Sha-Rock

 Sharon Green, born in 1962, is considered the "first female rapper" or emcee, known by the rap name MC Sha-Rock. She was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and grew up in the South Bronx, New York City, during the earliest years of hip hop culture. She has been referred to as the "Mother of the Mic" within the hip-hop community, signifying her role as a prominent female figure among the early rappers. As a member of the first hip-hop crew to appear on national television, known as the Funky 4 + 1, her style of delivering raps on early mixtapes influenced notable rappers like MC Lyte and DMC (born Darryl McDaniels) of Run-DMC.

Sha-Rock began as a local b-girl, or breakdancer, in the earliest days of South Bronx hip hop scene and culture in the late 1970s. The Funky 4 + 1, Sha-Rock being the plus one, had their first significant hit with the 12-inch single "Rapping and Rocking the House" on Sugarhill Records (1979) as well as "That's the Joint" (1980) which both appeared on national television. Sha-Rock was the first female emcee-rapper of hip hop culture "on wax" or record on vinyl from its inception in the 1970s.

In 2010, Green published a book about her experiences titled “The Story of the Beginning and End of the First Hip Hop Female MC: Luminary Icon Sha-Rock.” Her hope was that by telling the truth and sharing her story, she could encourage aspiring young artists who may be at a crossroad at the moment. Sha-Rock's contribution to the hip hop culture has helped pave the way for today's female hip hop artists. She helped set the tone for female emcees to become well known and established in the hip hop music industry.

Sharon Green Jackson aka MC Sha-Rock was a member of the first notable hip hop group that included a female MC and, according to popular music scholar, Kembrew McLeod, "the first group of their kind that released records commercially." Sha-Rock became the first prominent female MC in hip-hop, and the Funky 4 + 1 was the first rap group to appear on national television. Her contributions were groundbreaking in the early era of hip hop culture in the mid-to-late 1970s.