A female Eminem crosses the Pond

THE music press call her the female Eminem. She calls herself Princess Superstar. In her native New York, this 28-year-old platinum blonde rapper has built a formidable reputation as a hip-hop Barbie doll with attitude.

Loved by Jarvis Cocker's party set, the Princess brings her explicit lyrics, porn-star dress sense and acid wit to the Astoria this Saturday.

Her new single, Bad Babysitter, set to crash into the UK charts next week, is the story of a teen minx more concerned with entertainingher boyfriend and a pizza delivery boy than the child. The infectious chorus revels in the fact that she's got her boyfriend in the shower while making six bucks an hour.

"It's my warped sense of humour combining with my sex obsession. Some of it is true," she squawks. "I am genuinely sex-obsessed; the problem is I'm not getting a lot of sex, so maybe if I had more I would stop talking about it."

With four self-produced albums and a string of stars endorsing her frivolous charms Princess, born Concetta Kirshner, has struck a chord at Cocker's Desperate club nights. "I loved what he did to Michael Jackson. I've been performing and DJing with him in the craziest places, like Pentonville Prison and Bethnal Green Working Men's Club."

It's clear her ironic sensibilities appeal to the British more than Americans. "People in the UK are sharp, fast and self- deprecating," she says.

"I think a lot of my stuff goes over Americans' heads."

Behind the pouting lips, plunging necklines and gold belchers that would put Mr T to shame, Princess Superstar is a focused woman with a strong work ethic. She set up her ironically titled A Big Rich Major Label in her bedroom in 1994 with clever abuse of credit cards and a loan from the Women's Venture Fund. Her drive to succeed on her own terms is strong. "A lot of why I'm so crazy right now is because I had a horrible high-school experience: we were dirt poor and living in Trashville while my parents were graduating."

Having appeared on the Big Breakfast, Top of the Pops and wormed her way onto the Radio 1 playlist, she is on the brink of stardom. "All this attention is scary," she says in a little-girllost voice. "I've always been subversive, so to have a hit is weird. I'm like a little kid when I hear my name on the radio."

Copyright 2002
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