Sistas Ready to Rock for Female Respect

Fela says she didn't necessarily grow up listening to hip-hop -- "and I'm not the biggest hip-hop fan" -- but was inspired in her early passion for poetry by Lauryn Hill, "still to this day an amazing artist, proud of her womanhood, who wears femininity on her sleeve and is still dropping the hardest rhymes alongside the dudes."

Since age 13, Fela has also been a DJ at local clubs, and she says that "part of that is knowing your history. I started looking up other sisters -- Mystic, Monie Love, Queen Latifah, the Real Roxanne [Shante], MC Lyte and Bahamadia," with whom she'll share the stage Wednesday. Fela, who is working on her first album, a mixture of poetry and music, says that "there is a lack of female energy in hip-hop, where either you're very masculine and over here with the dudes or you're just degrading yourself. There's no in between anymore, and that really pushes me to keep doing what I do."

Afi (pronounced ah-FEE) will be releasing her debut album, "Lovely," during the Aug. 12 grand finale at Zanzibar on the Waterfront headlined by MC Lyte, who will perform with a live band and a DJ and has committed to doing a lot of her classics. The Queens-born rapper, who in 1989 spat, "I'm the dopest female that you've heard thus far," was one of the first female rappers to address sexism and misogyny in hip-hop. She has a MySpace page, Hiphop Sisters, that encourages female MCs from around the world to come together.

Another local singer, Alison Carney, is working on a solo album and one with her band Solystik. Carney, who passed on one major label deal because of discomfort with how they wanted to present her, says that "as a female artist, I feel there's a lot of pressure to conform, to be highly sexualized, to be a little more risque than I would like to be. One thing about this festival is it's really about female empowerment; I'm not a feminist by any means, but it's really great to see strong, powerful women who are doing their own music, whether its hip-hop, R&B, soul, rock, art installations. The majority of us are doing it independently, and a lot of us are doing extremely well."

Other CASRAM participants include Sy Smith (who calls her music "futuristic soul"), a D.C. native and Howard University grad now based in Los Angeles doing music direction for late-night talk shows; Yahzarah and Tiye Phoenix, local singers who have since moved to North Carolina and New Jersey, respectively; and Carol Riddick, a Philly soul singer who has appeared on records with Musiq, Jill Scott, Kindred and Anthony Hamilton. Riddick is making her Washington debut, as is Georgia Anne Muldrow, a West Coast singer who melds classic soul, jazz and hip-hop. She will perform with husband Dudley Perkins (a singer with Madlib) and their 15-year-old daughter.

Bahamadia, who first gained notice as a protege of Gang Starr's Guru -- he, partner DJ Premier and the Roots co-produced her 1996 debut, "Kollage" -- says: "Some people make a conscious decision to make music that's going to appeal to a certain demographic, and certain people desire to break into the mainstream, and in order to do this there's a certain formula. There's also a way you can create music of substance and quality without compromising your integrity or your moral standards and beliefs. It's a scenic route," she says with a chuckle, "but it's one that can be traveled."

Which Anku hopes to do next year, taking Can a Sista Rock a Mic? on the road to five cities "with a lot of D.C. artists and hooking up with people in those different cities."

THE SCHEDULE

Wednesday at 7, Rock and Roll Hotel: LadyBeat Maker competition; DJ Earth1ne, ArtByLiz, Emoni Fela, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Bahamadia.

Thursday at 7, Cue Bar: Remedy Lounge with DJ Fusion and DJ Earth1ne.

Aug. 10 at 7, Republic Gardens: Sy Smith, Yahzarah, Carol Riddick, Alison Carney, DJ Cuzzin B, DJ Uncle Q.

Aug. 11, 4 to 9, Arts Alley in Silver Spring between Mayorga and Gallery: DJ Frances Jaye, DJ Earth1ne, L'Renee, Stephanie McKay and more, including an all-female band and jam session.

Aug. 12 at 6, Zanzibar on the Waterfront: Choklate, Davina, Afi and MC Lyte.

Go tohttp://www.canasistarockamic.comfor more than 30 sound bites featuring this year's participating artists, as well as many from previous CASRAM festivals.