Public Warning (by Lady Sovereign, Rap)

PUBLIC WARNING makes it clear that nothing about Lady Sovereign (aka Louise Harman) is ordinary. A terrific rapper, she's also tiny, English, clever, and in your face. Calling herself "the white midget," she delivers rapid-fire lyrics with energy -- over marvelous instrumental tracks that veer wildly from minimalist rhythms to elaborate, circus-y themes and back again. "My England" is a sideways portrait of London, her home town: "It ain't about the tea and biscuits/I'm one of the English misfits/I don't drink tea I drink spirits/and I talk a lot of slang in my lyrics," she sings, going on to rhyme "crumpets" with "slum pits." In "Those Were the Days," the Lady delivers a poignant and gritty picture of her childhood in the projects: "Those days I'm missin'... back then well I kinda had less/but less was much better coz it saved a lot of stress."

The subject matter varies, but most of the songs are self-revelatory, self-deprecating, self-aware, and -- despite a heavy sprinkling of expletives, bathroom humor, and references to drugs and drinking -- absolutely charming. Throughout Public Warning Lady Sovereign lets us know, with intelligence, wit, and a loud raspberry, that she's here and she's not going away.