It’s easy to compare Kid Sister to hip-hop’s original around-the-way girls like Queen Latifah, Monie Love and Yoyo based on her music, which is influenced by house and Chicago’s native sound juke. She raps about getting her nails did, booty popping at the club, kicking losers to the curb and favors a 1980s retro style of dress by rocking bright clothes and gaudy jewelry. Even when she talks, her Midwest twang and tell-it-like-it-is attitude could make anyone feel like they’re talking to their homegirl.
Born Melissa Young, she grew up in a suburb of Chicago. Her stage name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the first golden age of hip-hop, when it seemed like everybody and their kid sister could have a hit. She endeared herself to the world with the Project Pat sampled, Kanye West-enhanced anthem “Pro Nails,” in 2007, and has been favored since then.
Her highly anticipated debut album, Ultraviolet, was released last month, but not before name changes based on copyright infringement and creative setbacks placed it on hold several times. However, now that it’s out, she’s ready to carve her lane in music one single at a time. There’s some high expectations placed on her when it comes to representing women in hip-hop but how does she do that if her music belongs to a new genre that incorporates a hodgepodge of sounds? Her solution is, by being true to herself. Honey caught up with her to get her thoughts on where she fits in.
Honey: Your album went through a lot of changes before finally becoming Ultraviolet. The first name was Koko B. Ware¾
Kid Sister: I wish it could still be named that because that was such a great name.
What happened?
I’m so mad because the WWF¾I guess now they’re titled WWE¾they weren’t even trying to have any discussions. They were like, “No you, can’t use it. There’s no fee that you could possibly pay to get this name.”
Even if you changed the spelling?
We tried every way that we could to get around it but they weren’t receptive so it left me feeling a little dejected so I was like eff it, I’m just gonna name it something that doesn’t require any thought¾Dream date¾I didn’t even care. And then the album finished and it wasn’t what we wanted it to be¾not that I didn’t put effort into it¾but they were rushing me. I had just signed and I wasn’t used to working under deadlines at all and then on top of everything, it was a whole new genre that was coming out and a lot of pressure to put forth a more cohesive and definitive sound and look for that genre with the electronic hip-hop so it was a tall order to fill and I put forth to the label something that I wasn’t completely satisfied with and so they let me take it back.
It’s interesting that you say it’s a new sound because some of the album actually sounds like old school Queen Latifah like from when she first came out doing more house music.
Really? I didn’t even listen to her growing up. That’s so funny. I didn’t even know who Roxanne Shante was. People forget that I’m not old but I’m not young, I’m kind of in the middle. For instance, I never watched Thunder Cats because I’m a little too young for that. I missed it by a year or two. I grew up listening to only classical music until I was 11 years old, then I got into house music, then I started listening to hip-hop like CNN, Do or Die, Crucial Conflict, Psycho Drama¾hard stuff. The only girl hip-hop I listened to was singles like “Afro Puffs,” “Rough Neck” and the song with Patra and Yoyo [“Romantic Call”] ¾that’s the kind of female hip-hop I listened to. I wasn’t like hey man I’m a fan of this. I think what I liked was the hits. You can talk about it’s the iPod generation and singles blah blah blah but I’ve always been like that.
How did you get into classical music? Did you play the piano?
I just turned on the radio and heard that music and that’s what I liked when I was a baby. I was about 4. I was in church choir at 6 and then I started doing piano lessons at 8. I hated it. I have really skinny and long fingers and you would think that I’d have a leg up and maybe I did, but I hated it. So anyway I used to listen to just classical music that’s all I liked¾Brahms, Wagner, Beethoven.
So you got that classical music round on Jeopardy, huh?
I’ma rule that round! I’m like Daily Double. I love Jeorpardy¾don’t even get me started.
Do you produce your own music with the piano experience?
No. I think everyone should just do what they’re good at. I’m best at writing and performing music. I wrote all my songs with the exception of “You Aint Really Down” and a very small portion of “Daydreaming.” All these girl rappers have ghostwriters and everyone’s like Kid Sister’s rhymes are not that fun and her rhyme game is not that serious. I’m like, well it’s because I don’t have Lil Wayne writing my shit or Ludacris or whoever. It’s very rare to see a woman in hip-hop composing every last one of her songs with the exception of a cover. For the record, I’m not sharing my publishing with nobody! I’m like, how am I supposed to pay my rent¾duh!
The best thing about you is that you don’t have that male cosign. Part of the problem with a lot of women in hip-hop is they always come out with a male cosign and also tend to sound like them when they rap.
That’s because they’re getting ghostwritten by them. It’s like having a pimp for something. Not me. There’s no 50/40 cut. This is 100% my stuff. My money. It’s not that I’m greedy¾I’m just seriously independent. I work hard for this so back up!
Are there any other female rappers that you’re checking for that people might not know about yet? Right now it’s just you and Nicki Minaj?
I think Nicki Minaj is awesome. She has a cute little look but my thing is do people take her seriously? I’m not being funny. I’m just asking a question. That whole thing like I want more cheese, lots and lots of cheese¾do people make fun of her? [Insert tough girl voice] Nobody makes fun of me.
People patronize artists like Nicki Minaj because of her hypersexual image but freak out when female rappers aren’t hypersexual or thugged out, so do you have it harder than other more typical femcees?
Right and I’m not on some wordy, verbose, super conscious shit either because that’s not the life that I live, so that’s not the music that I make. But do I have it harder? No, I think I have it easier. Harder in the sense that maybe the pop world doesn’t know how to interpret me but easier in the sense that I know my music comes from me and it’s a clear and perfect projection of everything I am. It’s not only because I have control, but it’s because that’s the only music that can comfort me. I don’t know how to be anyone else. I can only really speak to myself and my own experiences, so if that means I’m talking about playing some dude bogus or fucking it up at a party that’s literally the life that I live. It is what it is, but I think that’s easier¾I can be myself and I get paid for it.
Do you think there’s work to do as far as getting more females out there? Hip-hop has always been male dominated but there was a time when there was more to chose from so what’s the remedy?
I think that what needs to happen—what needs to happen with women needs to happen in music in general—but people need to get more creative and quit recycling other people’s shit. It’s so boring. And it’s not about recycling a song, it’s more about the same idea over and over with very minute very subtle tweaks and it’s like, you’re not pulling one over on anybody. That shit is boring. So that’s why you see people like Lil’ Jon doing a techno album and Black Eyed Peas getting more dance oriented. It’s because people are getting bored. But people like me, who are really spearheading at the forefront this new techno music mixing with hip-hop, it’s a little bit diff than the artists I mentioned before and because what we like to think is that we do it in a more sophisticated way—and that’s not to sound haughty or like I’m bragging—it’s just the way we compose our music and the thought we put into what we create. It’s not like I wanna be preachy and be like this is my doctrine like you must listen to my music and adhere to it—my thing is like, the lesson is in the experience when you go to one of my shows. My music—I want it to be a conduit by which to bring people together, who under ordinary circumstances may not normally come together. Black, white, short, tall, fat, skinny, purple, orange, green—everybody under the sun is invited to the party and you might realize you’d have fun with somebody that you wouldn’t have even thought
-Starrene Rhett
whats with all the 3/4’s in the article?
Good article! Love Kid Sister. I was also wondering what the deal was with all the 3/4s, I thought something was going over my head…