Enter Rah Digga. First female of the Flipmode Squad, and founding member of the infamous Outsidaz camp – an emcee so nice, she had to affiliate twice. The world first got their fix of Digga on Fugees classic “Cowboys”, where she was trading rhymes with Lauryn, Pras, ‘Clef, and baby-father, Young Zee. But more recently, heads will recognizer her as the outstanding, and singular female voice, ripping up all those tracks with Busta Rhymes, Lord Have Mercy, Rampage, and the rest.

In the Wu-Tang tradition, the Flipmode Squad continues its plan for imperial domination, spreading itself out through each individual member?s solo projects, with the latest being Rah Digga’s Dirty Harriet. Surprisingly, instead of trying to create a female Busta Rhymes in search of huge commercial success, this album takes things back to the essence, with the majority of the beats consisting of the raw subway variety. While even the more popular styles of production found on tracks like “Do The Ladies Run This…”and “Break Fool” balance things out, without taking a drastic turn, keeping Digga’s lyrics close to the streets.

Tracks like “Harriet Thugman” and the Pete Rock produced “What They Call Me”, will throw heads back into ’92, as Digga refreshingly rips musical backdrops that sound like they belonged on Enta The Stage. Nottz finds a number of impressive loops that cater to Digga’s style perfectly, whether it’s the chopped up psychadelica of “Showdown” or the lingering violins of both “Straight Spittin’, Part II” and “What?s Up With That”, Nottz helps resurrect the lost art of sampling, in a manner that will keep everyone’s attention. Digga also gets down with the help of her fam on two other Nottz fatties, “The Last Word” (feat. Outsidaz), and “Just For You” featuring the Flipmode Squad - both of which feature Digga and friends going line for line, in a hot potato fashion. Minus the bonus tracks, of course the album closes with the token Primo banger, “Lessons Of Today”, a heartfelt, yet hardcore song about each of her brothers.

Among these tracks, and even the two extras (“Handle Your B.I.” and “Clap Your Hands”) the consistency of the production is so good, that it keeps you coming back for more, and also sets us up nicely for Busta’s Anarchy LP. Despite a few hooks that could have used some work, and rhymes that sometimes weren’t that strong, Digga’s debut is one of the most surprising of the year, but she may find a few heads fronting on her in this predominately male sport. Another small fault that might hold her back is her distinctive and commanding voice. In a Sadat X sort of way, she has one of those voices that is so different and so unique, that the audience will split between loving it or hating it.

On the real, Digga prides herself in the fact that she uses her real voice, writes her own rhymes, and looks fly as hell (keeping her clothes on) - a few traits that many of today’s female emcees wish they could admit. As she says on the album, she could be the dopest female to touch a mic since MC Lyte - just give her a chance.