Lady Tigra in 2009

OB4CL2? Not on vinyl. Lady Tigra's new "Switchblade Kitty" remixes? On 12" vinyl. So, hey Raekwon's business manager, guess which one I purchased?

For those of you who slept late, L'Trimm's Lady Tigra is back on the solo tip... And thankfully, she still sounds just like her old self (and if you don't know, check out her "Sorry, Ice Cream" song for Pinkberry to get an idea). You may remember me mentioning in a blog nearly two years ago that she had an mp3-only album? Well, now there's been a proper CD release (it's called Please Mr. Boombox, and it even features MC Lyte), and now she's released her debut single off of that album. It's called "Switchblade Kitty" on Grease Records.

So the first thing I thought when I saw this was, "why 'Switchblade Kitty?'" I mean, it's ok, but definitely not one of the more compelling songs on the album. It's interesting, though. The main sample for the soundtrack seems to be lifted from an 8-bit video game, and like a lot of her songs on her album, she's got a lot of really nice scratching by an uncredited DJ. Maybe it was chosen because, lyrically and stylistically, it kind of exemplifies her style... ultra girly but edgy, a little odd and running over with tongue-in-cheek superficiality. But she adopts a slow, stop & start list-like delivery song that really makes this duller than most of the rest of her album. ...Well, I guess that's why they've remixed it, right? Keep all the best signature elements and replace the parts that didn't really jump off the CD?

Well, let's see. First of all, the 12" starts off with the album version I've just described. Then we come to the Ruckus Roboticus Remix. Well, two seconds into it and you know this is clearly made for the clubs. It's got that cliche thump, thump, thump bassline and a lot of distorted industrial/computer noises that are constantly changing and looping. I'm not sure if this song really lends itself for that... it kinda does, and Lady Tigra's voice is perfect for that kinda thing; but this isn't gonna be any DJ's "drag 'em onto the dancefloor" secret weapon. So, it's a fairly well done mix if you want a song that you can mix into your 1AM strip-club set... but this is hip-hop, so we don't. Let's move on.

There's actually only one other remix (because the other track is just the Ruckus Roboticus dub version), this one by William Russell. It's really just another approach at the same thing, with the same mediocre results. In fact, it's even more far-gone, removing all of Tigra's verse in favor of just sampling and looping some lines from the hook over and over again, while the music stutters and relapses. Fuck. This. Shit.

...I know. What did I expect, right? Oh well. I can actually kinda recommend picking up her album, though. I mean, if you're an old school L'Trimm fan, you won't be disappointed. Nothing on there sounds like it was produced by Large Professor during the 90's or anything, but it's fun times. But as for this 12", I blame Raekwon.

A-B-C, 1-2-3

Hey, guys! If you haven't seen it already, drop by EclipticSight.com's blog… there's an interview with me up there! So, yeah, I hope you guys enjoy that… then come back here when you're done, because I've got another 12" write-up for ya tonight:

"Yo Jeff, what's shakin'?"
"Coolin'; what's up?"
"Girlies!"
"Come pick me up!"

Like the "As We Go" quote suggests, I'm not done with the girlie rap just yet. Today's record is the answer to that age-old question, "what do you get for the L'Trimm fan who has everything?" Tricky Nikki's obscure "Bust the Rhythm of My ABC's" 12", featuring L'Trimm, from 1989.

The first thing you'll notice and the first thing I've got to mention is that Tricky Nikki sounds exactly like Lady Tigra, and if there's any detectable difference at all, it's that she might sound slightly more Bunny D-ish. Honestly, I wouldn't be all that surprised if it was discovered that "Tricky Nikki" was really just some kind of alias (though I don't believe that's in fact the case). At any rate, with L'Trimm actually present and providing the chorus and the backing vocals, this is practically indistinguishable from a genuine, lost L'Trimm record. It's on their old label and is produced by The Fly Boys, using a fast-paced classic style Miami beat, except without much of a bassline… it's got a lot of repeated vocal samples and adlibs by Bunny and Tigra, and features a several simple keyboard refrains, including one that plays a note for each syllable of the chorus:

"A-B-C-D-E-F-G.
I wish that you could be with me.
1-2-3; can't you see -
What a [something mumbled each time they say it] has done to me?
A-B-C-D-E-F-G.
Why don't you come play with me?
A-B-C, 1-2-3…
Bust the rhythm of my ABC's!"

