- Creative Vibes' Mother Tongues offshoot is a hip hop label dedicated to showcasing the talents of female hip hop artists both on a local Australian level and on an international level. Previous releases have included the compilation "First Words" and also MC Trey's debut EP "Daily Affirmations". For the latest release they go to France and exhibit one of France's few female MC's - the French equivalent of Missy Elliot, Lady Laistee. 6 years after the release of her debut album, "Black Mama", Laistee returns to the fore with her follow up, Hip Hop Therapy. Her music has a catchy pop appeal very similar to the sounds of Missy Elliot, yet she has a tough, street oriented rhyme style which some compare to MC Lyte, whereas I would put it somewhere closer to Eve.
The album features a wide range of hip hop styles. There are R&B infused tunes like Diamant Noir (Black Diamond) featuring the vocals of Lynnsha which let tough Laistee's rhyme style shine yet keeps things dancefloor oriented. Karai-B-O has a bouncy carribean feel, similar to tunes like 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P" and gives listeners a taste of Laistee's Carribean roots.
Laistee pulls off a cover of Aretha Franklin's classic 60s hit, "Respect" entitled Un Peu De Respect and it's an all female head to head battle as she goes up against Diam's for control of the mic.
Other highlights on the album include the latin influenced Douce France which features a flamenco guitar riff and provides a nice lead up to Cette Nuit, another tune with a latin groove and more R&B soul vocals. She also teams up with one of France's hottest production teams Tiwony for Negropolitain and from the sounds of it, it has a jiggy club-oriented appeal.
Hip Hop Therapy isn't the saviour album destined to change hip hop forever, it is however a fun release one that is aimed straight at the dancefloor and highlights the strengths of the French hip hop scene. Due to my inability to speak French, it's hard to translate what she's rhyming about but from her flow and tone she doesn't appear to have the bitchy and indeed porn-oriented appeal of rappers like Lil Kim. Perfect for those who are fans of artists like Missy Elliot and Eve and have always wondered how their styles would translast into French.