Sound: Crude and witty London MC-ing over UK electronic beats that are peppered with retro flavor (808 drum machines, blippy synths, ska, dancehall, drum ‘n’ bass) and a hard modern edge.
Note: This is Lady Sovereign’s debut LP. Three of the tracks included (“Random,” “A Little Bit of Shhh” and “Fiddle With the Volume”) were on her 2005 EP Vertically Challenged.
Heavy Rotation tracks: “Gatheration“; “My England”; “Love Me or Hate Me”
Medium Rotation tracks: “Random”; “Tango”; “Hoodie”
Explicit Lyrics*: On pretty much every track. You’ll need the clean version if you’ve got to keep your music FCC-friendly.
Recommended: If you’re looking for a female version of The Streets (her music is just as daring and genre-bending as his last two albums) with some of Eminem’s knack for sing-along, pop-friendly anthems. Her flow isn’t quite on the elite Slim Shady level, but it’s far superior to Mike Skinner’s (aka The Streets). Though you’d have to give both of the guys the edge for amusing and insightful lyrics.
Grade: B+

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* Noting of explicit lyrics is for the benefit of radio music directors or anyone else that needs/wants to keep their music FCC-friendly.