by Jeroslyn JoVonn
September 19, 2024
Mia X is the latest Southern rap pioneer added to Rice University’s Hip-Hop Archival Collection.
Rice University’s Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning (CERCL) just added the First Lady of No Limit Records to its growing Hip-Hop Archival Collection to celebrate her trailblazing contributions to rap music.
Mia X was honored on Sept. 18 as a hip-hop pioneer through Rice University’s “Mia X: Soldier, Survivor, Savant” event held inside the Grand Hall at the Rice Memorial Center. The prestigious school hailed as a “New Ivy” by Forbes, added Mia X to the collection to celebrate her role as the first female rapper signed to Master P’s No Limit Records and her diverse three-decade career as an artist, entrepreneur, and educator.
Her induction into the Hip Hop Archival Collection honors Mia X’s influence as an artist whose work explores social justice, race, and empowerment themes. Mia X is celebrated for serving as a trailblazer with her feminist-focused lyrics of the 1990s and activism, in which she most recently used her lyrical flow to motivate people to get the COVID-19 vaccine on “Vax That Thang Up” with Juvenile and Mannie Fresh.
“Mia X is a major figure in the history of hip-hop, blazing a path many others have followed,” said Anthony Pinn, the Agnes Cullen Arnold Distinguished Professor of Humanities and founding director of CERCL and Rice’s Center for African and African American Studies.
“Having Mia X contribute to the CERCL Hip Hop Archival Collection helps us to extend Rice’s engagement with the expansive geography of hip-hop. We are excited to bring Mia X to campus, and we look forward to our ongoing connection.”
A panel discussion was held to honor Mia X’s contributions that featured Pinn, Chinara Butler (widow of the late Pimp C), and G Dash, a key figure in the SwishaHouse movement. The discussion delved into topics that covered Mia X’s pioneering influence and the lasting impact of her work on culture.
The Hip Hop Archival Collection, founded by Pinn to preserve hip-hop’s cultural significance, is central to CERCL’s mission of documenting and honoring hip-hop’s cultural significance, especially in the South, where artists like Mia X have played a key role in shaping the genre’s evolution. The collection, housed in Fondren Library’s Woodson Research Center, also emphasizes its role as a platform for intellectual and community leadership.
Mia X’s inception follows that of rap pioneers Pimp C, Too Short, K-Rino, and SwishaHouse.
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