Yolanda Whitaker

Growing Up

Yolanda Whitaker, also known as "Yo-Yo" was born on August 4, 1971 in south central Los Angeles, California. According to Ethnic Los Angeles, In 1970, the South LA area was 80% black and 9% Latino. South LA was an area of Los Angeles seperated from the rest of LA by race. Additionally, the area had a bad reputation for gangs, violence, drugs, and poverty. The area was filled with hip hop culture, from the graffitti style art work that covered the area's streets, to the famous hip hop groups, such as N.W.A, coming out of south cetral LA and surrounding areas like Compton. Whitaker was one of eight children and was raised by a single mother,  who worked as a school security guard. Whitaker attended George Washington Preparatory High School, a public high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Like the neighborhood Whitaker grew up in, "The Prep," as George Washington Preparatory High School was called, was predominantly African American and remains so to this day. 

Early Years as an Hip-Hop Artist 

At an early age, Whitaker developed an interest in sexism that was driven by her inspiration, her mother. She believed strongly that it was important to empower women, especially those who grew up in circumstances similar to her own upbringing. By 16, her rapping had earned her a reputation associated with her interest in sexism. Essence quoted her as saying,

 “I came out rapping from a woman’s point of view ’cause I saw that no one was speaking up for the ladies. And I don’t give a damn if men label me a feminist. It’s about time someone gave men feedback and said, ’I’m not your ho or your bitch, I’m a strong, intelligent black woman!’”

By 19, Whitaker's reputation as a feminist had caught the attention of Ice Cube. Ice Cube approached the young artist at a Flea Market, and, according to Dimitri Ehrlich, “liked the way she sassed him.” Having earned a misogynistic reputation that received much criticism, Ice Cube signed Yo-Yo to his production company, Street Knowledge, with the hopes of the added feminist element alleviating some of the criticism for his lyrical disrespect towards women. Whitaker quickly became coined Ice Cube's protegee and soon made her first appearance in the business on Ice Cube's album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, performing "It's a Man's World". The track was a satire of main-stream hip-hop's message, featuring a battle between Ice Cube, the typical misogynistic rapper, and Yo-Yo, a self-proclaimed feminist. Critics dubbed Yo-Yo as a surprise, referring to how well she held her own against one of the best in the business. The album reached gold status just two weeks after its release and reached platinum after just two months.  Following her appearance on Ice Cube's album, Ice Cube assisted the young artist in getting a deal with East West Records. Whitaker then released the first album of her own, Make Way For The Motherload, produced by Ice Cube's company Street Knowledge. Ice Cube made an appearance on the album in "You Can't Play With My Yo-Yo" and "What Can I Do?". The album, although peaking at only #74 on the Billboard 200, peaked at #5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Whitaker's first album gained praise from Joan Morgan of Village Voice, who said, “but feminist remains a word so loaded even a super-woman like [rapper] Queen Latifah steps from it. So as hip hop’s first self-proclaimed feminist activist, 19-year-old Yo Yo should be given her props on bravery alone,” and from Kim France of Rolling Stone, who called Yo-Yo “the strongest female rapper to come out of the Los Angeles scene.”

It's A Man's World

IBWC

Whitaker was determined to make a difference and give hope and assistance to women in the situation from which hip-hop had delivered her. At just 19, Yo-Yo dubbed her hip-hop crew IBWC and established IBWC- Intelligent Black Women's Coalition. The IBWC's web page gives the following description of the organization:

Intelligent Black Women's Coalition (IBWC) is a members only organization
founded by Yolanda YoYo Whitaker. Our primary focus for 2013 is to stop abusive
behavior within the community. Our S.T.O.P campaign targets inner city youth ages 11-25. Verbal, physical, mental, emotional and sexual violence is at an all time high. The changes in cultural attitudes and music's violent masculinity has redirected our community and created an epidemic of violence. Our goal is to bring awareness, find ways to stop the abuse and provide resources for those who seek help.

The organization was designed to do the same thing Yo-Yo had developed her hip-hop style to do: empower women. In a quote from Essence, Yo-Yo stated that the organization was created to "help sisters of all races to make positive changes in their lives." Yo remarked, “I’m not Sister Yo Yo, one of those Afrocentric, X-cap wearing niggas that won’t bust a gut for the cause. I don’t want to be one of these sisters on a black thing mission. I’m on a sister-to-sister mission and that’s worldwide.” IBWC allowed Yo-Yo's mission to evolve into a world-wide mission to work together with other women towards Yo-Yo's goal of addressing the problems of urban society and erasing misogyny from society. Today, members pay a fee of $125.00, which helps the organization work towards their goal. Members are also invited to both local and national conferences aimed at building the organization further. Her first album, Make Way For The Motherload, featured "The I.B.W.C. National Anthem."

Later Albums

Yo-Yo wrote four more albums in the seven years following the release of her first album: Black Pearl, You Better Ask Somebody, Total Control, and Ebony. All but Ebony were produced. Black Pearl was produced in 1992 and was well received by critics who admired her album's positivity that countered the main-stream style. However, the album was not a hit with the general public and was a disappointment in album sales. A popular critique centered around the album's last track, "Will You Be Mine." The track, meant to be seductive, comes off as an awkward attempt at sexy. You Better Ask Somebody, released in 1993, fared better with the general public, reaching #107 on the Billboard 200. Two hit singles were taken out of the album, "West Side Story", which reached #14 on the Hot Rap Singles, and "The Bonnie and Clyde Cycle", which featured Yo-Yo's mentor Ice Cube and reached #1 on the Hot Rap Singles. The last album, Total Control, was released in 1996 and was not a success. It reached only #46 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Acting

Yo-Yo enjoyed a brief acting career for the nine years after her debut in 1991. The highlight of her film career was her appearance in the 1991 film Boyz in The Hood, which also featured her mentor, Ice Cube. Her acting career also lead her to appearances on TV shows such as New York Undercover. More recently, Yo-Yo has done voice-work, including acting as a voice-actor in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Yo-Yo received an Emmy Nomination for her role in Stomp, a traveling percussion group that creates physical theatre performances.

Yo-Yo's School of Hip-Hop 

Most recently, Yo-Yo has founded a Hip-Hop school with the following mission statement, taken from the school's website: "YoYo’s School Of Hip Hop aims to change the lives of our youth through love, academics and performing arts, developing fearlessness, self-discipline, confidence and team work." On the homepage, A quote from Yo-Yo credits hip-hop for giving her the resources, relationships, and access that have made her dreams come true. She says that she believes she was given what she has so that she could go back to where she came from to make a difference, and that is just what she is doing with her school, which offers a variety of courses for children from 7 years of age to 17. The courses range from theater to vocal lessons to hip-hop dance lessons. Even though her last albums may not have been a success, they served their purpose: to start a movement within hip-hop to empower women.