WAH Zine

WE’RE BANKING ON AZEALIA BANKS!

Azealia Banks or also known as ‘Miss Banks’ is an adorable young lady born and raised in Harlem NYC, oh and she raps too! While most female emcees are walking around looking like stanky extras from 98’s The Players Club, (fantastic film BTW), Miss Banks is cute, sweet and totally looks like the girl who won best smile in your high school superlatives. The way she is taking over the game is due to her itty bitty potty mouth, which is unexpected on tracks yet guiltlessly enjoyable all at the same time. A cute girl saying dirty words, what more could you ask for? In her song entitled “The Chill$” Miss Banks raps in one verse of the song saying, ’Try somethin’ slick and get ya dick hacked up./ So you can either hit the door and peace or watch your meat hit the floor in pieces, believe this’. Yeah, believe that, because she really does say it. Perhaps saying that would prove to be more effective the next time a lame tries hitting on you at the club, just sayin’.

Without intentions of taking anything seriously Azealia managed to generate a lot of buzz around her little ‘ole self in NYC and the online community in a little over a year. This got her thinking to take her style from just some freestyle shit to some full fledged hip-hop shit. Although she is fairly new to this whole rapper shtick, she has already managed to do many impressive things in her own right. She’s only 18 years old, writes 100% of all her own material and has worked with the likes of super DJ/Producer Diplo while she was still just a jailbait beauty attending LaGuardia High School of Music Art and Performing Arts. Banks incorporates a lot of electro beats in her music which makes it different enough to stand out amongst the masses, as well as poppy and fun to dance to in the midst of her bad girl style storytelling.

We are team Azealia Banks and you should be too. She’s a young, fresh, sassy little firecracker with freestyles that are NOT to be slept on and shows a lot of promise in her upcoming career. Although if you’re a boy in skinny jeans, you best beware, Miss Banks don’t play dat, as she says on her Myspace page, “Who said that was poppin in the first place?”

Sabrina Dunn

LIL KIM

In Hip Hop today there are many talented female rappers, but it hasn’t always been that way. In the past, being female meant that you couldn’t even get your foot through the door. While it’s hardly easy as pie now, it was definitely considered unattainable when some of our favourite MCs began their careers. There are many women that could be credited with the increasing acceptance of women in Hip Hop. But there is one in particular that holds a special place in our hearts. Give it up for the Queen Bee: Lil’ Kim.

Kim began her career as a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A, a group closely affiliated to the Notorious BIG and Bad Boy Records. A long time friend of Biggy and Lil’ Cease, she had grown up alongside them in Brooklyn. Kim had to learn to protect herself from a young age after her father kicked her out of the family home. She managed to survive by staying at friends houses and occasionally sleeping on the streets. Things changed pretty quickly after Junior M.A.F.I.A were signed to Bad Boy and released their first album, ‘Conspiracy’ in 1995. One year later, Kim released her first solo album titled ‘Hardcore’. The album turned her into a sex symbol due to the cover artwork on which she posed provocatively on top of a fur rug.

From early on in her career, Kim showed an interest in fashion, her style has always been fun and experimental. Her music videos and lyrics feature an emphasis on designer labels, most likely to have been influenced by the logo-heavy fashion of the early 90s. Brands such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Versace and Christian Lacroix are frequently name checked in lyrics. Clothing is intended to display her wealth and sexuality: fur coats over bikinis, diamonds and crop tops. She was very rarely seen without her Versace sunglasses and rainbow coloured wigs.

While previous female Hip Hop artists had all played a part in fashion, it was refreshing for an artist to embrace her femininity so openly. In the past, sweet smiles were exchanged with mean grimaces, dresses rejected in favour of shell suits. The legends, such as MC Lyte who dominated Hip Hop before Kim were forced to establish themselves as deserving candidates through power and determination,  stereotypically considered masculine characteristics. For this reason they styled themselves more appropriately to male fashion at the time. During the 1990s there was a rise in successful female rappers, including Lauryn Hill, Da Brat, and Missy Elliot. Lil’ Kim separated herself from these peers through her tactical use of femininity; she used her body in order to be noticed, then her lyrics to be heard.

Being the only female in a man’s world has never seemed to bother Kim. In her verse on, ‘It’s All About The Benjamins’, Kim boasts, “The only female in my crew, then I kicks you”, she cherishes her role as female of the pack. In the same video, she appears on screen pushing aside the other Bad Boy rappers, fighting for her place in front of the camera. The reason Lil’ Kim stands alone in the industry because she can hold her own against the men all the while looking too hot for them.


