Very Good Grasshopper: Kid Sister, 'Ultraviolet'

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IF KANYE WEST is going to keep collecting proteges who are more charismatic than he is (see: Mr. Hudson, Kid Cudi), the Taylor Swift interrupter might soon find himself overshadowed by his mentees.

Case in point: Kid Sister.

On her debut, "Ultraviolet," Kid Sister (born Melisa Young in West's much-loved native Chicago) joins the ranks of fellow female rappers M.I.A., Santigold and Amanda Blank before her by effectively balancing up-tempo, club-ready jams with pissed off, ego-heavy criticisms of the opposite sex and society as a whole.

Take the frenetic sounds of Baltimore club music, as championed by M.I.A.'s teen protege Rye Rye, then add a healthy dose of The Cool Kids' lighthearted, '80s-channeling mentality and you'll get Kid Sister in a party-ready nutshell.

Most of the album's tracks sound like Kid Sister's first single, "Pro Nails," but that's definitely not a problem — "Ultraviolet" is defined by an undeniably catchy electro sound that comes from producers like A-Trak (who was West's touring DJ for a few years), Chicago DJ Gant-Man and European mixers Herve and Yuksek. Together, they infuse the album with a jarringly fast pace that works equally well whether Kid Sister is commanding listeners to raise their right hand high, abstain from patting their weaves or simply step off.

The disc begins with "Right Hand Hi," which serves as Kid Sister's introduction: As synths swirl, she sings in the chorus, "Hi, I'm Kid Sister and I'm stacking money / Drinking all night, got you feeling right / Better get your right hand high." But in case the high-pitched, smooth chorus gives listeners the wrong impression, Kid Sister isn't above threats: "You gonna get stolen on if you don't get with the program," she warns, later proudly "repping the Midwest" and saying "I'll put a little hurting on you / And I'll do it in some heels."

That solid balance between somewhat autobiographical lyrics and no-holds-barred electro instrumentation continues with "Life on TV," which starts off with a punchy, MSTRKRFT-like mess of synths and bass and features lines about how Kid Sister's "got it going on like Miami got heat" and progressed from working at Bath and Body Works to being discovered by a "suit" who found her "at a lounge, rhyming on a couch." The best part of the song, though, comes with its chorus, during which Kid Sister knowingly commands her friends, "Kick back with me / Smile at the camera / Don't pat your weave." (Holler at Urban Dictionary if you need more context on that whole weave thing.)

And the songs still work well when Kid Sister takes it down a notch: For example, on "Big N Bad," the slower instrumentation is built around a single bassline during the verses but develops into a rapid, ping pong-like beat for the song's chorus (our favorite line: in the words of Mos Def, "don't talk about it, be about it"), and on "Let Me Bang 2009," Kid Sister mixes up her list of favorite things (a "final clearance sale" or "fresh box of donuts on Sunday") with more tidbits about herself, claiming she's "the one rapper remaining the same/ Doing my laundry with pockets of change" and advising jealous girls to "Please don't catch an attitude/ Just because we can flaunt it." Maybe West's egotism is rubbing off?

All digs aside, it's his touch — and the help of a few other collaborators — that create the album's best tracks. On "Pro Nails," Kid Sister adds a manicured flip on the kind of self-promoting rap Lil Mama did with "Lip Gloss," putting other girls in their place ("Gotta put these chickenheads in they place / I ain't rockin' no stupid, babes, ain't trippin') while West does his usual I'm-so-famous-and-awesome lines ("Who is that in the Phantom? / Please, no cameras ... To hide the goods / I would need pants as big as Hammer's").

Things get better with the ballad "Daydreaming," which features Cee-Lo returning to his most famous Gnarls Barkley moment by crooning about how "I can't get enough of you, baby/ I need you so much that it's driving me crazy," and on "Step," which has Kid Sister and Estelle telling off dudes at the club who just can't get the not-interested message. "I said 'No doubt, I'm going to let you kick it / But you bet ya never gonna get it / Like En Vogue, you get the picture?'" Kid Sister snipes, while Estelle supports with, "I was going to give it to him / But he took it too far." Sure, they'll accept your Mai Tais, but don't expect any kind of sexual favors, mmkay?

And that's the whole point of "Ultraviolet" — whether you go into it with or without expectations, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the endless energy Kid Sister displays on this debut. Even though she may claim on the album's closer that "you ain't really down," trust us — you should be.

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photos courtesy Don Flood, Biz3 Publicity