Biography
One of pop music's recurring patterns holds that a genre's formative period tends to overflow with novelty records, since the style's initial spark draws in listeners through lighthearted humor that doubles as an entry point. Jazz, R&B, country, and rock each produced clusters of such comic successes while still new. Once any idiom gains maturity, however, it begins to command greater respect and the comic one-offs recede. Hip-hop's opening ten years similarly teemed with standalone comic tracks and novelty successes, ranging from the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's "Parents Just Don't Understand." The simultaneous emergence of socially conscious crews and the first wave of gangsta rap at the close of the 1980s largely eliminated that strain of material for roughly the next twenty years. Even so, occasional backward glances surface inside hip-hop's forward rush, and Kid Sister embodies one such moment. With a wardrobe of 1980s retro pieces, vivid neon hues, and lyrics touching on nail salons, beepers, and the World Wrestling Federation, she functions as a playful nod to hip-hop's initial golden era, when even an ordinary kid sister could plausibly score a hit.
Born Melisa Young in 1980 and raised in the Chicago suburb of Markham, IL, she cultivated an early passion for musical theater yet waited until after college to enter music professionally. Spurred by the rising profile of her younger brother Josh Young, known as J2K in the Chicago DJ duo Flosstradamus, she assumed the Kid Sister identity and persona in early 2006. With J2K handling DJ duties and production, she introduced herself through the buoyant single "Pro Nails," whose digital-download traction prompted Kanye West to feature a remix containing his own guest verse on the summer 2007 mixtape Can't Tell Me Nothing. The link formed after Young began dating West's DJ A-Trak (Alain Macklovitch), who also placed her on his imprint Fools Gold Records. A follow-up single, "Control," and a spot on the MTV reality series My Block preceded the arrival of her first full-length album, Ultraviolet, in late 2009.
Born Melisa Young in 1980 and raised in the Chicago suburb of Markham, IL, she cultivated an early passion for musical theater yet waited until after college to enter music professionally. Spurred by the rising profile of her younger brother Josh Young, known as J2K in the Chicago DJ duo Flosstradamus, she assumed the Kid Sister identity and persona in early 2006. With J2K handling DJ duties and production, she introduced herself through the buoyant single "Pro Nails," whose digital-download traction prompted Kanye West to feature a remix containing his own guest verse on the summer 2007 mixtape Can't Tell Me Nothing. The link formed after Young began dating West's DJ A-Trak (Alain Macklovitch), who also placed her on his imprint Fools Gold Records. A follow-up single, "Control," and a spot on the MTV reality series My Block preceded the arrival of her first full-length album, Ultraviolet, in late 2009.
Albums
Singles
