{"id":6808,"date":"2025-11-19T17:13:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T17:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/women-take-center-stage-when-hip-hop-meets-the-symphony\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T17:13:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T17:13:16","slug":"women-take-center-stage-when-hip-hop-meets-the-symphony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/women-take-center-stage-when-hip-hop-meets-the-symphony\/","title":{"rendered":"Women Take Center Stage When Hip-Hop Meets the Symphony"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/leaduse2025-10-12_LCP_DGHWT_PassingTheCrown_LawrenceSumulong-0148-scaled.jpg\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1704\" alt=\"Zuri Appleby, Lindsay Niccs, and Rachel Francis perform at the Passing the Crown 2025 event. (Credit: Lawrence Sumulong)\"><figcaption>Zuri Appleby, Lindsay Niccs, and Rachel Francis perform at the Passing the Crown 2025 event. (All photos by Lawrence Sumulong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If you were to have asked late Sugar Hill Records co-founder Sylvia Robinson who helped put hip-hop\u2014a genre traditionally dominated by men\u2014on the map, she would have justifiably raised her hand. Robinson, who passed away in 2011, was largely responsible for hip-hop\u2019s first Top 40 single, \u201cRapper\u2019s Delight\u201d by the Sugar Hill Gang (1979), as well as \u201cThe Message\u201d by Grandmaster Flash &amp; the Furious Five (1982), rap\u2019s first socially conscious track.<\/p>\n<p>Taking it back even further, Kool Herc\u2019s younger sister, Cindy Campbell, co-hosted the historic Back to School Jam at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx on August 11, 1973, widely celebrated as hip-hop\u2019s \u201cbirthday.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/11\/meet-the-new-disruptor-in-the-music-business-the-family-office\/\">Meet the New Disruptor in the Music Business: The Family Office\u00a0<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/11\/foo-fighters-guns-n-roses-welcome-to-rockville\/\">Foo Fighters, Guns N\u2019 Roses Ready For Rockville<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/11\/kilby-block-party-lineup\/\">Lorde, The xx, Turnstile Gather For Kilby Block Party<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>More than 50 years after the genre was created, women\u2014especially women of color\u2014are still fighting for a seat at the table. Though there\u2019s been progress with the rise of strong Black female rappers like Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B, there\u2019s more work to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"798\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/usethis2025-10-12_LCP_DGHWT_PassingTheCrown_LawrenceSumulong-0128-1.jpg\" alt='L to R: Halima Dodo, Lilian \"\"LilyBreeze\" Ortega, Brianna Luciano, Randi\u00a0\"Rascal Randi\" Freitas\nZuri Appleby, Ruthie Fantaye, and Rachel Francis perform at Passing the Crown. ' class=\"wp-image-648659\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/usethis2025-10-12_LCP_DGHWT_PassingTheCrown_LawrenceSumulong-0128-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/usethis2025-10-12_LCP_DGHWT_PassingTheCrown_LawrenceSumulong-0128-1-340x226.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/usethis2025-10-12_LCP_DGHWT_PassingTheCrown_LawrenceSumulong-0128-1-240x160.jpg 240w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/usethis2025-10-12_LCP_DGHWT_PassingTheCrown_LawrenceSumulong-0128-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/usethis2025-10-12_LCP_DGHWT_PassingTheCrown_LawrenceSumulong-0128-1-498x331.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">L to R: Halima Dodo, Lilian \u201c\u201dLilyBreeze\u201d Ortega, Brianna Luciano, Randi\u00a0\u201cRascal Randi\u201d Freitas,<br \/>Zuri Appleby, Ruthie Fantaye, and Rachel Francis perform at Passing the Crown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Passing the Crown, founded by classically trained violinist Juliette Jones, aims to combat the underrepresentation of Black and Brown women in music. Established in 2024 as an extension of her talent booking agency, Wondersmith Entertainment, Passing the Crown pairs female emcees, breakers, and DJs with female classical musicians who use an array of violins, percussion instruments, keys, and cellos to create an enriching musical and cultural experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Of course, symphonies have backed hip-hop artists before\u2014Wu-Tang Clan, Rakim, Cypress Hill, Nas, and Common, to name a few\u2014but not many have been composed solely of women of color.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jones, who\u2019s performed with the likes of Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Jon Batiste, Stevie Wonder, and Janelle Mon\u00e1e, enlisted violinist and Wondersmith Entertainment director of finance and operations, Monique Brooks Roberts as associate producer for Passing the Crown. Together, they\u2019ve produced shows featuring Grammy Award-winning artist Rapsody and trailblazing female rapper MC Lyte. But Brooks Roberts points out it\u2019s been a tumultuous road.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"799\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/use-this2025-10-12_LCP_DGHSS_PassingTheCrownPanel_LawrenceSumulong-0025.jpg\" alt=\"Juliette Jones and April Walker\u00a0onstage at Passing the Crown. \" class=\"wp-image-648660\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/use-this2025-10-12_LCP_DGHSS_PassingTheCrownPanel_LawrenceSumulong-0025.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/use-this2025-10-12_LCP_DGHSS_PassingTheCrownPanel_LawrenceSumulong-0025-340x226.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/use-this2025-10-12_LCP_DGHSS_PassingTheCrownPanel_LawrenceSumulong-0025-240x160.jpg 240w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/use-this2025-10-12_LCP_DGHSS_PassingTheCrownPanel_LawrenceSumulong-0025-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/11\/use-this2025-10-12_LCP_DGHSS_PassingTheCrownPanel_LawrenceSumulong-0025-498x332.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Juliette Jones and April Walker\u00a0onstage at Passing the Crown. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAs classical string players, we don\u2019t see ourselves represented, but sometimes\u2014because we were always one of one\u2014we were pitted against each other,\u201d Brooks Roberts says. \u201cSometimes you don\u2019t get the full respect from your colleagues. But when I met Jules, she was so humble and so incredibly talented but also a supporter of me and my work. It was like, \u201cPut me in, coach!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jones further explains, \u201cPassing the Crown allows us to center women in a very specific way. As Black women in this thing, we are considered the bottom of the totem pole, but we rise at all times. Creating Passing the Crown was a way for us to work with our sisters and amplify women, both in music and in dance, and do something meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zuri Appleby, Lindsay Niccs, and Rachel Francis perform at the Passing the Crown 2025 event. (All photos by Lawrence Sumulong) If you were to have asked late Sugar Hill Records&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,4490,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-passing-the-crown","category-pushly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6808\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}