Rapper Yo-Yo Has A Special Message For Hip-Hop | HuffPost Voices

For our series celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, HuffPost is featuring old and new stories about rap culture. Read the rest of our coverage here .

I Run This is a weekly interview series that highlights Black women and femmes who do dope shit in entertainment and culture while creating visibility, access and empowerment for those who look like them. Read my Bresha Webb interview here .

There was a point when hip-hop pioneer Yo-Yo didnt know if the genre would make it.

The Los Angeles-born rapper cut her teeth battle rapping and had her first big break with Ice Cube, making her debut on his song Its a Mans World. At a time when women were diminished as bitches and hoes in the genre, Yo-Yo became one of the first rappers on the West Coast to rhyme from a feminist lens and demand respect from male artists, following in the footsteps of Roxanne Shant. Her debut album, Make Way for the Motherlode, dropped in 1991. She formed the Intelligent Black Womens Coalition shortly after.

Despite her barrier-breaking work, Yo-Yo, whose real name is Yolanda Whitaker, faced label issues, the deaths of friends and colleagues and an evolving genre in which she wasnt always sure she had a place.

You cant hold yourself hostage by that; you cant become bitter by poor excuses or decisions youve made, the 51-year-old actor and rapper said. I think whats kept me strong and kept me relevant is the fact that I never gave up, that I never put my eggs all in one basket.

Yo-Yo bounced back, returning to school to earn a college degree even after fame. She went on to advocate for education and literacy, creating Yo-Yos School of Hip-Hop and scholarship programs for college students. Recently, shes been on Love & Hip Hop and appeared on Disneys Saturdays, executive produced by Marsai Martin .

The only way you get to the end of the rainbow is through trials and tribulations, she said. Fifty years of hip-hop, the voices of hip-hop, to me is everything. You know why? Because I stand, still I rise. Nothing has beat me up so bad, Im not bitter, Im not mad, and I still have opportunities. Thats a testament of who hip-hop is.

And her latest endeavor shows just how much flava Yo-Yo still has. She now has her own cooking show, Downright Delicious with Yo-Yo, which premiered on Aspire on Tuesday. Through bursts of raps and rhymes, Yo-Yo told HuffPost how her new passion born out of a hobby she started to help ease mental health struggles feeds her literally and figuratively.

For I Run This, Yo-Yo discusses her new show, reflects on her rap career and sends hip-hop a special message for its 50th anniversary .