LUCY LOVE – KILO
Among other things, Danish rap artist Lucy Love has been plugged as the female Dizzee Rascal. This is a hugely generalised understatement. Although her accent and delivery may warrant comparisons to Mr. Rascal – or, more appropriately, English rapper Lady Sovereign – Kilo embraces a vast terrain of electronic styles, all underpinned by her gratingly enunciated voice. These styles include upbeat electro-pop on Poison, nasty drum-and-bass throughout Thunder and subdued early dubstep on Unfreeze. Who Are You, with its chugging Eurythmics synths, has cashed in a bit late on the 80s-revival bandwagon, but it is Lucy’s rapping which truly makes this album stand out. Her brilliant food allusions which carry all the way through Dirty Sleazy would definitely make Jay-Z smile. Likewise, the smooth-flowing verse on I’m A Rapper, punctuated by Game Boy sound-effects, is also very impressive. The accent and stylistic references often come across as very ‘London’ in sound, but Lucy spent a lot of time living there – her mother comes from Croydon, a suburb in the city’s south. As such, her rapping can go from trashy – “I’m not a bad lady / I just drag around a lot of shit” – to Cockney wit – “Stick a fork in me/I’m done” – in barely a minute, as on Run Away. In short, Kilo serves as a showcase for a wickedly clever voice surrounding itself with the best pop, hip-hop and electronic sounds of the 21st century.
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