LILY MERCER

KEEPING IT COOLY

Everybody wants a piece of Cooly G.  Since becoming the second female artist to sign with Kode 9’s Hyperdub label earlier last year, this South Londoner has been at the centre of an increasingly significant buzz. Not only has she lit up the underground, majors are dueling for Cooly to work her magic on their safe sounding pop. Equally indicative of her wider appeal, The Guardian recently went so far as to name Cooly’s ‘Love Dub’ their single of the week. Taken from her most recent EP, ‘Love Dub’ is a dangerously addictive, sweet sounding, dub enhanced tune.  Also featuring on the EP is Narst, a track that indulges in fierce, impatient strings, lined with a rapid snare and enough thumping kicks to set any dancer in motion.


Cooly G, real name Merrisa Campbell, is quite an extraordinary young woman. When not producing, DJing, singing, playing semi-pro football and guiding young kids through troubled times she still finds the time to look after her two year old son - a full time job in its own right but something that comes naturally to the 26-year-old. “I’ve always looked after young people, since I was 17.  I want to help people because they just haven’t got any guidance and I don’t know what their parents are doing because they shouldn’t even be feeling like that or even going through situations like that”

As I delve deeper into conversation about the youth of today, Cooly lets slip that she’s been writing a book for the past 10 years. “I want to educate young girls” she tells me “from the age of 16 to 20 I was in a relationship with an older man who completely controlled me. I was left at home to look after his kids when I was 17.  There was no Merissa in those years”.  This experience has undoubtedly attributed to the moulding of Cooly as the strong independent female she is today.  Luckily for us, she is on top of the world right now and people are starting to take notice of this inspirational bright young thing.

From a very young age Cooly knew her way around a mixing desk and turntables- better than most producers today. “I was seven when I bought my first record and tried to scratch because I was watching those American films and tried to copy them”.  She also had the advantage of exploring her dad’s old school analogue mixing desk.  “I got involved in pressing the buttons, because my dad had equipment at the house. He said I used to play with the mixing desk and it’s  mad because I know how to control all of that, no-one was telling me how to do it”.  Cooly’s instinctive musical nature and technical understanding has led to her becoming one of the most promising producers of the year.  Her tribal, dark Grime-like production is something that doesn’t fit easily into one box, but with the likes of Kode 9 and Markus Nasty backing her all the way Cooly G is unquestionably one to keep an eye out for.

As ever, Cooly plays it cool. She’s not letting slip about any future releases but says she has something special lined up for Hyperdub. So, stay tuned this summer and keep your eyes peeled as Cooly G makes her mark, because whether you’re a fan of Funky, House or Dubstep you will quickly see why everyone wants to work with her..  Check her Myspace for future tour dates.


WORDS: ALICE MOXOM
PROFILE IMAGE: SHAWN JOHNSON

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE SOUNDTRACK

Anything Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs does is something you should be behind. The same goes for anything that director (and her ex-boyfriend) Spike Jonze does. So if you put two and two together (the Where the Wild Things Are movie and the music created for it) then you’re going to come out with something insanely good for your senses.

On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I ran into a Starbucks the day before leaving and was fortunate enough to be faced with a copy of the soundtrack for Where the Wild Things Are at the cash register. Since I was leaving before the movie came out, instinct had me grab it; and I haven’t put it down since. This only makes it even harder for me to wait for the film.

Karen O and the Kids is a massive collaboration involving other Indie rockers such as Tom Biller of the Afternoons (co-producer on the soundtrack), Yeah Yeah Yeahs band mates Brian Chase and Nick Zinner, with Tristan Bechet (Services), Bradford Cox (Deerhunter), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs), Aaron Hemphill (Liars), Greg Kurstin (The Bird and the Bee), Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs, The Greenhornes), Oscar Michel (Gris Gris), Imaad Wasif (New Folk Implosion, Alaska), and a couple of kids that they wrangled together to form a delightfully candid make-shift choir.

