Oxygen’s break-out reality series, Sisterhood of Hip Hop, is returning for a second season on Tuesday, June 9. In an exclusive conversation with HipHopDX (June 2), cast member, Diamond shares where she was when she first learned that the show was returning for a second season.
“I was in the studio, matter a fact I was in the booth!” Diamond says. “I don’t mean to toot my own horn but I was feeling positive and confident about getting a season two because of how it was set up, and how we were so open and real. If anybody appreciates Hip Hop or women empowerment they would’ve wanted to hear more, or get more into it. We showed just enough to spark interest to get people to say, ‘Alright, we’re going to give these girls a chance.’”
Diamond also reveals that legendary emcees, Queen Latifah and MC Lyte will make guest appearances this season. According to the former Crime Mob member, Queen Latifah emphasized the importance of women collaborating in order to gain broader recognition.
“[With] Queen Latifah, I had an emotional moment,” Diamond says. “But for her to take her time out [from] doing all these wonderful things to really give us the jewels on how we should act, how we should feel and how we should think and how we should move [was special]. She really taught us to have unity as women outside of the room and be like, ‘You know what, I’m gonna put that petty shit to the side and reach out to [other female emcees]… ’”
Diamond also shares some of the wisdom she received from Brooklyn native, MC Lyte. She says that Lyte taught her the necessity of being “Trained To Go.”
“MC Lyte was very influential on just a lot of things she said as fair as being trained,” she explains. “You need to be ‘TTG’ at all times: Trained To Go! You gotta be able to walk into a situation ready. You don’t wanna have to, ‘Oh I couldn’t make the show or interview because I was late because of my hair stylist or my makeup artist.’ You gotta put your big girl panties on and do what you gotta do, handle your business as a man would so you can be respected and such.”
Diamond On How To Avoid Sexual Offers For Exposure
In an industry dominated by men, Diamond suggests women maintain professionalism in Hip Hop at all times. She also explains that the cast of Sisterhood Of Hip Hop hopes to inspire female emcees to unify. “There’s always been more than one [female emcee], from Da Brat to the Missy Elliot, to Left Eye, to MC Lyte to Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa—there’s been a lot of us,” she says.
“As far as now, what we’re setting the tone for is to [show] unity. Now okay, yeah, we’re good in numbers but we can make a bigger impact if we start collaborating together and do more shit that the guys do. You gotta walk up to this noise as a woman—I’m going to teach my daughter that—you gotta know that there are double standards. It’s considered a ‘man’s world.’ You’re going to have to work ten times as hard as a guy. If you have that, ‘OK, I got breasts. I got you know what between my legs. They gonna try me.’
“So you gotta come in there professional,” Diamond continues. “You gotta come in there demanding respect, you know what I’m sayin’? You can’t fold because they say, ‘Oh, well you ain’t havin‘ sex with us so you can‘t come on the record.’ Well fuck you! I ain’t gettin’ on your record! Keep it movin’ and show ‘em. For me, my drive has always been those ‘No’s.’ It’s like, ‘You know what, I’m gonna show you.’ And if you keep that in the back of your mind, you’ll be fine. You will never be disappointed. You’ve got to expect it, so you won’t be set up to be disappointed or set up for failure.”
Sisterhood of Hip Hop premiered in August of 2014. The debut episode of the show captured 811,000 viewers, breaking the record for the most watched Oxygen debut at that time.
Season two is expected to feature over 20 guest appearances from across the music industry and focus more on the cast’s music.
Sisterhood Of Hip Hop Season 2 airs on Tuesday, June 9 on Oxygen. For more on the show, view the DX Daily below:
