Lady Sovereign - Jigsaw
by Dan MacIntosh
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"I'm weird and your weird, let's be mates," is one of the worst pickup lines -- ever. But little Lady Sovereign and her cute British accent easily gets away with it. For many of the same exotic reasons American car commercials utilize English spokespersons, this tough, bite-sized rapper is simply charming. Charm and hip-hop are usually mutually exclusive terms, but this is one of those rare exceptions where they fit nicely together, like interlocking pieces in a jigsaw puzzle.
She's also a complicated gal, as this CD's title track explains. "My heart is like a jigsaw puzzle/Pick it up and fix it for me/Can you figure it out?" she pleads. It's doubtful any one solitary man will completely comprehend this firebrand. Weird and complicated is a dangerous combination.
Unlike most American hip-hop artists, who mine old jazz and R&B recordings until the supply line is nearly dry, Lady Sovereign isn't afraid to sample unexpected musical sources. For instance, "So Human" works in The Cure's "Close To Me". And we all know The Cure is one of the whitest acts in all of pop music. In fact, those Goths aren't ever satisfied with their ghoulishly pale complexions.
Little of the music on Jigsaw can be termed speaker thumping, nevertheless. Even "Bang Bang", where Sovereign brags, "I got that bang bang sound/So come on crank it loud," doesn't exactly blow the listener away. Instead, much of this music has a lighter touch; much like '80s synth pop New Wave -- only there's a female rapper, rather than a feminine looking male rocker moping. "I Got You Dancing", for instance, even features robotic vocals that were so popular back when synthesizers and crazy hair ruled the day. "Pennies", if it didn't have rapping on it, might have easily passed for pre-depressed Depeche Mode.
Sovereign doesn't have much new to tell us with this, her third full-length. But even though it's a little inconsequential, lyrically, Sovereign nevertheless keeps your attention throughout. The combination of frothy music, underpinning Sovereign's eternally hard voice, is simply an irresistible pairing.
You get the impression Lady Sovereign is a frustrated pop musician. "If I could play guitar, then I'll play it/But I can't so I'll just sing it," she admits on "Guitar". And who knows, she may one day record a standard pop-rock album. Just don't hold your breath for that because this girl's still got a whole lot of fine rap left in her.
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Lady Sovereign - Jigsaw
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