“I’m in Spike’s big-kid club. Most of the creative people that Spike works with are children trapped in grownup’s bodies. Spike came to me with the idea of the music having a similar mood to The Langley Schools Music Project, Innocence and Despair, which is a children’s choir singing melancholy pop songs by David Bowie and the Beach Boys, etc”, O told Paste magazine. “I don’t know how close we got to that idea in the end, but the intention was to write simple melodies that were emotionally complex—something that both kids and adults would appreciate,” 

Karen O has such a broad range of personalities when it comes to music and anything she creates never fails to translate. Perfectly matching the emotions of the film’s main character Max, as he faces fear, freedom, anger, elation and doubt. There is a song in here for everything you, and he, have ever felt in life. Tracks like ‘Heads Up’ and ‘All Is Love’ make you want to pump a grizzly monster fist and howl at the moon, whilst ‘Worried Shoes’ and ‘Hideaway’, with Karen’s lullaby voice, give you a feeling that even though you’re far away from home, everything’s going to be alright. So, without hesitation, I dub this the Feel Good soundtrack of the year. 

KARA MARTIN

DUBSTEP PLAYLIST

Nicole from the most excellent record shop Sounds of the Universe gives us the low down on her favourites of the recently dropped vinyl at the store.



1.Untold - ‘I Can’t Stop This Feeling’ (Hessle Audio)12”

Fresh on BLUE VINYL Untold drops his third release for Hessle Audio! Untold has surpassed any other of his other releases to date with this blinding new 12”.  ’I Can’t Stop This Feeling’ is like a deep jackin’ old skool Detroit techno record with enough shuffling bass and 2 steppy drum programming to keep the Dubstep heads interested. This is outrageously good! On the flip ‘Anaconda’ is a sparse bass heavy stabbing number with almost a digital Dancehall vibe to it with mental whistles and quirky sound effects over it. Fans of Hands On The Plow will love this! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED…

2. Benga- Buzzin’/One Million (Tempa) 12”

Benga returns to Tempa with undoubtedly one of the biggest tunes of the year.  Buzzin’ is as infectious as Benga & Coki’s massive hit ‘Night’. ‘Buzzin’ is peak-time rave weaponry, bound to kill off any sound clash. ‘One million’ on the flip should not be overlooked with its filthy heavy bass and catchy as hell hook. Essential!

3. Starkey- Miracles (Jamie Vex’d Remix) (Planet Mu)

USA’s Starkey gets a heavy remix from man of the moment Jamie Vex’d. Jamie Vex’d is on FIRE at the moment with a string of heavyweight singles and this is no exception. He twists up ‘Miracles’ into a half step number with old skool hip hop stylee drum programming, schizophrenic synth lines and Burial esque vocal cut-ups! LARGE!

4. FaltyDL- To London (Ramp)

Ramp are one of the most interesting and forward thinking independent record labels around at the moment. Drew Lustman aka FaltyDL pushes the labels left field dancefloor ethos further with this quirky three tracker 12”. Although FaltyDL hails from New York City, ‘To London’ as the title suggests has a very British sound with its fast paced skippy beats and obvious nods to the UK garage/dubstep scene, although the squelchy crunchy sounds leading the rhythm sound a lot like Flying Lotus and the LA beats scene.  On the flip ‘Metacognist’ is am slo mo lazy groover with cheeky little vocal snippets of nineties r’n’b group SWV’s ‘Weak’ making little appearances. Fans of Flying Lotus’ ‘Roberta Flack’ and ‘Tea Leaf Dancers’ will love this! We are love this one here! Big tings a gwan for FaltyDL!

5. Unknown -Square Off/Warlord Riddim (Dancing Demons)

We were more than a little excited when this sexy new plate dropped here at SOTU! Armed with only the titles on the label we had to just use our ears to identify the artist of this shy guy on brand new label Dancing Demons! We are 99.99999% sure this is a COKI (Digital Mystikz) production. ‘Square Off’ is an outrageously heavy bass number with a frantic schizophrenic alien like effect trampling over it! This nasty piece has been tearing up DMZ for months! Sure to have you shocking out like a complete loony bin by the end of it! On the flip ‘Warlord Riddim’ is a deep chugging heavy dub filled rocker! Ridiculous!

NICOLE MCKENZIE

KEMISTRY REMEMBERED

They say that behind every great man is a good woman. Think drum’n’bass and you may picture Goldie, the genre’s gold-grilled poster boy who produced, DJd, acted and painted his way into popular culture. But the name might be meaningless to you if not for the golden-locked DJ Kemistry and her partner DJ Storm. It was these two good women who literally introduced the man to the music. And their promotional and artist management played a key role in establishing Goldie’s Metalheadz as one of the most pioneering and celebrated underground record labels in UK history. So it seems that many great men, from Adam F and Photek through to Dillinja and Lemon D, have this dazzling duo to thank in part for their successful careers.

