Ladies Who Slay: Lessons From Hip Hop’s Most Stylish Stars

As a female, breaking into the hip hop game is no easy feat. It takes rare talent, bold personality and style that's anything but basic. And in honor of Hip Hop Appreciation Week, we're taking a look back at 12 women from the music industry whose beats and signature looks continue to inspire us.

From the pioneering women of nineties hip-hop to the leading ladies of today, these artists not only broke into the boy's club— they made their own style rules along the way.

Click ahead as we salute the genre’s most fashionably iconic females. 

LIL' KIM

Kim is said to be the most brand-dropping rapper in history, which makes her all the more relevant with logomania's recent return. After meeting the Notorious B.I.G., who became her mentor and rumored lover, she released her first solo album Hard Core in 1996, which debuted at number eleven on the Billboard 200—the highest ranking for a female rapper.

Style Lesson: Kim wrote the book on crazy colored wigs & outfits that could pass for costumes.

AZEALIA BANKS 

Although Azealia Banks has been caught in not so nice headlines lately, this new kid on the block’s bold on-stage get-ups are mesmerizing. And given her daring and distinctive look, outspoken nature and those catchy songs, it was only a matter of time before this controversial rapper started making social media waves. 

Style Lesson: Never look too put together.

AALIYAH

At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show "Star Search" and performed in concert alongside Gladys Knight, and two years later Aaliyah signed with Jive Records and her uncle Barry Hankerson's Blackground Records. Described as one of R&B's most important artists during the nineties, her second studio album, One in a Million, became one of the most influential R&B albums of the decade. Her and eight others were later killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas after filming the music video for the single "Rock the Boat".

Style Lesson: You can be sexy without revealing too much (evidence made by her signature baggy jeans and crop tops).

IGGY AZALEA

As a white girl from rural Australia, raised in the small New South Wales town of Mullumbimby (population: 3,000), she's somewhat of an outsider in the world of rap. It's appropriate given that she's risen to the status of one of the most promising new MCs in an era when hip-hop has never been more open to artists from a diversity of backgrounds. Azalea's debut studio album, The New Classic, topped the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums making Azalea the first non-American female rapper to reach the summit of the chart.

Style Lesson: If you got it, own it (when it comes to getting plastic surgery).

FOXY BROWN

She was signed by Jay Z’s Def Jam Records at age seventeen in 1996 and her debut album, Ill Na Na, featured popular collabs with Jay-Z as well as Blackstreet and Method Man. Her feud with high school friend Lil’ Kim was (and still is) infamous, resulting in much speculation and many songs.

Style Lesson: You can never show too much leg or have big enough hoops.

LAURYN HILL

She came onto the scene in 1994 with the Fugees’ first album, and gained notoriety with their second, The Score, which reached number one on the Billboard chart and won the Grammy for Best Rap Album. After releasing her first solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, she collected five Grammys—the first woman to do so—including Best New Artist and Album of the Year.

Style Lesson: Comfort is key— When in doubt, make it a maxi. 

QUEEN LATIFAH

Before Bey there was this Queen who began her career by beat boxing, and her demo got her discovered by Fab 5 Freddy, the host of Yo! MTV Raps. Her music addressed iimportant women’s issues like domestic violence and she eventually transitioned into television and film, where her work has earned her a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Grammy (as well as six nominations), an Emmy nomination, and an Oscar nomination.

Style Lesson: Always be proud to be Afrocentric. (Think loud prints, bold hats and lots of bling)

M.I.A. 

Her outfits are as wild as her songs are controversial and we wouldn’t want M.I.A any other way. She released her debut album Arular in 2005 and second album Kala in 2007 both to universal critical acclaim. Ever since her first single, much of M.I.A.’s appeal has been the deftness with which she blends lyrics about marginalized groups from the developing world with visual tropes that are in line with their cultures.

Style Lesson: Go big, go bold or go home. 

SALT-N-PEPA

Hailing from Queens, this stylish trio was one of the first female rap groups, jumping on the scene in 1986 with their album Hot, Cool & Vicious. And before the Kardashian's came along, who do you think put body suits on the map?

Style Lesson: Ladies, look at your friends— style coordination is key. 

MISSY ELLIOT

Let's be real, she can rap as well as any man, and the Get Your Freak On star began her career by crafting music for Aaliyah, Destiny’s Child, and later, Whitney Houston. Her first album, Supa Dupa Fly, achieved wide critical success. A comeback queen, Elliott lost 71 pounds in 2002 after doctors warned she could have a stroke. She later reappeared during the 2015 Super Bowl halftime performance— stealing the show from Katy Perry. 

Style Lesson: Balance out your tracksuit with plenty of bling. 

NICKI MINAJ

Born in Trinidad and Tobago and raised in Queens, after attending La Guardia High School for the Arts, Minaj was introduced to rapper Lil Wayne, who launched her career. She was featured in seven songs on Billboard's Hot 100 at the same time, even before the release of her debut album in 2010. 

Style Lesson: If you've got it, flaunt it. 

TLC

Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapper Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas were one of the biggest-selling female R&B groups of all time. But they became equally well known for their chaotic personal lives, leaving a trail of headlines that read like a soap opera: arson, rehab, bankruptcy, serious illness, high-profile romances, and countless intragroup squabbles. After their widely successful second album, CrazySexyCool, TLC fell into disarray, taking over four years to record the follow-up, Fanmail. They returned more popular than every until tragedy struck in early 2002, when Lopes was killed in a car accident in Honduras.

Style Lesson: Only true divas can pull off bikini tops and overalls.