UK grime queen and self-described “white midget” Lady Sovereign was already a stateside cult phenom before her first domestic release, the cheekily titled Vertically Challenged EP (Chocolate Industries). Short white female rappers are a rarity even in the bizarro world of grime, where dancehall rhythms are married to 80s video-game sound effects and DJs contort beats every which way but boom-bap, but Miss Sov’s flow belies her stature. Her breathless debut performance on 2003’s “The Battle” (alongside male rappers Shystie, Frost P, and Zus Rock) grabbed the attention of UK DJs and music papers; she followed it up with her first solo joint, “Little Bit of Shhh!,” and devastatingly funky, witty singles like “Random” and “Cha Ching” (also included on the breakout grime comp Run the Road). Her full-length on Island/Def Jam isn’t due until spring ’06, but the new EP rounds up most of her singles, along with remixes by Ad Rock and Ghislain Poirier. –J. Niimi
