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ALBUM REVIEWS FOR PRINCESS
PRINCESS?“Class Is in Session�(Jaywerks)
Surely you haven’t forgotten Crime Mob, the finest
coeducational hip-hop wrecking crew from Atlanta? The
group broke through in 2004 with “Knuck if You Buck,â€
a thrillingly simple but chaotic track that sounded
like a homeroom riot. (The members were teenagers when
it was released.) And last year Crime Mob scored
another hit with “Rock Yo Hips,†built on the
mesmerizing sound of booming timpani.
The show stealer of many a Crime Mob track is
Princess, a tough-talking provocateur who often seems
to be having more fun than everyone else. (She once
explained her strategy: “I can look jazzy, act nicely
with my stiletto heels on/But if a ho says something,
trust me, then her hair will get thrown.â€) Now it’s
time for “Class Is in Session,†a mixtape — released
with the Crime Mob rapper and producer Lil Jay —
disguised as a debut solo album, unless it’s the other
way round.
Princess comes out swinging, borrowing a Lil Wayne
sample to crown herself “the best,†adding,
“Underestimated? Yes I am/But I’m staying, so you
heifers need a better plan.†She has a knack for
getting angry without losing her cool, and in “The
Other Me†she pays tribute to her badly behaved alter
ego. And “Hold U Down†is a different kind of
crime-and-punishment track: a love letter from a free
woman to her locked-up boyfriend. Best of all is
“Pretty Rave Girl,†an out-of-left-field dance-track
remake. “The mood is so cool,†she purrs, over the
slowed-down happy-hardcore beat. If America is going
to have a rave revival, it should sound exactly like
this.
-KELEFA SANNEH
