Girls who are killin' it

Much like Liz Lemon popularized "That's a deal breaker" I'm going to attempt to come up with a little ellecanada.com catchphrase of my own. In the wake of M.I.A, female rappers are embracing the current lack of representation and bringing forth their own brand of hip-hop. Well, hang on a sec, I don't know if we can call it hip-hop can we?  Some of it is hip-hop and some of it is pop so maybe it's pop hop. Yes, you read it hear first, a brand new genre of pop hop is emerging from female artists around the globe specifically with Santigold, Amanda Blank and Toronto's own Melissa Cameron (aka Missy Cam).

These girls are taking their talent, drive and style and whipping it into a funnel cloud of cool. So here it is, the catchphrase that's about to sweep the nation, or at least Swiffer it. All of the aforementioned ladies are "just killin' it". Ok, maybe it's not exactly a Borat or Napoleon Dynamite caliber catchphrase, but it'll do.

Amanda Blank
Downtown

When talent surrounds you there's no doubt it's bound to rub off. Amanda Blank is part of a circle of peers and collaborators who are creating an ecosystem of new music. Kind of like a hip-hop Broken Social Scene, minus all of the facial hair. Amanda Blank first recorded tracks with friend and producer Spank Rock. If you haven't heard her rap on "Bump" from Spank Rock's '06 album YoYoYoYoYo – you should. Aside from being gorgeous, Blank can spit rhymes faster than you can think of them. The best line of the song, (courtesy of Blank) is, "I rock like Kelly Bundy yo, I keep that s**t nasty", and that she does! The oft foul-mouthed cutie sings what's on her mind and isn't afraid to express herself with more than cheesy rhyming similes. Blank just released her first album I Love You on Downtown Records. You would think with a title like that, the record would be weepy ballads but not so. In fact, I could only really recognize 2 love songs on the album, unless I'm completely misinterpreting the other songs, which isn't entirely impossible (for years I thought Salt N' Peppa's  "Push it" was "Mush It").

Just coming off a tour with friend and collaborator Santigold, Blank is positioned to fill a female rap void left my Missy Elliot, L'il Kim and Eve.  This girl is just killin' it.

More rocking artists on the next page ...