Res. No. 763

Resolution designating May 20 annually as Gloria “Hurricane G” Rodriguez Day in the City of New York and recognizing her contributions to the cultural landscape of her home borough of Brooklyn and to Hip Hop worldwide.

By Council Members Hudson, Ossé, Gutiérrez, Louis and Farías

Whereas, Lifelong Brooklynite Gloria Rodriguez was born on May 20, 1970, and became one of Hip Hop’s first female Puerto Rican MCs (master of ceremonies), known to her fans as Hurricane G; and

Whereas, Hurricane G became the first female member of Def Squad (originally known as Hit Squad), the Hip Hop crew that included Erick Sermon (who had come from gold-album duo EPMD), Redman, and Keith Murray, who featured each other on their songs; and

Whereas, Hurricane G gained notice in 1992 when she called out rap legend Redman at the beginning of his “Tonight’s Da Night,” starting with “Yo yo Redman”; and

Whereas, Hurricane G “[stole] the show,” according to KEXP radio host Larry Mizell, Jr., on “We Run N.Y.,” her second hit with Redman, which came from his 1994 Dare Iz a Darkside album; and

Whereas, Well-known Hip Hop radio duo and rap kingmakers Stretch and Bobbito praised Hurricane G’s “Milky” (featuring Redman and produced by Sermon), which they debuted on their WKCR-FM show and which showed off Hurricane G’s freestyling flow, with lines like “I’m livin’ like Thanksgivin’ and chillin’ ”; and

Whereas, All Woman, released in 1997 on Jellybean Benitez’s H.O.L.A. (Home of Latino Artists) Recordings, was Hurricane G’s only solo album and included songs rapped in English and in Spanish, “effortlessly bringing a distinctive Nuyorican edge to her straightforward flow,” according to the Pitchfork newsletter; and

Whereas, “Somebody Else” from All Woman rocketed to No. 10 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Singles chart, telling the painful story of being mistreated in a relationship and using the haunting chorus of “You gonna make me love somebody else if you keep on treating me the way you do”; and

Whereas, “El Barrio” from All Woman, rapped in Spanish in Hurricane G’s characteristic Nuyorican style to a lyrical melody, tells the story of the resilient and proud “Hurricane Gloria, the queen of rap,” growing up in the barrio, where “kings and queens suffer and die” and where “life … is hard, I swear it to you”; and

Whereas, Hurricane G brought her unique style to a remix of Puff Daddy/P. Diddy’s “P.E. 2000,” as Hurricane G and Diddy rap together in Spanish to a driving infectious beat; and

Whereas, Hurricane G also collaborated with other rappers, including with Xzibit on “Just Maintain” and “Bird’s Eye View” from his debut album; and

Whereas, In 2013, Hurricane G. released Mami & Papi, a final album with fellow Brooklyn rapper Thirstin Howl III; and

Whereas, Hurricane G died on November 6, 2022, after a battle with lung cancer, and was eulogized by Old School Hip Hop Lust, a repository of Hip Hop history, as “an unapologetic spitter of cultural rigor-instilling a prominent spotlight on Afro-Latina hip-hop practitioners”; and

Whereas, Sermon, who shares a daughter with Hurricane G, paid tribute to Hurricane G as “a legend in her own right” and as someone “who paved the way” and was “as real as they come”; and

Whereas, It is appropriate to dedicate a day to honor Hurricane G’s legacy as one of rap’s female pioneers; now, therefore, be it

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York designates May 20 annually as Gloria “Hurricane G” Rodriguez Day in the City of New York and recognizing her contributions to the cultural landscape of her home borough of Brooklyn and to Hip Hop worldwide.

LS #13916

8/25/2023

RHP