Pensatos: The Unheard Notes - Reviews: Lady Sovereign

Vertically Challenged
by Lady Sovereign
Label: Chocolate Industries [2005]

"Slick rhymes, balanced mixes, and beats that are so searing, you’d swear this was a veteran behind the mic."

01	Random
02	Ch Ching
03	Fiddle With The Volume
04	Random (Remix)
05	A Little Bit of SHHHH
06	The Battle
07	A Little Bit of SHHHH (Adrock mix)
08	I Pity The Poor Immigrant
09	Fiddle With The Volume (Remix)

•	M.I.A.
•	LCD Soundsystem
•	The GO! Team

Size Matters – Ch Ching!

Female MC’s. They are a breed that have been around for the past few decades and slowly making headway from small clubs to the spotlight in male dominated profession. In an interview with the BBC, Brit MC Lady Sovereign was asked a question about her stance on critics in regards to her age and sex. “Don't listen to blah-barians talking your name,” she said. “If they're talking about you, you're doing things good so just keep going.” If this holds true, you should hear her name often because this 5’1” MC is a force to be reckoned with on her latest EP Vertically Challenged.

While this EP is considered much more of greatest hits in Europe, Vertically Challenged should be viewed as its own separate entity to most non-Euro MC savvy Yanks. All comparisons to fellow female MC, M.I.A. should only be qualified by gender relations, as Lady is on a level all her own. Slick rhymes, balanced mixes, and beats that are so searing, you’d swear this was a veteran behind the mic. Random kicks it off in high-speed club style but Ch Ching is easily the best offering on this dual disc set complimented with production by Steve Knutson known mostly for his Greatest Beats compilations over the years. Fiddle With sounds more personal and real than most cuts in the club today and offers up what I feel we’ll see more of in the future from Lady Sov. A Little Bit Of Shhh, feels a little bit of the same with modest difference from other offerings; repetitive sayings ‘sob’ and ‘ch ching’ are littered more often than Blackalicious saying “[insert city] make some noise!” at a concert. And this continues to be the EP’s only glaring issue and common in most MC’s, especially newcomers – repetition. What she does right, she nails fantastic. But it’s the familiar roads later in the track listing that starts to make this rather small issue much more bothersome. Still, this should not be missed as it is a dance treat.

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