Kid Sister-Ah Says 'Hi'

I've stated many times before that when presented with the possibility to listen to the latest glittery pop song over the biggest up-and-comer in the hip hop game, I'll take the former. I'm not really ashamed of it. It's just my musical opinion. However, this artist just screamed 'NOTICE ME' when I nonchalantly took a listen to her latest single, and I may have just stumbled upon one of the rap game's most interesting new stars, clearly far too late.

Her name is Kid Sister, she's from the Chi, and if you're into underground hip hop, you may have already heard of her. She's indie for the most part, but her first real single, "Pro Nails", included a feature by Mr. Kanye West (who's he, anyway? heh) and was released last year. It's her current offering however that's really got me jumping at the sheer pop stickiness of it. It's definitely hip hop but straddles the line of mainstream and underground --and in my opinion, that's really the best of both worlds.

If I had to put her in a category box, she reminds me of the best material by Kanye and Kid Cudi put in a blender and with some M.I.A. and Santigold, as well as a penchant for poppy hooks like Lil Mama, with some jammin' beats produced by The Neptunes that sound very reminiscent of EARLY hip hop (meaning: when it was truly great and wasn't all about production value, hot beats, dollas and ho's). In fact, Pharrell Williams will be doing quite a bit of the production on her upcoming debut album, dubbed Ultraviolet, due out later this year.

From what I gather, her album will contain features from Queen Latifah and Estelle in addition to Kanye, and will also have some production by Brian Kennedy (who, BTW, gave us Chris Brown's "Forever", Jesse McCartney's "It's Over", the best stuff off Corbin Bleu's new record, and Rihanna's epic "Disturbia").

Kid Sister first grabbed my attention when I was browsing the Hype Machine, as I do from time to time to get a feel for what's buzzing on the blogging underground. Her song, "Right Hand Hi", had a whopping 1000+ "loves" from various fans. That's a darn lot for an artist/song you've never heard of, so of course it forced me to take notice. I'm so glad I did. Ever since I've heard it, it's been on constant repeat on my brand spankin' new blue iPod nano.

I love these types of songs. It's like a big brash wakeup call that somehow stands out without being too offcenter that perks you up when things in the musical landscape start to all sound a bit similar...

To listen to more tunes, check out her MySpace.