Before the month of March, aka Women's History Month 2011, comes to a close I wanted to shine some light on a sampling of the female hip-hop talents out there today and what they're up to, including both some well known, longtime women artists and some new up-and-coming female artists. For a myriad of reasons, namely the genre's prevalent macho attitude, even all these years later female artists remain a clear minority in the male dominated field of rap music. Hence, those women who continue to make hip-hop music demonstrate a true dedication and passion for their art form.

As with any musical genre, hip-hop goes through different waves and stages. Since its beginnings, trends in the popularity of female artists have periodically come and gone. And right now, following the meteoric rise to fame of Lil Wayne female protege Nicki Minaj and the breakout success of her late 2010 debut album Pink Friday, it looks like we might be set for a new wave of female MCs in the mainstream. If this occurs, as many industry insiders predict, it will not only make it easier for new female artists to get heard but it will also be easier for longtime female artists putting out new releases. One longtime female rapper who will not give credit to Nicki Minaj for the album she is reportedly dropping this year is Lil Kim, who you'll recall had a very public verbal beef with the younger rapper and who, back in November, unleashed the uncomplimentary rap "Black Friday" in response to Pink Friday. This week Nicki fired back with her latest Lil Kim diss track "Tragedy."