Reviews_ Albums
Kid Sister – Ultraviolet
Downtown

A welter of A-list guests – Kanye, Cee-Lo Green and Estelle – and producers including A-Trak, Yusek, XXXChange and Rusko have been assembled to flavour Ultraviolet’s boisterous stew of soul, hip-hop, house and electronica. However, it is Melissa Young, aka Kid Sister, whose feisty rhymes provide the essential seasoning.

She strikes out in exuberant fashion with former single ‘Right Hand Hi’, then there’s the Cool Kids-style rap of ‘Life On TV’, before ‘Big N Bad’ pilfers the melody of Yazoo’s ‘Don’t Go’ to get all boastful. The contributors all provide good value too, Estelle helping Kid Sister break and enter the Haus of Gaga on ‘Step’ while, later, Kanye proceeds to do his thang on the enjoyably daft ‘Pro Nails’.

However, with so many constituent parts, there are bound to be chinks in the armour. ‘Let Me Bang 2009’ breezes by, largely unnoticed and distinctly unlovable, whilst ‘You Ain’t Really Down’ sounds like a poor man’s En Vogue. It’s a small step from stupidly fun party music to plain stoopid, but, overall, Kid Sister just manages to stay the right side of that line. Francis Jones

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KEY TRACKS: ‘LIFE ON TV’, ‘STEP’, ‘PRO NAILS’.
FOR FANS OF: LADY GAGA, NENEH CHERRY, SALT ‘N’ PEPA.

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