November 20, 2001

Princess Superstar : London Pentonville Hole In The Wall

Pentonville Prison serves as dramatic backdrop for Pulp's club night...

The trouble with all the comedy sleaze-musikkk in vogue now (Peaches Miss Kittin And The Hacker and their ilk), is that so little of it is sexy. Or funny. Step forward, raunchy New York rapper, Princess Superstar, currently frontin' in front of a portrait of the Queen (no relation) and Phil the Greek in a prison officers' social club attached to Pentonville, the 'interesting' venue for Pulp men Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey's monthly Desperate club night. We reckon it must've come cheap.

Princess Superstar is the superhero alter ego of one Sicilian-Russian-Polish American, Concetta Kirschner. She's the real-life pale-face bad-ass rap maven Gwen Stefani is trying to be on 'Let Me Blow Ya Mind'. The Princess is so hot, she's gone head-to-lyrical-head with hiphop's dirtiest mac, Kool Keith, on 'Keith 'N Me', and lived to spray down the mirrored ceiling afterwards. Tonight's gig is a riot of sultry live bass'n'decks with guest rapper 7even trading come-ons and put-downs with the Princess. By the end of it, she's rolled around on the dancefloor and stripped to reveal two 'I ? New York' stickers covering her breasts - this in inspired tribute to "New York Titty"'s recent troubles.
There are a lot of happy men here, in short. Women too, though. Because none of this jiggy-crazed carry-on is at all sad, ugly or - despite the club's name - desperate. Like the best sex, it's a right laugh. 'Keith 'N Me' and its excellent remix come on all foul-mouthed and frisky, with the only disrespect suffered by poor 7even, who has to deliver another man's rap.

But if she's good at 'that thing', as Lauryn Hill would have it, she's even better when she puts it away. 'You Get Mad At Napster' unleashes Kirschner's caustic quicksilver flow against a lame ex, while the moving 'Too Much Weight' makes good her claim to be a "sensitive Pisces". She's a lover, not a fighter, our Princess. Using sex as a weapon's just part of the deal.

Kitty Empire