Thursday night, May 21st, Princess Loko died due to complications with congestive heart failure, alongside other pre-existing medial conditions. Princess Loko was 40 years old.
Princess Loko, birth name Andrea Summers, was a founding force in underground rap. From the early 90’s, rapping alongside Tommy Wright III, C-9, Mac T-Dogg, Project Pimp and other members of Ten Wanted Men, Loko’s signature style was immediately recognizable. Riding a beat with polyrhythms spilling off her tongue, she brought a different kind of energy to Memphis music, that eventually spread to all crevices of underground hip hop. Loko was raw, unfiltered and refused to back down in her lyrics, tough as she needed to be, all with a natural underbelly energy of pimpin, that ran its course through her delivery. Princess was Memphis and so much more. She was the hood’s narrator, ten toes down with La Chat as the only females on an all-male roster. Both mc’s gave it to you raw and uncut… paving a foundation for so many other mc’s we know and love today. It’s the very energy you hear when you listen to Trina, Shawna and Megan Thee Stallion… they’re in fact Loko’s daughters. Loko met Tommy Wright III when she was five, living in the Blackhaven area of Memphis. Princess Loko officially joined forces with Tommy Wright in 1993, on Wright’s label Street Smart Records. She was featured on multiple of Wright’s albums, Ten Wanted Men, has collaborated with 8Ball & MJG, Gangsta Boo and many more. Princess Loko’s last official album, Long Ovadue, was released in 2012. Stream the LP below. RIP Loko.
Rap Pioneer Princess Loko Dies at 40
