Rowan to welcome female hip-hop and rap pioneer MC Sha-Rock

Female hip-hop and rap music pioneer MC Sha-Rock will discuss her life and work during an appearance at Rowan University on Thursday, March 8, at noon in the Pit of the Chamberlain Student Center, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro.

Admission to the lecture is free and open to the public. Sha-Rock will be signing copies of her book, Luminary Icon, after the lecture.

After beginning her career as a break-dancer in the Bronx, MC Sha-Rock became the first female emcee to in an all-male hip-hop group when she joined the Funky 4+1 More in 1977. With her as emcee, the group set the standard for today's hip-hop performers.

The first female to land a record deal worldwide, Sha-Rock also was the first to use the echo chamber behind her voice in her music, a technique hip hop and rap artists mimicked.

Funky 4+1 More was the first rap group to perform on a national television broadcast in 1981, when the artists performed on "Saturday Night Live" alongside Deborah Harry.

In 1984, Sha-Rock made a guest appearance in the legendary hip-hop movie "Beat Street," directed by Harry Belafonte. Her work includes several documentaries with the BBC and an appearance on the 1982 "20/20" special, "Rappin' to the Beat" on ABC.

The most documented and photographed of all female emcees, Sha-Rock was the first hip-hop artist to lend her voice to a television commercial when she appeared in a 2008 advertisement for Mitsubishi.

She has received several awards, including the Woman of Distinction Award from the Hip Hop Culture Center of Harlem. Bennett College and North Carolina A&T State University have honored her for her groundbreaking contributions to hip-hop.

Her appearance celebrates both Black History Month and Women's History Month at Rowan.

For information about her appearance, contact J.T. Mills, millsj@rowan.edu.