By: Andrew BeaujonThe white female rapper/singer has arrived. Meet the new crop of”Feminems”
Kiley Dean
Path to fame: Performing at Disneyworld led to a backup-vocalist gig with Britney Spears. Dean was introduced to Timbaland, who, after hearing her freestyle in a hotel lobby, signed her to his Beat Club label. Sounds like: Dean’s voice has already garnered comparisons to Timbaland protégées Aaliyah and Tweet. “They want to tack you on to anybody they can,” she says. Sure, but “Make Me a Song,” the first single from Dean’s album, Simple Girl, references both women. “That’s okay,” she says. “It’s a compliment to say I sound like them.” Sample lyric: “Can you give me a song like you and Missy wrote/somethin’ like ‘Get Ur Freak on’?”
Jessy Moss
Path to fame: Moss learned to love hip-hop on the mean streets of Byron Bay, Australia. She fulfilled her Aussie national-service obligation to tend bar in the U.K. before taking a job at a Los Angeles recording studio. Sounds like: On her excellent debut, Street Knuckles, Moss sings and raps–the latter on “Confessions,” a tale of being held at gunpoint during a home invasion. “Hip-hop is big on credibility,” she says. “I’m telling these stories from my life. You can listen to it and like it, or you can not and fuck you.” Sample lyric: “And about my security deposit / If I don’t see it quick / You’re gonna see about two Gs worth of damage to your shit.”
Northern State
Path to fame: After making a lauded four-song demo, Hip-Hop You Haven’t Heard, childhood friends Robyn Goodmark (DJ Sprout), Julie Goodman (Hesta Prynn), and Correne Spero (Guinea Love) signed to Columbia, though they’re releasing their debut, Dying in Stereo, on an indie. Sound like: “Old school”–if old school means the Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill. “In any crowd,” says Spero, “there are maybe 15 people who hate it. Then there are usually five to ten girls who are having a life-changing experience.” Sample lyric: “You say that I’m beautiful under your breath / But you’re not looking at my eyes, no, you’re staring at my chest.”
