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Hip-Hop's Next Big Thing 'Fine, Fresh, Serious'

Sure, her life wasn't all hard, but don't write her off as a rapper

By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 6, 2009 1:43 PM CDT
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(Newser) – “Even in a ‘post-race’ world, street sells,” writes Amy Granzin for Pitchfork. That would explain why some looked at Speech Debelle—the once-homeless UK rapper turned Mercury Prize nominee and "hip-hop's next big thing"—and spun “a tiny bit of flash into blinding bling.” The truth is, Debelle had a middle-class, “girl-next-door” upbringing—but don’t write her off. Her debut, Speech Therapy, is “fine, fresh, serious (yet never dour),” and it “speaks for itself.”

“The title’s no feint: Speech lies supine on the couch for the full 50 minutes,” exploring topics from “the anguish she’s caused her mother” to “absent, irresponsible fathers and the children who tear their own insides out loving them”—and although she occasionally veers from “pacifist and optimistic” to naïve, “she generally cuts through the crap without pretending to have easy answers.”

Speech Debelle is shown in a photo from her MySpace page.
Speech Debelle is shown in a photo from her MySpace page.   (MySpace)
Speech Debelle is shown in a photo from her MySpace page.
Speech Debelle is shown in a photo from her MySpace page.   (MySpace)
Speech Debelle is shown in a photo from her MySpace page.
Speech Debelle is shown in a photo from her MySpace page.   (MySpace)
Speech Debelle poses with her nomination for the 2009 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for her album 'Speech Therapy'' at The Hospital on July 21, 2009 in London, England.
Speech Debelle poses with her nomination for the 2009 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for her album 'Speech Therapy'' at The Hospital on July 21, 2009 in London, England.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
riffran
Aug 7, 2009 12:11 PM CDT
The more I read your post Jayman the better I like Newser...even more when you piss off the attack dog leftys
riffran
Aug 6, 2009 10:58 AM CDT
damn...no mo bitches and ho's, and F-the cops, and ballin, and rollin?....
cognitivefilter
Aug 6, 2009 10:33 AM CDT
SHE IS SO COOL---TOTALLY WORTH CHECKING OUT

 
entertainment • music • hip-hop • rapper • album release • rap music • music review • Jay-ZTV • Speech Debelle

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