Since a recent satellite update erased my Sirius radio presets, I was manually moving around the dial the other day and landed on Backspin. There, on the “old school rap radio” station, I rediscovered Miss Monie Love and this gem from 1990, “Monie In The Middle”:

It all begs the question: Whatever happened to playful hip-hop?

Monie Love’s debut album, Down To Earth, reached #26 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, while two of its tracks, “Monie In The Middle” and “It’s A Shame (My Sister),” garnered Grammy nominations. “It’s A Shame,” which took its hook from the Spinners’ track, was her biggest Top 40 finisher, at #26.

As for what Monie Love’s been keeping busy with these days, the London-born rapper found herself a home on the other satellite radio service, hosting XM’s Ladies First Radio. (You might recall that Monie first made her name on the rap scene by guesting on Queen Latifah’s song of the same name.)