Feloni Lays it Down

Hip-hop artist Feloni has never been in trouble with the law — which is exactly why she chose this play-on-words MC name.

"I chose that name because unlike a lot of my friends I ran with as a teenager, I'm one of the few who never caught a felony," the rapper said. "It's also an acronym for something, but I'm going to keep that one to myself."

Feloni (nee Trish Best) has been a part of the Detroit hip-hop community for several years. As an out lesbian, she says she's observed more misogyny than homophobia in her world, but it's never deterred her. Quite conversely, it seems to add fuel to her fire.

"I think it's fair to say that not all male rappers consciously try to be misogynistic," Feloni said. "A few of them are just using what they feel is the best street adjective to describe the situation, and are not necessarily referring to all women in general."

"I'm really hoping that since we now have Michelle Obama as the first African-American, first lady that these guys will wise up to show more respect. Obviously, having their mothers and Oprah wasn't enough."

An MC who has more to rhyme about than the women she's with, Feloni has been able to deter comparisons to other lesbian rappers and be known as a rapper first, lesbian second. She said that early in her career, she was warned that being out would hurt her financially, and that it would make getting a record deal more difficult.

"They were right," Feloni said. "Yet I didn't care about any of that."

Her 2007 debut album, A Woman's Revenge, took the misogyny of the hip-hop industry head-on.

In her hometown, where male rappers seem to be groomed from the crib and go on to have profitable careers, Feloni has held her own and created a record label, Trak Diamond Records, and a name for herself without having to worry about benefiting anyone else in the process.

Songs like "No Fear" tout her ideas about using her pain for her passion to write and rhyme, while others like "Fien'n 4 U" are about meeting a woman who is more than what she does for a living.