SoundExchange, the largest neighboring rights collective in the world, today announced MC Lyte has received the SoundExchange Music Fairness Award. The honor recognizes the pioneering hip-hop artist’s legacy of advocacy, including her efforts to raise awareness, engage members of Congress, and urge passage of the American Music Fairness Act.

“MC Lyte has spent her career breaking barriers, elevating artists, and using her voice to drive meaningful change,” said Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange. “We are proud to honor her with the SoundExchange Music Fairness Award in recognition of her enduring leadership and advocacy for the creators whose work powers our culture.”

In 2024, MC Lyte joined DMC (RUN-DMC’s Darryl McDaniels) and Melle Mel to visit Capitol Hill to meet with key lawmakers about the American Music Fairness Act and urge its passage to compel corporate terrestrial radio broadcasters to pay performance royalties. She reengaged with legislators again this summer, visiting members of Congress to continue to press for passage of AMFA.

“I am deeply grateful to SoundExchange for this recognition and for its unwavering commitment to standing up for artists,” said MC Lyte. “Advocacy has always been part of my purpose, and I believe that creators deserve to be respected, protected, and fairly compensated for the music and culture they bring to the world. I’m proud to stand with SoundExchange in the fight for music fairness and for a future where every artist’s work is valued.”

MC Lyte is among the nearly 600,000 members who entrust SoundExchange to collect worldwide neighboring rights royalties on their behalf through more than 100 agreements with international organizations, covering 93% of the available global market.

Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2026 in the organization’s Early Influence category, MC Lyte has a long history of advocacy, beginning with the Stop the Violence movement in 1989, less than a year after dropping her debut album, Lyte as a Rock. Along with KRS-One, Kool Moe Dee, Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Flavor Flav, and others, she contributed to the project’s lead single, “Self Destruction,” which debuted on top of the then new Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart.

As the founder of the Hip Hop Sisters Foundation, MC Lyte works to build self-esteem and financial literacy for women and youth. She has also supported a variety of diverse causes, including pro-choice efforts, community health awareness, and voting rights campaigns. She also partnered with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund on a South African tour to empower young people and burgeoning leaders.

The author of the 2012 book Unstoppable: Igniting the Power Within to Achieve Your Greatest Potential, MC Lyte also operates the Lyte Up Your Empire platform to educate up-and-coming artists on navigating the music industry.

About MC Lyte

First female to perform Hip Hop in the White House and first African American female to serve as the President of the Los Angeles chapter of the Recording Academy: these are just the first of many firsts. MC Lyte’s groundbreaking music career solidified her as a Hip-Hop icon: the FIRST rap artist ever to perform at New York’s historic Carnegie Hall, the FIRST female rapper to ever receive a gold single, the FIRST female solo rapper nominated for a Grammy, and in 2006, MC Lyte became the FIRST solo female rapper to be honored and inducted on VH1’s Hip Hop Honors. Her distinctive voice has become synonymous with excellence, serving as the announcer and voice for the BET Awards, Emmys, Grammys, NAACP Image Awards, NFL Super Bowl Halftime Show, and numerous Fortune 500 brands. Lyricist, actress, director, inspirational speaker, DJ, author, pioneer, icon, philanthropist, and entrepreneur describe one of the most prolific and well-respected woman Hip Hop artists of all time: MC Lyte.