Rewind 17 years or so and you’d find Kemistry and Storm dancing to the sounds of Fabio and Grooverider at Rage, a seminal night held at London club Heaven which saw acid house and techno evolve into hardcore, viewed by many as one of the most important club nights in d’n’b history. Kemistry and Storm fell head-over-heels in love with the new UK sound and knew that there was no way on earth they could just stand there and be mere consumers. Dancing in the dark and listening to pirate radio wasn’t enough; they had to be a part of it. In a 1995 Mixmag interview, Goldie explained: “We got back one night from Rage and we were out of it. They wanted to be DJs so badly they dragged out the fucking Binatone system and Kemi’s deck and tried to mix on these two fucking stack systems. And it was the best thing, in this room, out of our nuts, with the lights off and trying to mix on these two turntables going at two different speeds. And I smell that sometimes, I smell that room when we first began with these two girls who really wanted to be DJs and this geezer who really wanted to make music.”

The pair soon made their mark both behind the decks and behind the scenes, with a DJ career that saw them play to thousands in clubs and festivals around the world coupled with their press, bookings and masterful A&R management of the Metalheadz empire. Being linked to the label and its artists meant they were constantly armed with an enviable assortment of dubplates and VIPs (that make or break tool of any super drum’n’bass DJ), and their tight mixing skills were second to none. In a scene dominated by men, they inspired and paved the way for many of today’s female DJs, including their protégé DJ Flight who names the pair as her main inspiration.

It was as the pair drove back from a gig 10 years ago this week that Kemistry was killed by a cat’s eye reflector hurtling off the motorway. Storm sat in the seat by her side when the event took place. Since then, she has continued to play the music she loves to crowds of thousands around the world. She has continued to work with Metalheadz and, more recently, set up Feline, a club night featuring an all-female line-up of DJs and MCs. She’s the First Lady of drum’n’bass and she isn’t going anywhere. Women like Storm don’t just quit after life throws a few obstacles their way, albeit big ones. But it’s not hard to see that the ongoing journey of this great woman would be even sweeter if her best friend and soul sister Kemistry was still along for the ride.


JOSEPHINE SERIEUX

GUITAR HEROINES: SLEATER-KINNEY

These days it seems like I spend most of my time listening to the beats and samples of the last twenty years of hip-hop, feebly muttering along half remembered lyrics and nodding my head (hopefully) along with the rhythm. But I going to admit right now, in the realm of music, hip-hop is not the only music that has occupied my heart. One band, in particular, has been in my life for a long time and will always be on my most played list. This band is Sleater-Kinney. 

Named after an intersection in Washington state, Sleater-Kinney are an all girl trio who first appeared in the mid-nineties from the music scene of the pacific northwest of America. This was a scene of disaffected, intelligent, politically engaged young people and one that bore associated movements such as grunge and riot grrrl. 

In 1995, Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker got together with then drummer Lora McFarlane in Melbourne and recorded their first album which was self-titled. This was the first Sleater-Kinney album I heard, though I heard it many years later. The album was unapologetically lo-fi and had a sound that combines a raw punk passion with a controlled and melodic structure. I was immediately addicted to the interlocking angular sound of Carrie and Corin’s guitars which was quite different to the more grungey guitar sound that was dominating rock at that point. The vocals were shrill and impassioned, the lyrics were confrontational but intelligent, honest and emotional. All the things I loved about this first album the band has carried through throughout their 12 year career in which they released 7 albums. 

The release of their second album, ‘Call the Doctor’ stepped up the game. Their trademark angular guitar style becoming more intricate and their lyrics were more focussed, with the result treating listeners with a slice of smart punk. In 1997 the trio released Dig Me Out with a new drummer Janet Weiss. Weiss is a very accomplished and highly skilled drummer and the addition of her to the group meant that they finally had a drummer who could keep up with the guitar sound Corin and Carrie had been working on. 

