In an ambitious two-disc collection, Soul Jazz takes on the once-fertile subgenre of female rap. Celebrating three decades of sister rap, this comp actually digs way back to a couple of excellent early-'70s samplings of proto-rap from Sarah Webster Fabio and Nikki Giovanni. The real focus, however, is on the early '80s, via Roxanne Shante (to the chagrin of The Real Roxanne), MC Lyte, Queen Latifah and others who rocked the mic backed by live DJs, drum machines and the occasional live funky bass player. Going no further than Missy Elliott's "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" from 1997, Fly Girls! drives home the point that hip hop is not nearly as fun as it used to be, and that it may have something to do with the ever-diminishing number of prominent women in rap in this last decade.