You don't really hear about female rappers in the music press unless there's a scandal - Lauryn Hill's reclusiveness, Lil Kim's legal woes, or Foxy Brown's hearing loss, for example. As for actual coverage about up-and-coming female rappers - yeah, not so much. Thankfully, that may be about to change (for a short while at least) with a number of buzzworthy tracks dropping from acts both new and familiar. Kid Sister's "Pro Nails," Lil Mamas' "Lipgloss" and Eve's "Tambourine" all have the makings of a musical movement. The latter two have cracked top 40 radio, while "Pro Nails" features a verse from Kanye West. Yet, they sound like nothing else out there. All are distinguishable from one another, but share a common throwback 1980's/double dutch/Go Team vibe that is positively refreshing. It's always nice when you find the most avant garde shit is happening in the most mainstream places.Kid Sister is the one with probably the most indie rock crossover potential. Her flow recalls that of M.I.A. and the sample-heavy beats from Kanye's DJ - A-Trak - fit nicely together with the likes of Pitchfork darlings LCD Soundsystem, Girl Talk, and Dan Deacon. I first heard "Pro Nails" on Kanye's Can't Tell Me Nothing mixtape and I thought it was a classic, forgotten gem - not a new track. You can stream that and three others at her MySpace.
As for Lil Mama's hit "Lipgloss" - this is the kind of song you would expect to suck. Lil Mama's only 16, and the joint is about lipgloss, obviously. But any haters in the indie rock crowd should realize that a decade from now, this will totally be a kitsch classic. Her bio begins, "Many fail to realize that one of the beauties of Hip Hop and the key essence of its survival is the fact that it is an envelope pushing culture which constantly evolves. It is driven, inspired, and motivated by the youth who keep it fresh and energized," and damn if that doesn't ring true. Lil Mama's delivery is tight and exciting, but it's it that crazy, minimalist hand-clap beat that does it for me...
And on the subject of crazy beats, how about Eve's "Tambourine" with Swizz Beats? Fucking nuts ...
3 comments:
Okay, I did enjoy the handclaps in the first one, but not much else.
I actually really love Eve, have for a long while now. This video made me laugh.
Going to go check out Kid Sister now, thanks for the link!
Did you hear the Hood Internet mashup with Lip Gloss and a Marnie Stern song? I like it a lot and I've listened to it enough that the Lil Mama track along sounds like it's missing something.
You can get the mp3 at pitchfork:
http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/42743-the-hood-internet-absorb-the-lip-gloss-lil-mama-vs-marnie-stern-mp3
Thanks for the mashup, Adrian. I hadn't heard it before and it was totally dope.
I think that you will like Kid Sister, Allison.
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