First up: The U.K.’s Lady Sovereign, a 20-year-old self-described “midget” (she’s five-foot-one) from East London’s grime scene, is dropping her first stateside album, Public Warning. You can take a listen at her myspace page or check out her Tetris-inspired video for “Love Me or Hate Me” here.
On first look, you might be forgiven for getting a dykey vibe for her. Even some of her lyrics reference it. In “Hoodie” she raps, “You were staring at me like to say I was ginger/I was dishing out the same dirty looks trust me you’re the minger.” Here’s your Britishism lesson: “Ginger” is Cockney slang for queer, and a “minger” is a smelly, ugly person. Try it in a sentence today!
Next: Music With a Twist, the first major record label for LGBT artists, has announced that they’ve just signed Portland-based punk band The Gossip and London-based pop/soul singer Kirsten Price. The Gossip, fronted by queer lead singer Beth Ditto, most recently opened for the Scissor Sisters‘ European tour. Price’s catchy song “Magic Tree” will be featured on upcoming compilation CD, The L Word ‘L Tunes’, which contains music from or inspired by The L Word.
If that’s not enough for you: I know y’all are rushing out to buy Mrs. Britney Spears‘ album, Playing With Fire. That is, unless you’ve designated that portion of your budget to Flavor Flav‘s self-titled release. Nope, I’m not even including a link for that one.
