[Tracks] Kid Sister
Ultraviolet is one of those albums that you just need to listen to. Nothing I can say can accurately describe or endear the album to you. Case in point: after finally getting my hands on Kid Sister’s full-length debut and giving it a few listens, I suggested it to friend of CotP Naima, a Chicago native, feminist and rap fan. I sent her a link to an interview with Kid Sister with a few live performances. Naima replied, “I sort of liked her…but I felt like all of her collaborations were more about the featured artists (Cee-Lo, Kanye, etc.), who were, in contrast much better than her.” I continually encouraged her to give the album a chance, and after resisting for a few days, she gave it a chance. Finally, Monday night, Naima sent me a message, “Alright, I could only download a handful of her tracks, but after those 20 minutes, all I want to do is get my nails did and juke. Coincidence? I think not.”
This is to say, in the abstract, Kid Sister doesn’t really make sense to the modern rap fan. If I told most serious rap fans that they’d love a fusion album with equal influences in house, techno and rap, they’d likely look at me with three heads. Rap is heading in this direction, little by little. Through aggregators – Hype Machine and Elbo.ws – where dance music reigns, more music fans are being exposed to new and different forms of rap music. And in practice, this relatively new form of rap does actually work.
Kid Sister is among the early adopters of this new school of though on hip-hop beatmaking, but she’s not alone. Kid Cudi, Wale and Jay-Z all commissioned beats from popular electronic dance music acts and producers in 2009. Kanye West sampled “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” a few years back. And that’s not to mention artists like Theophilus London who handle much of their own production. Even still, Ultraviolet ranks with the most fun rap releases of recent years. Kid Sister succeeded in creating a fun genre-bridging hip-hop album, in a way that many of her peers couldn’t.
Go get it, it’s only $5 at Amazon.
mp3: Kid Sister – Right Hand Hi
mp3: Kid Sister – Daydreaming (featuring Cee-Lo)
mp3: Kid Sister – Right Hand Hi (Kingdom Remix)
mp3: Kid Sister – Annie Mac’s Ultraviolet Mini Mix
