MC Sha-Rock, the first female MC of Hip-Hop culture, was honored with the Key to The Bronx at the 51st annual Bronx Ball 2023 on Saturday (5/20).

This marked the first time that a woman has been given the Key to the Bronx, and Sha-Rock was honored by the achievement.

"I'm so honored to have received the key to the Bronx," she told Rock The Bells. "I've received numerous awards and accolades throughout my journey in Hip Hop culture and for my contributions to the genre in which I hold dear to my heart. But this right here, hits different. I would like to thank The Bronx and the Hip Hop community all around the world who has always had my back. We did it! I love the Bronx!"

The Cold Crush Brothers were also honored at the event, which drew celebrities such as actress Tatiana Ali and Sunny Hostin of The View, who was inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame earlier in the day.

Sha-Rock is a member of the Funky 4 and the Funky 4 + 1, one of the first MC crews formed in the Bronx in the late 1970s. The Funky 4 were the first Hip-Hop group featured on national television via their February 14, 1981 appearance on Saturday Night Live as guests of Debbie Harry of Blondie.

The Funky 4 are the first mixed-gender crew in Hip-Hop, and they were the first to release a recording (1979's "Rappin' & Rockin' The House") on Bobby Robinson's Enjoy Records after he transformed it from an R&B label to a rap label in 1979.

In 1984, Sha appeared in Beat Street as one-third of Us Girls with Lisa Lee and Debbie D. Sha-Rock told The Foundation that she first experienced Hip-Hop in 1975 during her 8th grade year of high school when she saw Kool Herc.

"I used to go to the B-Boy parties at the P.A.L. (Police Athletic League) where they played 'Bongo Rock,' 'Sex Machine' and stuff like that," she explained.

Sha Rock auditioned for DJ Breakout of The Brothers Disco for his new group which only contained KK Rockwell and Keith Caesar as members, and she made the cut.

Check out Rock The Bells' Sha-Rock and Grandmaster Caz on That's The Joint on Rock The Bells Radio, as well as at the Rock The Bells Festival on August 5 at Forest Hills Stadium.