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Searching for the first Feminem
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St. Petersburg Times, Searching for the first Feminem >>
Just when you thought you've figured out the world of rap
music … gangsta, crunk, East Coast vs. West Coast, sounds of the
""dirty South'' … along come performers who make the genre even
more, uh, colorful.
Can white girls rap? That's going to be a popular question now
that a handful of white women are making hip-hop music. So far,
my ears have heard no great Feminems, and that's putting it kindly.
I'm crossing my fingers, hoping our white sisters will find their
groove. In the meantime, let's check out these pioneers of the rap
world:
NORTHERN STATE: By far the most buzzed-about of the white
girl rappers is this superliterate Long Island trio, which this year
released the critically praised Dying In Stereo. The disc is filled
with witty rhymes by college grads Hesta Prynn, Guinea Love and
DJ Sprout.
Not everything works on Dying In Stereo. At times, the ladies'
shrill voices and hyper delivery make them sound unfunky. Then
again, the Beastie Boys came across that way, too, when they were
getting their druthers. (Like the Beasties, the Northern State ladies
play instruments while they rap.)
Northern State's raps, too, are devoid of cohesive narratives.
Rather than telling us a little story, Northern State drops arbitrary
rhymes notable for their highbrow or obscure references. (Then
again, how much of the old-school rap of the 1980s did the same?
Remember when the Beasties chimed, ""White Castle fries only
come in one size'' merely because it rhymed with the line before it?)
They may lack mad skills as storytellers, but the Northern State
MCs are as funny as the Beasties, and they are as outspoken as
Public Enemy. These chicks are feminists, anti-Bush and loud
about it, even if the message is often buried in rhymes that could act
as bumper stickers for the Free Association Society. On A
Thousand Words, the ladies rap:
Keep choice legal
your wardrobe regal
Chekhov wrote ""The Seagull''
Snoopy is a beagle
Praise be to the Northern State gals for keeping it real, Long
Island-goil style.
PRINCESS SUPERSTAR: The potty-mouthed princess
(Concetta Kirshner) of New York gets as much attention for her
sexy look as she does her smutty rhymes. The blond Princess sports
slinky clothes and wraparound shades, and though she doesn't have
the commanding rap voice of, say, Lil' Kim or Latifah, Princess
writes the cleverest rap lyrics around. Princess Superstar came out
of the gate bold and outrageous with 1996's critically lauded Strictly
Platinum. Her fourth record, 2002's Princess Superstar Is features
more clever rhymes and sexiness, and a gut-bustingly funny
collaboration with nutty rapper Kool Keith.
SARAI: Sarai Howard is a 22-year-old from Kingston, N.Y. The
Original, Sarai's debut, features the minor hit Pack Ya Bags, which,
like the rest of the disc, is ""lite rap,'' big on hooks, singalong
choruses and danceability. The press has labeled her ""the female
Eminem,'' and though her stories are based on her life and chronicle
edgy topics such as child abuse, Sarai is nowhere near the writer Em
is.
JESSY MOSS: Moss, 24, of Australia, rhymes awkwardly with an
Aussie accent over wimpy beats on her soon-to-be released debut,
Street Knuckles.
DEBBIE HARRY: The coolest white female rapper ever? It's still
Debbie Harry of Blondie. Often credited with introducing rap
music to the mainstream, in 1980 Harry ""rapped'' about the man
from Mars on the Blondie hit Rapture. Sleepy-eyed Harry strutted
her stuff in the song's graffiti-filled video with Fab Five Freddy
twirling about in his phat white tails and top hat.
KLEZMER RAP: Jewish rappers are also adding to the rap genre.
One new disc combines old traditions with new: Solomon &
Socalled's HipHop Khasene on the Piranha Musik label. Violinist
Sophie Solomon (of the British klezmer band Oi-Va-Voi) and
Canadian DJ/producer DJ Socalled have teamed to produce a
record that blends traditional klezmer wedding music … a khasene
is a Jewish wedding ceremony … with hip-hop beats, samples, skits
and rapping in English and Yiddish. HipHop Khasene is essentially
an ""alternative'' klezmer wedding suite that takes the listener
through ancient Eastern European wedding rites, including the
ceremony, the weeping of the bride and the seven blessings.
Rapping Jews? The Beastie Boys trio of Ad Rock (Adam
Horovitz), Mike D (Michael Diamond) and MCA (Adam Yauch)
know what I'm talkin' about. As does MC Serch (Michael Berrin) of
pioneer white rap act 3rd Bass. Princess Superstar and some of the
gals in Northern State are Jewish, too. Also:
HIP HOP HOODIOS: This Brooklyn quartet raps in English,
Hebrew and Ladino (Judeo-Spanish). The band's sound combines
Hispanic instrumentation and rap rhythms. The group has found
acceptance in the Latin and Jewish music communities.
MC PAUL BARMAN: Often called the Woody Allen of hip-hop,
Barman is a nebbish rapper whose latest, Paullelujah!, is full of
songs about being too bright and having trouble with the ladies.
ERIC ROTH: This Jewish rapper has no trouble with women. Just
ask him. On his debut, Anathema, Roth raps, ""Zionist girl/let me
rock your world.''
The most widely known Jewish rapper? Remedy, associated with
the Wu-Tang Clan collective. Born Ross Filler in Staten Island,
N.Y., Remedy raps about the Holocaust on Never Again and even
has a ditty about his Hebrew name, Reuven ben Menachem.
QUOTE: ""There's nothing wrong with being sexy. But I draw the
line at body parts hanging out, G-strings showing or too much
cleavage.''
… Tina Knowles, mother of and clothing designer for Beyonce, in
this month's Rolling Stone.
… Gina Vivinetto is the Times' pop music critic. E-mail her at
gina@sptimes.com 09/04/03
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