Unladylike CD cover for

Female rap duo Unladylike, straight out of East St. Louis and on Def Jam Records, wants to do something about the dearth of female rappers behind the microphone.

And if they end up as the successor to Salt-N-Pepa in the process with their debut CD “Certified,” out this week, then it’s all good.

Rapper Tee (Teosha Thomas), one half of the duo that also includes Gunna (Jasmine Baker), says “there hasn’t been a female hip-hop duo in the mainstream since Salt-N-Pepa. Those are our mentors, and for people to compare them to us is a blessing.”

Adds Gunna: “We’re a duo and they’re a duo, and they’ve accomplished a lot. We want to get to the level they got to in this male dominated industry.”

It won’t be easy Unladylike, who plan on remaking Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It” with the original duo on the track.

Female rappers like Unladylike became such a non-entity the Grammys removed the female rap category several years ago.

“It’s hard and discouraging when you see a female emcee’s career going downhill because they’re not seen as strong enough to carry the weight around, or they don’t want to come out because this person flopped or that person flopped,” says Gunna.

“But I believe Unladylike can make history, and bring the fun back to hip-hop,” adds Gunna.

The duo, whose songs include “Dough” and “Bartender,” says their music is versatile, and not just for the clubs and the streets.

One “Certfied” song, “Hey, What’s Going On,” is a nod to modern times.

“We needed to rap about what’s going on in the world and touch peoples’ hearts,” says Gunna. “We talk about the economy and people who’ve lost loved ones. For me it was losing my grandmother. That took me forever to write because it’s so personal for me.”

Tee and Gunna first hooked up while rapping as sophomores at East St. Louis Senior High School in 2001. “Gunna was always rapping and I was always playing sports. She didn’t know I rapped. It went on from there,” says Tee.

The duo, influenced by everyone from Gangsta Boo and Shawna to Twista and Run-D.M.C., performed all around East St. Louis at talent shows at their school and other schools, followed by their first “real” show at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center.

“It was packed in there. Everybody went crazy. That’s when we knew we had something,” says Tee.

They performed at clubs such as Spruill’s, Club Onyx, the Spotlight, and the Limelight, then saw a commercial on BET for a talent search music manager Sita Lewis was holding in New York.

They drove 22 hours to New York – a few hours over what it should’ve because of a few wrong turns, and stood in line for 15 hours for a 90-second audition. A couple of days later they got the call that they were successful.

Lewis signed them on with her Voicez label, a joint venture with Def Jam. After moving them to New York and grooming them, they performed for Def Jam head L.A. Reid. That showcase was Oct. 2008, and two weeks later they were signed.

“It’s a blessing, and great opportunity to be in this situation. We’re loving it. We’ve been waiting for this for so long and now it has finally come,” says Gunna.

Get more information at www.myspace.com/unladylike.

Unladylike at Super Jam 2 with Young Jeezy, Day26, Trey Songz, Keri Hilson, Soulja Boy, Plies, Pleasure P, Lil Boosie, Hurricane Chris, Jeremih, OJ Da Juiceman, DTP Madness winner Joka, and STL Mixtape with Ludy, Gena, Young Zo, and Kenny Knox, 4 p.m. Saturday, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, $29.50-$75, www.livenation.com.