For a genre that comes with a reputation for being simple and mindless, pop music is becoming more complicated all the time. The credits on the back of the average 2010 pop release are a maze of producers and songwriters ranging from the familiar – Calvin Harris (Kylie) or Groove Armada (Roisin Murphy) – to mysterious characters like Dr Luke, who pops up all over the place on recent chart smashes. And in the case of a launching female artist – whether it’s Gaga, Kesha, Lily or La Roux – there are always shady little men pedalling behind the curtain, making it all happen. In the case of Chicago rap poppet Kid Sister’s debut album Ultraviolet, the men in question are underground dance producers trying their hand at a little chart candy.
The names behind Ultraviolet – co-ordinated by executive producer A-Trak, on whose label, Foolsgold, the album is released – are a who’s who of ambitious dance heatseekers. The opening ‘Right Hand Hi’ is the work of Swedish House Mafia’s Steve Angello and Seb Ingrosso, ‘Big N Bad’ is produced and written by Herve and Sinden, with other tracks contributed by Yuksek, XXXChange and A-Trak himself. All excellent dance producers, and Kid Sister is a young, talented mascot.
So it should all work, right? Well, sort of. There’s no doubt the girl can rap – her flow and sassy delivery bounce perfectly over every track without resorting to the nursery rhyme antics that assault you on every Ke$ha single. She also has a beautiful singing voice, but its under-utilised, with her Galaxy Caramel drawl featured only on the current single ‘Daydreaming’ (unfortunately one of the weakest tracks on the album). There’s no doubt the lads can produce – every number spills over with great ideas, mutant pop dance trimmings and sparkling effervescent beats. But many of the tracks sound like just that... a clever backing track with a vocal fastened on top.
The vital ingredient missing is good old fashioned pop songwriting. It’s telling that the 30 second cameo from Kanye West on ‘Pro Nails’ blazes the rest of the album to the ground, and all he’s doing is rapping. As pop music, there just isn’t enough actual pop in the recipe yet. Still, with a little time and more help from her mates, she may become Big Sister yet.