From start to finish, Dig Me Out is a record full of urgency and energy, beginning with the mind-blowing eponymous song ‘Dig Me Out’ it takes you on a whirlwind trip of punk rock passion and met critical acclaim worldwide. Stand out tracks include, Not What You Want and Little Babies. The track ‘Dig Me Out’ is rated by Rolling Stone as one of the ‘100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time’ and the album itself is rated by Spin Magazine as one of the top 25 albums made between 1985 and 2005. The album addressed the intricacies of love relationships, as well as the joy of rock and roll and female empowerment, something they would touch on more throughout their career.
Their 1999 Album, The Hot Rock, was a departure both lyrically and musically. Less frenzied and maybe a little less punk, The Hot Rock for me is the best ‘break-up’ ever made, not that it should ever be dismissed as being simply that. There are some great songs that have nothing do with the end of relationships, it just they have some incredible songs that are. The depth and imagery in the lyrics of this album are astonishing, exemplified with such songs as ‘End of You’. The albums that followed in the new millennium signified a new stage in Sleater-Kinney where they became more overtly culturally engaged culminating in the 2002 album, ‘One Beat’ which addresses issues of feminism, beauty standards, the Iraq war, 9/11 and the concept of celebrity. Their music grew to be more sprawling with a stronger classic rock influence from artists such as Jimi Hendrix and they also began to improvise more on stage. In 2006 they released their last album, ‘The Woods’, one of their best, most rich albums both lyrically and in terms of music, proving their skill as musicians if as well as song writers. 

In the summer of 2006 Sleater-Kinney announced that the band would be going on indefinite hiatus. I am grateful that they left us with such a great back catalog of music that never feels dated. As females they proved that a band could be recognized for the excellence of their music rather than the gender of their musicians and played an important part in raising the bar for female bands in the indie rock scene having managed to gain a reputation one of the most accomplished contemporary rock bands in America.

The way the band handled their business also sets a strong example, working with small labels such as Kill Rock Stars and Chainsaw, only signing to slightly larger label Sub Pop for the release of ‘The Woods’ yet still mananging to get great distribution and press, proving that you can be a big name and be on a small label. What I miss about Sleater-Kinney’s departure from the music scene is not just that there will be no new albums from them but the fact that I will never again see their outstanding live performance because when they are onstage they are the most compelling band I have ever locked my eyes on. 
Check out my favourite songs of theirs online, then go out and buy some Sleater-Kinney albums.

1. Get Up from ‘The Hot Rock’
2. Not What You Want from ‘Dig Me Out’ 
3. Lora’s Song from ‘Sleater-Kinney’
4. Taste Test from ‘Call The Doctor’
5. Entertain from ‘The Woods’

 
FLORA WATTERS

UNSUNG SINGER: BETTY CARTER

The world of music has always been male dominated, the word of Jazz especially. I personally could not bring to mind any female composer from the Jazz age. Then I found Betty Carter. Predominately a singer but a singer with such talents in be-bop and vocal freestyling that she used her voice like a creative instrument.

Born in 1930 in Detroit, she studied piano at the conservatory of music there. As a teenager she new she wanted to become a jazz singer excited by all the new happenings that were going on in jazz at that time. Unfortunately her mother considered jazz to be the devil’s music and never once heard Betty sing the music she adored. Not that this deterred Betty because for her, jazz would become a lifelong passion.

Carter’s voice is surely an incredible one, husky and wide ranging with a very individual feeling and rich in levels. She is well know for her rendition of ‘My Favourite Things’ and she also does a version of ‘I only have eyes for you’ which is very fresh. Carter became a part of the jazz circuit in Detroit during the 40s playing piano herself to accompany her singing. She wanted to push the boundaries of what she could do vocally, ‘We wanted musicians  to like what we were doing as singers, so that they would want to play with us and accompany us.’

In 1948 jazz composer Lionel Hampton hired Betty as a featured vocalist which would end up taking her to New York City. With her unusual vocal style she earned a much hated nickname, Betty Be-bop from Lionel. Betty came close to being fired many times but was saved by Hampton’s wife, Gladys, who was unusually his business manager. Though Betty made several albums during the 1950s they failed to cause a stir but she worked steadily throughout and toured with greats such as Miles Davis who recommended Betty to Ray Charles to do duets with. They recorded an album together in 1961 to much acclaim. She followed this album with Inside Betty Carter. This is a great album that includes, Open the Door, a song she composed and arranged herself, which is her classic song.


She settled down for the rest of the 60s to concentrate on raising her two young sons. She released two live albums which failed to make any real noise at the time. Feeling constricted by the demands of record labels and unimpressed with them in general Betty started her own label, Bet-Car to release her music on, it was unfortunately not an ideal time for jazz, it becoming seen as more conservative. Betty was not interested in using her vocal talents for anything but jazz and rather than getting involved with a more trendy music form Betty put more and more effort into making her jazz performance and recordings as good as they possibly could be in the hope of igniting more interest in the genre.

