Bahamadia: BBQueen : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Philadelphia rapper Bahamadia's greatest strength is that she can come both banging for the B-boys and bugged out for the boho. Her new EP, BB Queen, builds on her innovative 1996 debut, Kollage, which challenged stereotypes of what a female rhymer could be. On the one hand, Bahamadia is an MC's MC: Her slithery rhyme flow and playful Macy Gray burr can inspire awe on BB Queen highlights like "Special Forces" and "One-4-Teen (Funky for You)." At the same time, Bahamadia isn't constrained by hip-hop's limitations -- she's as apt to collaborate with junglists like Roni Size or trip-hoppers Morcheeba as she is with Lauryn Hill or the Roots. She can drop a mystical drum-and-bass track like "Pep Talk," then flex like a vibrant thing over the bass-boomin' head-bobber "Commonwealth (Cheap Chicks)," an anti-materialistic tribute to "welfare-recipient sisters [and] low-budget connoisseurs who get their shoppin' on in Wal-Mart and dollar stores." Bahamadia knows where her career could be heading: "When I hit mainstream, y'all niggas can bite me," she spits on "Special Forces." But hip-hop heads shouldn't wait till then to see why she's the queen bee of lyrical ingenuity. (RS 849)

MATT DIEHL