The Conscious Daughters (TCD) didn’t set out to break every limitation on women in rap — they did it simply by being themselves.

On their 1993 debut Ear to the Street, the tough-talking East Bay duo lyrically stomped on sexist dudes. Instead of riding shotgun, they drove their own Mustangs and had a trunk-rattling hit single, “Somethin’ to Ride to (Fonky Expedition).” And decades before the music industry grew to champion a multiplicity of female rap stars — instead of crowning a single queen — the Conscious Daughters were building a West Coast hip-hop sisterhood.

Simply put, TCD were ahead of their time. And even though younger Bay Area artists like Kamaiyah have cited them as an influence, their legacy remains criminally under-recognized in hip-hop history.

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