In 1988 jazz label Verve approached Betty and re-released all her old material, including the many albums she has put out on Bet-Car. This meant her work suddenly had incredible distribution. She also released a new album, ‘Look What I Got’ which earned her a grammy. During the next 9 years Betty continued to release more successful albums and was awarded an arts medal by President Clinton. As well as concentrating on her music, in this time Betty fought to get young people involved in jazz. She toured schools and universities playing to show young people the pleasure of jazz. She was also involved in starting a program, Jazz Ahead and sought out young talented muscians giving them opportunities to perform with her live and on her albums.

Betty Carter was a truly individual jazz vocalist who never let anything hold her back, neither her status as a woman or an African American woman in a time before civil rights. She never let anyone tell her how to make her music and stayed independent in her outlook throughout her life. She tirelessly dedicated herself to a music form she loved and managed to have a successful and longstanding career in it up until her death in 1997. A true icon representing everything that WAH is about, fiercely creative, confident in her beliefs and dedicated to the things she cares about.

I will leave you with Betty’s words:

‘Jazz is not a nice word today, because jazz doesn’t make money quickly, a lot of people in power are not encouraging young people to really use the word `jazz’. For a person who’s been out here as long as I have, they’re pretty much sick of me because I just won’t go away. I’m not going away, see, that’s what probably bothers a lot of people…They [the record industry] discourage these young girls, young singers, from dealing with this music called jazz — don’t improvise, sing it straight, or sing it like somebody else has done it, or be like someone else. We have a lot of African-American singers who sing the gospel, who come directly out of a church, and they have these big, wonderful voices, and they know how to program these young ladies, and they tell them they’re going to make a whole lot of money if they sing this way instead of that way.’
                                                                                             Betty Carter, 1997               

Special thank you to http://www.bettycarter.org/, check it out!

FLORA WATTERS

CANDI STATON

Trust me, I ain’t one of those crying-into-my-pillow, woe-is-me,get-the-mini-violin-out-because-my-boyfriend-dumped me, Mariah/Whitney ballad-listening kinda girls, but Candi Staton’s self titled compilation album (released by London based label Honest Jons) is quite possibly the most empowering break-up album ever. Better than therapy. And cheaper.

Ms Staton has shaped contemporary soul music and paved the way for modern day success stories such as Amy Winehouse and Joss Stone. Her voice has been described as managing to combine ‘great strength and vulnerability at the same time’. For me, her voice combines both of those attributes, whilst possessing very euphoric and positive qualities.

I was introduced to Ms. Staton in 2006 when my best friend and I went to watch her at the Jazz Café. This started my love affair with her music. I listen to her EVERYDAY without fail. Like she’s my religion.

The second Candi Staton sermon that I attended was at Shepherd’s Bush Arena. Her stage presence and rapport with the crowd is nothing short of amazing. She leads into each song with a story that is uplifting and touches upon modern day morals of love and heartbreak. Issues that are timeless. Much like the lady herself.

Quote of the performance – ‘Push means play until something happens’

God Bless you Candi Staton.

Amen.


WORDS/ARTWORK: SUZANNAH PETTIGREW

RAIDING THE ARCHIVES: KISS

Kiss FM was pretty much the premier urban music station in London during the early to mid 90s, in 1990 it changed from a pirate station to a legitimate radio station and moved into offices on the Holloway road. Now named Kiss 100, employee Cee gets to re-live those golden days of CD singles before the musical archives are destroyed forever… 

I’m lucky to work at a place where I’m surrounded by music all day and like many workplaces today analogue systems have been replaced by digital. Radio broadcast now only need CD’s to transfer music into, so most stations are now pretty much one huge iTunes database.  Because of this and dwindling storage space in our building the Kiss archives were a free for all for 2 days and I grabbed as many CD’s as I could!
Going in the archive room I was the proverbial kid in a candy store. So here are some of my favourite singles and albums that I nabbed:

‘Diggin On You’  by TLC (1995)
This was the first cassette single I ever bought and dare I say, for those of us born c.1988 and below, I reckon we got to experience the last great decade of girl groups 1990 – 2000 , give or take 2 or 3 extra years. TLC had that perfect balance of tomboy sexiness; they were homegirls but knew how to switch it on for guys. Girl Groups past and present from 702, Total, Blaque (managed by Left Eye) Eternal ,Fierce, N-Tyce, 3LW,Cherish and Destiny’s Child have cited these 3 ladies as some sort of inspiration. This tune reminds me of when people were first getting cable, I would watch The Box channel for hours after school and this was one of my favourite jams. I loved the lazy melody, Babyface’s trademark silky production, their silver outfits from the video but mainly I was fascinated by how low T-Boz could sing without choking.

