Volar, July 25, 11pm She's been described as a female Eminem, a hypersexed Alison Goldfrapp, a less-angry Peaches. Possibly also Britney, but smarter, more sarcastic and a little easier on the eyes. But such labels wouldn't be giving dues where dues are due. Rapper Princess Superstar - who plays a DJ set at Volar this month - is a genre-bending mix of trashy hip hop, dirty electro and ghetto tech, fronted by gutter-mouthed lyrics delivered in a schoolgirl-sweet voice. It's egregious posturing with a high dose of satire and hey, she's worked with Kool Keith and Prince Paul, so why not? Take 2005's My Machine, an offbeat concept album about a futuristic dystopia populated by 10,000 Princess Superstar clones in a megalomaniac bid to ensure she is the only celebrity known to man. It's as scathing as it's over the top, 80-plus minutes of digs at the trappings of celebrity and the music industry. Mainstream-friendly it's not, but produced by an illustrious list of electronica luminaries including Junior Sanchez and Arthur Baker, Princess Superstar's fifth LP is slick and catchy. Princess is a character, an overblown caricature of hip hop diva-dom. New Yorker Concetta Kirschner (above), the woman behind the persona, describes her sex-crazed, pumped-up alter ego as a cross between David Bowie and Missy Elliott. In contrast to that outwardly hyperactive and slightly insane stage persona, Kirschner is surprisingly intelligent; her rhymes resist the tired likes of 'fire/desire' and 'maybe/baby', and you may even find yourself sniggering at lines like 'Plus I got a new pimple, I'm supposed to be a sex symbol' on the satirical sing-along The Quitting Smoking Song. Despite courtship by major labels, she has released her albums on her own label, Corrupt Conglomeration, which she launched in her early 20s around 1994. Her first huge hit was 2002's hip hop single Bad Babysitter, though frequent collaborations with dance veterans have given her music a serious electronic edge. Expect a DJ set that's equally dance-floor-filling, with a mash-up of genres, styles and decades, plus hip hop swagger with all the self-importance of 10,000 Dr Dres. B/F, 39-44 D'Aguilar St, Central, free (members), HK$200 (non-members). Inquiries: 2810 1276