The rhyme's a simplistic narrative about a guy with a bad rep who Tricky Nikki decides to give a shot anyway: "So we danced and romanced for a little while. He wanted to make love, but that's not my style. I said, 'not now; maybe later. They call me Tricky Nikki and there is none greater.'" That's pretty much the whole story, really. It's a quick vignette in three verses that doesn't quite get to any larger point beyond, "they call me Tricky Nikki and there is none greater." …Which is perfect for this kind of song. There's some basic scratching on the breakdowns and even a goofy human beatbox solo towards the end.

Then the b-side features a street mix… It's hard to imagine a song like this really appealing to "street" audiences no matter what they did to it. But this version does successfully strip away a lot of the keyboards (most notably the note-for-note bit mentioned during the chorus) and some samples, for a more raw, harder edge. Still, I think all those people who'd rather not hear the chintzy keyboards are the same ones who'd pass on this record regardless; so anyone who'd want this rare Tricky Nikki/ L'Trimm collaboration will probably prefer the original.

You might have a hard time locating a copy of this bad boy today, but if you want it bad enough, I have faith you'll be be able to track one down for cheap. 8)

Tags: Tricky Nikki, L'Trimm

Tiger Toys and Bunny Boys

Here's a 12" I bet none of you guys reading this have… and it's not rare or expensive, so if you decide you want it after reading this, it's easily had. Can't ask for more than that, can you?

This is the title, first and only single off L'Trimm's second album, Drop That Bottom. They talked in interviews about wanting to make "Trouble In the House" their second single, but their label never wound up putting out another single off this album, instead jumping straight to Groovy.

"In the city late at night -
Cause that's where he rocks 'em -
He's funky fly,
'Cause all the girls jock 'im.
He gives 'em a smile,
And, yeah, he's got 'em.
'Cause girls love to see him...
Drop that bottom!"

It's a pretty hype beat (there's a reason this was the title track), with a cool variety of samples. How much you like the song will depend entirely on how much you can tolerate L'Trimm - for many of you, that may be not at all. But those of you still around will probably rank this just below "Cars That Go Boom" as a favorite. It's also one of the first examples I can think of (open challenge: name an earlier one) of a female artist turning the tables on their audience and making an entire song objectifying men as sex objects (calling them "Tiger toys" and "Bunny boys" respectively), but in a cheerfully inoffensive party record way.

Now, check wikipedia for a minute (or don't and just take my word for it… save yourself some time). They credit jungle music as having birthed "circa 1993." Well, this is a jungle remix (by The Fly Boys) from 1991 - L'Trimm is fucking cutting edge, I'm telling you! And it is a jungle remix: the 150+ bpm drums and sample loops… it's not just called "Jungle Remix" because it features a sample of The Jungle Brothers or something. Personally, I don't really care for drum 'n' bass or jungle music, but this is reasonably well done.

The bass remix, also by The Fly Boys, is similar to the album version but strips off a few bits of instrumental and, of course, adds that car vibrating bottom drop. Being a bit more hardcore, I could see it being some peoples' favorite mix, but personally I like and miss the pseudo-cutting on the hook of the original version too much.

Finally, for those of you who just can't bring yourselves to listen to anything so anti-macho as a L'Trimm song (they do literally giggle at their own delivery at one point in the song), there is an instrumental version of the LP mix.

As to where they are now, I have some good (or terrible, depending how harshly you judge them) news: Lady Tigra is back with a new solo album called Please Mr. Boombox (so far only available as mp3 on places like ITunes, I believe). Visit her myspace page to check it out. For a few months, she had a website at: theladytigra.com, too; but it seems she's already abandoned it. There's also a fan-made myspace page for the group that shamelessly uses my discography and all of my scans but gives me no credit - give 'em a shout. ;)

Tags: L'Trimm, Lady Tigra