‘The Boy Is Mine’ / ‘The First Night’ - Monica (1998)
Although I loved her, looking back I always had the feeling that Brandy could secretly be a spoilt LA princess. So I was always on Monica’s side when ‘The Boy Is Mine’ single and album came out, as it seemed at the time in the R&B world Brandy was America’s Sweetheart and Monica was just hood-done-good. This album is full of killer singles but my favourite has to be ‘The First Night’. Not only because it samples Diana Ross’s amazing ‘Love Hangover’ but unlike most of the teen stars of her era and today, our Moni did not pander to Lolita inspired fantasies that record labels all to often use to shift units. Instead, she was proudly brushing off a horny guy without sounding like a self righteous tease. I guess you call her an original WAH girl.

‘Paradise’- Inner City (1989)
I grabbed  it because is has 2 of my favourite house tracks ’ Big Fun’ and ‘Good Life’, and tunes which I’ve newly discovered and now  love.  If you get yourself a copy as well as those two big singles, skip to ‘Inner City Theme’ and ‘Do You Love What You Feel’. 

‘Always & Forever’ -Eternal (1993)
Eternal were made up of sisters Esther and Vernie alongside childhood pals Kelle and original pop-star Wag Louise. I asked Jim to fix it for me be one of their backing dancers, he never did. I liked them because although they had American influence they were quintessentially British. It wasn’t just about their music; I loved their look from the caterpillar boots, boy’s jeans and shirts topped off with super-thick braids. Nice and easy to copy whether you were 12 or 21. Best tunes on the album are easily ’Stay’ and ‘Just a Step From Heaven’.  We’ll forget about their version of ‘Let’s Stay Together’ though…

‘Touch Myself’ by T-Boz (1996)
Left –Eye was clearly crazy the one, Chilli obviously sexy, so it was left to T- Boz to be the cool one. So cool that when the group was on hiatus she was confident enough to make a song about self- love with long time TLC collaborator Dallas Austin. Great tune with a super sexy bass line: what Parental Advisory stickers are made for.

Cee  A

ETTA JAMES

If I was asked to list my top three female singers of all time Etta James would no doubt be up there.  She is one of few singers that has the ability to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  As soon as I hear her voice roaring out of the speakers I know I’m in the presence of a legend.  Her pure and astounding vocals have the power to move me more than any other singer.  This women sings with so much passion in her voice it’s hard for anyone not to take notice.  Her peroxide blonde hair, chubby face and dark eyebrows also made her ever the more memorable star.

I strongly believe that James deserved more props for her contribution to the music industry.  She is widely loved and appreciated by fellow artists, It’s just such a shame that James was hugely addicted to crack at such an early stage in her career, which is probably the reason why she didn’t quite accomplish as much as she deserved.

At 22 she was signed to Chess Records which was founded by Leonard Chess, who was also her friend as well as manager.  A close bond was created and Chess gave her the tune that made her career.  “At Last” (first recorded by Glenn Miller in 1942) executed her full range as a singer and made her a star overnight.

Look out for the new film coming out next year called Cadillac Records, which is the story of Chess Records.  Beyonce plays the part of Etta James along with some other familiar faces such as Most Def and Adrien Brody. It’s hard to pin point exactly where and what Etta James is doing at present as there are conflicting reports on the web about whether she’s still alive or not, but from what I understand she’s still recording and we can only hope that she plans to release a new album.

Check out a great book called The Record Men: Chess Records and the Birth of Rock and Roll (Paperback) written by Rick Cohen which is a great insight into the world of the music business of the 50s/ 60s.

ALICE MOXOM

FLY GIRLS: REVENGE OF THE SUPER FEMALE RAPPER

Soul Jazz records have carefully put together some of the hottest female rap joints of all time and released Fly Girls: B-Boys Beware- Revenge of the Super Female Rapper. The double album celebrates 30 years of female rap at its best. Artists include Roxanne Shante and Queen Latifah amongst others at the peak of their game. The artwork of the CD is pretty dope along with the inlay, which contains exclusive photos and a short bio of all the artists featured on the CD and the history of female rap. A must have for your collection. 

