper Thin,” getting the crowd to sing along to her interpolation of “Hit The Road Jack” mid-song. With two minutes left of her stage time, MC Lyte would close out with a hype performance of her classic “Ruffneck” before doing one last acapella verse to leave the fans with some gems.
While the concert itself was over, the co-founders of She Be Lady, including DJ Revy B, would take a moment to bring all the prior artists back out on stage to thank them directly before kicking off the afterparty. Some fans would end their night here, while others made their way to the artist meet-and-greet, and DJ Mel Boogie along with DJ Revy B got behind the turntables and kept the party going!
Overall, the She Be Lady showcase was a dope celebration that definitely fit the theme of International Women’s Day. Between all the artists who graced the stage, there was a diverse range of different styles of music and good vibes all around. For me personally, it was my first time hearing most of the artists who performed, and they all made a great first impression by letting their talent speak for itself.
For the Hip-Hop heads in the building, it was dope seeing MC Lyte perform live, with this opportunity being a first for many of the fans, although it was a bit concerning hearing she had just come from the ER to perform this show. Despite possible health issues, MC Lyte powered through it like a dedicated professional, keeping the fans entertained and the energy high even while having to make adjustments to her performance. I’m sure some fans wanted to see more of her songs get performed, like her new joints “Make A Livin'” or “To Rock The Mic,” or more throwbacks like “10% Dis” or “Lyte As A Rock,” but MC Lyte still put on an incredible show that you can’t be mad at. It was surreal seeing MC Lyte perform her songs live with the music videos of her younger self playing on the screens behind her, and it felt like an appropriate celebration of a Hip-Hop icon.
The 1 of 1: Reflections of Lyte Tour continues through North America this Spring, tickets and tour dates can be found here!
Big thank you to She Be Lady for granting this blog access to review this show, follow their Instagram @shebelady to find out about future showcases!
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