Send "Kid Sister " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Ultraviolet doesn't sound like an album nearly three years in the making, but that's what it is. Chicago party-rapper Kid Sister dropped the breezy nail-salon jam "Pro Nails" in spring 2007, and the song went viral when Kanye West showed up for a superstar cameo. Kid Sister's spent the intervening years recording a debut, scratching it, starting over, tinkering, and finally coming out with the product she really wanted to release. And it's... a 40-minute, 12-track dance-rap full-length without a single hard punchline or trenchant moment, the sort of thing that sounds like it could've been banged out in a couple of weeks. Turns out this isn't the hipster-rap Detox.Fortunately for Kid Sis, Sparks-addled party rap has not, as a genre, advanced much since "Pro Nails". A number of the tracks on Ultraviolet became blog favorites years ago, but beyond that, the album sounds about as current as it would've if she'd cranked it out in a timely manner. In fact, the record comes considerably less stuffed with ideas than, say, Spank Rock's YoYoYoYoYo or Fannypack's So Stylistic, years-old albums that covered similar stylistic ground but twisted and sputtered and wriggled as much as they could've without leaving their dancey, lightweight wheelhouses. Those albums came equipped with a restless, inventive sense of fun. Ultraviolet, for the most part, just sits there. Production-wise, Ultraviolet is a dance album, not a rap album. The beats, from folks like XXXchange, Sinden, and boyfriend/label boss A-Trak, blow by at frantic but assured clips, picking up and then discarding little melodic ideas as they go. We hear a lot of ravey, diffuse synth stabs and compressed Ed Bangery blurts. "Big n Bad" stops just short of jacking Europe's "Final Countdown" synth riff. "Let Me Bang 2009" rests on a pretty cloud of keyboards. A few moments of hammy melody call up memories of cheesed-out 90s hi-NRG Euro-dance, stuff like Vengaboys or DJ Sammy. But the only time the album's musical palette shifts in any significant way is on "Switch Board", where Chicago juke producer DJ Gant-Man uses the same ingredients to push a more frantic, furious idea of party-rocking. When Kid Sis and Gant-Man abandon rapping entirely near the end and resort to barking out dance instructions and party-chants, it's like finally....full text |
| Spin |
| There's been hope for some time that Melisa "Kid Sister" Young could resurrect that ever-struggling subset known as the female rapper. Her relentless bark -- like a crocodile clomping its jaw shut, swallowing tracks whole -- instantly made her a commanding and charming spitfire back in 2006. But rather than go fierce, Kid Sis has gone house, crafting a debut that's high on her Chicago hometown's pulsating synthetic beats ("Right Hand Hi") and '80s freestyle reinventions ("You Ain't Really Down"), but low on chiseled rhymes. Move along; no savior to see here....full text |
| Snobsmusic |
| ndie hipsters and the hip hop community alike have waited a long time for Ultraviolet. The album is the full length debut from uber-cool Chicago rapper Kid Sister. People will undoubtedly be mixed in their reactions to the finished product though. Ultraviolet at times is a dynamic and refreshing record. When she's at her best, Kid Sister provides a compelling and diverse listen, pulling in influences ranging from techno ("Right Hand Hi") to disco ("54321") to dancehall ("You Ain't really Down"). Her raps tend to be catchy, back by fun arrangements. Hooks make a song like "Life On TV" a potential radio staple while still keeping an intricately layered "Get Fresh" engaging and energetic. The '80s techno pop "Big N' Bad" aside, the judicious use of recognizable samples keeps the album from falling into one of the biggest hip hop traps. Ultraviolet does disappoint at times. The inclusion of the played out "Pro Nails" is enough to make any listener cynical (and an appearance by ultra-douche Kanye West doesn't help). Adding an 18 month old track to your debut album feels like a rip off....full text |
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