Radi Dadi

www.souljazzrecords.co.uk

LA DONNA OF DUBSTEP

Dubstep DJ and producer Ikonika is not only the first female to perform at cutting edge dubstep night Forward but is the only female artist on dubstep heavyweight Kode 9’s label Hyperdub. Right now she couldn’t really get much hotter. But as a female in a music scene dominated by male music makers and punters it’s not always easy even when you’re at the top. ‘I would be lying if I said I haven’t had any sexist remarks made at me at dubstep raves, its sad, I’ve always been attracted to dubstep because of its friendly vibe. I’ve had men watch me carefully, wondering if I’m gonna fuck up. I’ve had men say to me ‘girls should only dj in their underwear’.  It’s not gonna stop me doing what I’m doing, at the end of the day I usually get 10 more people coming up to me telling me they really enjoyed my set.’
 
In fact 24 year old Sara Abdul-Hamid is used to breaking the mould. Deriving her name, Ikonika, from the word ‘iconoclast’ that is exactly what she’s always been, ‘Everyone used to call me Kipling at school because I was one of those girls who was really geeky and really cool at the same time. With my Kipling back pack and my pleated skirt I was always in the top tiers of the classes [but at the same time] I was like ‘Jodeci, yeah!’ and be smoking with the rude girls’.

It wasn’t just in school that Sara was mixing it up.  Always a huge music fan, she began drumming in metal and hardcore bands when she was 11 yet at the same time keeping a love of hip-hop, r’n’b and garage. ‘I’d be listening to Choice [fm] and saying ‘Yeah this tune is heavy’ and people just couldn’t understand as I’d also be listening to Dillinger Escape Plan [a hardcore metal band], but you know what it’s all just music to me. I’ve always known that I wanted to do something in music, whether it was by myself or with other artists.’ Finding playing in bands too unreliable she began to concentrate on producing hip-hop under the name KillKip. But everything changed when she heard the 2005 dubstep classic ‘Midnight Request Line’ by Skream. ‘[I] obviously understood that dubstep had been around for ages, but that for me was the birth of dubstep in my personal life.  I started thinking about it, 140 bpm, hmmm a lot of metal is 140 bmp if it wanted to be so yeah lets give this go.’
 
Ikonika began to cause a stir on the dubstep scene in late 2007 with her track ‘Please”. The track’s structure reflects her love of late 90s hardcore bands such as Glassjaw with its unpredictable rhythms and free flowing composition. Over the top is a sweet bleepy synth melody that combines perfectly dissonance and danceability. ‘I didn’t think much of it at the time, it was just a tune I had finished and I was quite happy with. Finishing tracks is ridiculous to do, running out of ideas and stuff. I had packed everything into that tune. I sent it round to everyone. Then Kode 9 asked if he could cut it.  It was weird having someone that you’ve been a fan of…wanting to cut my tune. I thought that was amazing.’ Kode 9 ended up releasing ‘Please’ in February of last year. Ikonika followed it up with another exceptional slice of dubstep ‘Millie’ in October 2008 leaving everyone wondering what is in store from Ikonika in 2009, not that she will tell us! ‘As ever Hyperdub have a few surprises, but I don’t wanna talk just in case it doesn’t happen. But for the time being there’s gonna be my DJ Mujava-Township Funk remix, out soon on Warp.’



Photography Will Robson Scott

CYNDI CYNDI CYNDI

Cyndi Lauper was quintessentially the most memorable singer of my childhood.  Even though, yes, I was still very young and probably far too naive to actually understand her lyrics, nevertheless I adored her crazy gypsy style and mad colored hair.  Only Cyndi could jump all over the stage like an over excited child that had had far too much ice cream and still remain cool, or at least only in the 80s.The thing to remember ladies is that Ms Lauper really didn’t give a shit about anything and that was what made her a dope performer.She epitomized an independent spirit which a lot of young females needed, and her career couldn’t have come at a better time with the 80s being a decade for the empowered woman. Even my mum was a fan and would drive me and my older sister to school with all three of us singing along to “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”.  I remember it well as it was probably the only song my sister and I could agree on and not argue through.  I clearly recall getting on the tube to Finchley Road and going into Our Price and purchasing the album, which of course was on tape.  That tape was a piece of my childhood and the songs from that album will always bring back fun time memories for my family and I.Understandably now she’s all grown up and naturally has to develop and change with the times bla bla bla… it’s just a shame that her music has now gone down the ultra camp electro pop route that just doesn’t have any soul and nothing particularly quirky which is why we all fell in love with her.  I understand that she’s worked with producers such as Jeremy Wheatley (of Kylie Minogue & Goldfrapp) but to be honest Cyndi Lauper is a star and I honestly believe that there is so much more that could come from this strong, independent women. 


ALICE MOXOM