Does a woman have to be hard to get respect? Do you have to be a tomboy to be good?	Hardness? To a certain degree. You have to be a tomboy for guys to respect you - or else they write you off. I don't think it's to the point where you have to act like a dude, it's just about being real.
So you can't be seductive and be a hip-hop star and be a girl all at the same time?	Yes, you can. I'm attractive, and I'm a hip-hopper, and I'm a girl all at the same time. When I first came out {at age 16}, people used to say: "Oh, my God, she's got a sweat shirt on. And sneakers. And she doesn't smile, she looks mean." My hard doesn't even compare to the hard that's out there now. Now {she's 22} people say, "Why isn't she as hard as whe used to be?" I say, "Look, I've grown up." You want to wear lipstick, you want to do something different with your hair or whatever. I don't know. I'm just real.
What's the definition of that?	Of real? [Pause] Just your average Joe Blow: Only difference in me and him is I have a record out. I have a vent. You may have a vent, if you're, like, a boxer. To vent, you box. And you tear up whoever you're in the ring with. It's the same way with hip-hop.
What do you love about hip-hop?	It's just - free. It's free, and it's real. I know you don't like that word, real.
I just wish someone would define it for me.	From an interview with MC Lyte; by Danyel Smith in Rolling Stone, September 16, 1993, p.17