Rah Digga is Harriet Thugman. Rah Digga is the only female member of Busta Rhymes' Flimpode Squad. And Rah Digga is tight. Y'all know that. SIXSHOT.com spoke exclusively to Rah Digga after a perfomance with The LOX and Rampage in Biel, Switzerland. And here's what you didn't know about Harriet Thugman.

Sixshot: Rah Digga, welcome to Europe. Do you like it over here?
Rah Digga: Hell yeah. I especially liked Amsterdam. The weed is legal in Amsterdam...and I was gone for the day (laughs).

S: This is your first time in Switzerland, right?
RD: Yeah.

S: Do you make a difference whether you're in Switzerland, Germany, England...wherever, or is it just "different stage, different crowd, same ol' thang"?
RD: Well, this isn't my first time overseas, but it is my first visit to Switzerland, these were my first visits to Amsterdam and London, and it is different everywhere, of course. But to put it in a general way, as these are my first shows overseas, the crowds over here are by far more appreciative than the crowds at home. People in the US think it's normal to see rappers walking down the streets, but I can see that over here, they really appreciate us being here. In Amsterdam for example, the crowd wasn't satisfied because they thought the show was too short and I went out there and told 'em "Listen up, I don't have more time than one hour...I'm sorry" (laughs). But it was all good, because they didn't want me to get off the stage, and I appreciate that.

S: What's with your voice?
Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. > RD: I know it's a voice thing with me. I think someone's voice says a lot about his character as well. The three words I use to describe my voice are 'strong', 'confident' and 'serious'. That describes me the best as an MC, as a person, it describes any aspect of my life that I'm dealing with.

S: You came out on Elektra Records thanks to Q-Tip, because he spotted you on the Lyricist Lounge. Tell us about that.
RD: The Q-Tip / Elektra thing wasn't the first time I got hooked up in the game. A few months earlier, I was featured on the Fugees' "Cowboys" (off "The Score"), which was actually my first contact with the industry. I shot the video and everything, but it took a few months for the video to air, because "Killing Me Softly" came out simultaneously, and that was the single they mainly focused on back then. So when the video finally aired, I was already in my eight month of pregnancy. Back then, I met Q-Tip at a studio session and I told him that I was a little frustrated, 'cause I didn't know what was goin' on with my record deal situation. And basically, that if I wouldn't have a record deal until my child was born, I would have to get a job and just put the rap shit secondary. So he was like "Yo, I got a production deal on Elektra. I'll sign you." I was like "Word? You sign me?". And he went "Yeah!" So that weekend I did the lyrics for the Lyricist Lounge and I peformed, and people were like "Wow...she's hungry, she's performing eight months pregnant. This girl deserves a record deal." And by the time my child was born, I was an officially signed artist.

S: A male rapper is never asked what makes him different from another male rapper. Does it frustrate you always being compared to other female artists and being recognized only within this category?
RD: You know, that's weird. Every single interview that I do, they ask me what makes me different from another female rapper, every single interview...

S: That's what we didn't want you to ask...
RD: (smiles) Yeah, I know...look, it doesn't really annoy me, but sometimes I feel that reporters want me to diss females, they ask me how I feel about female rappers who sell sex. They want to know what I think of Foxys and Lil' Kims and they want me to say "Yeah, that's bad, they should focus more on the lyrics..." but for me, it's a hard enough struggle just being a female, period. And at this point in time in Hip Hop you can't really survive unless you're some sort of way visually appealing. So if sex is your weapon...may the best one win. It's a serious struggle and it's twice as hard for females. And obviously, it works. Plus, it doesn't do anything for me to be considered the best female rapper. If somebody likes me better than they like another female artist, it doesn't really move me, it doesn't push me, you know. Now…if I go in the studio to do a song with Jay-Z and KRS-One, and everybody likes my verse the best, then I feel like I've accomplished something. Then I know that I'm heading in the right direction.

S: What do you think of artists who don't write their own rhymes?
RD: I think it's very gimmicky. Anybody can write your biography, but who better than you? What's more accurate than your autobiography? Who can tell the story better than yourself?

S: Who did you listen to growing up?
RD: KRS One, The Juice Crew...and my favorite was Kool G Rap. Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Public Enemy...and MC Lyte was the girl. Roxanne Shanté was the first girl I listened to, but MC Lyte was THE girl.

S: Talking about girls: You once said you especially like Eve and Sonja Blade. Why's that?
RD: I personally like Eve, because she never came up with this stardom-bullshit. I requested her presence on my album and she came to the studio like at four o'clock in the morning, did her thing, and I'm just mad appreciative about that, 'cause you won't find many artists who come to your studio at four in the morning. I admire her work ethic. Plus, we managed to do the Ruff Ryders / Cash Money tour together, I was openin' up on that tour and so I got to know her better, and she's a really cool person, she's very down to earth. I just think she didn't let the industry take her head. Sonja Blade is just a raw, dope, up- and coming female. I think she's dope, so I put her on my album. I think she deserves it.

S: What's it like working with the Outsidaz compared to working with Flipmode?
RD: For me, the Outsidaz are the group of guys I shared my unsigned days with. This means goin' out battlin', freestylin', open mic shows...all of that stuff. Once I got into the Flipmode Squad, I had a certain responsibility, I was going through a maturing process as far as being a professional artist. You know, having an image, stage presence...that was a time that I went through with Flipmode. Both elements are kinda equal, one helps me on stage and with all that's visual, while the other is more like my lyrical fire. I couldn't do it with just one of 'em.
S: Was the Flipmode album a unique project or is the whole squad already planning something again?
RD: Oh, no, the second Flipmode album has actually already been completed.

S: Can you tell us more about the new album?
RD: It is entitled "The Rulership". I was actually on tour when most of the material was recorded, so I'm only on four or five songs. But the album is very dope, every individual member in the Flipmode Squad did a track with one of their favorite artists, mine is with Pink, Rampage's song is with Snoop, Busta's planning to do his with Nelly, umm...D'Angelo is gonna be on the album, Baby Sham did a track with Slick Rick and Nas, and Spliff has Busta on the hook. It's a very, very dope album, and looking back, a lot of feedbacks and responses concerning the first Flipmode album were like (shouting) "yo...the girl kicked it like nobody did" (laughs)...but I think they're not gonna say this again after the second album, they're gonna be surprised how everybody in the Squad stepped up on this one. Everybody is dope on the new Flipmode album.

S: Can you already tell us when it's gonna come out?
RD: It is scheduled to come out around labour day. I can‘t really comment...(hesitates and smiles...'cause...you know them politics, right?

S: Aight, got it. Let's change subjects. You finished school, you got your diploma, you went to college…
RD: I didn't finish college.

S: Yeah, but at least you went there. Anyway, you seem to be a person that realized the value of education. Doesn't it frustrate you being an icon of a culture that generally underestiamtes that value? There's not too many punchlines like "go to school and educate yourself"...
RD: Yes, it is frustrating because you're not gonna make it very far in this world unless you educate yourself. I mean, I'm not saying "you have to finish college in order to be successful"...because I haven't neither. But you have to stay informed with what's going on in the world, you gotta keep educating yourself even outside of a classroom steadily, because things keep happening every day, technology for example is constantly advancing, times are changing...and if you don't change with them, you can get into a lot of trouble. You will be in a lot of trouble.

S: Finally...what makes Brick City different from NYC?
RD: (smiling) Brick City got the best MC's (laughs).