Music Guide
This little lady has exploded into the stratosphere of stardom. Whether you deem her a flash-in-the pan or a legitimate artist is your own choosing, but Lily Allen has defiantly left her mark on the face of English music in the 21st century.
The daughter of actor Keith Allen, Lily has skyrocketed to fame not through her family ties, but through her use of the virtual community that is My Space. One of the largest online social networking sites where people post their lives and meet like-minded souls. Having posted just four original ska and reggae infused pop tracks; Lily’s My Space music has experiences a rotation that exceeds two million plays. As other My Space punters went mad for Miss Lily, the music industry couldn’t sit by and watch a good thing go un-profited and Parlaphone chased everyone’s favourite smart-talkin’ Londoner down earlier this year and got her to sign on the dotted line. Perfect that this is exactly what she wanted.
Lily's debut single, 'LDN' (pronounced London, non-texters), mixes giggly carnival summer reggae with a whistle-along tune and lines so sharp they could have your eye out. Plus it rhymes Tesco with al fresco, which is good. ‘Smile’ offers up a bittersweet post break-up song, perfect for getting over that broken heart. Then there's 'Alfie', about her little brother's dubious lifestyle and 'Not Big', makes obvious an ex-boyfriend's inability to make the grade.
It’s refreshing to see a smart, funny, talented female pop-artist that is more than tits n’ teeth. Someone that hasn’t been groomed to be anybody’s beauty queen but is as real, self-assured, fearless, bitchy, intelligent and infectious as the city she hails from. And she’s not one to apologize for any of it.
Lily is set to take on the overseas market. The catchy, bubbly track lines of her tunes will of course traverse the Atlantic seamlessly, but will her quick-witted Brit-speak get lost in translation? I think the British Invasion is about to see a second coming.
