slow drip

when was the last time you heard a female mc's voice sampled on a rap song? exactly. one song comes to mind, "rump shaker" by wreckx-n-effect. that's mc lyte's voice on the "booties start shakin' and movin' all around" part, but that was 15 years ago!

well, we can thank snoop for using ladybug mecca's voice on his latest song, "candy," and she's actually in the video, lip-synching to her own lyric ("you want 'em, i got 'em, drippin' like water"). that's ladybug mecca from digable planets. digable planets--the fugees' predecessors who were like some bebop hip-hop flying saucer from outer space. "rebirth of slick (cool like dat)" was their biggest hit, but the sample snoop uses is from "9th wonder (blackitolism)" which was on their blowout comb album, released in 1994. they were never heard from again as a group after contributing to 1995's inner city blues: the music of marvin gaye, a tribute album also featuring lisa stansfield, stevie wonder, neneh cherry and nona gaye. digable planets contributed, "marvin, you're the man" on which ladybug raps in portuguese!

they parted ways soon after, with a grammy in tow. butterfly (who gave one of the most memorable acceptance speeches in grammy history) had a son with coko from swv and appeared on camp lo's uptown saturday night album. doodlebug changed his name to cee knowledge and ladybug released trip the light fantastic in 2005. she has a song on it called "you never get over it" about her parents' deaths.

digable planets have since reunited, somewhat, doing an occasional show here and there. no official word on if a new album is in the works. in the meantime, we can see ladybug in the "candy" video, and her own for "you never get over it."