Princess Superstar

Princess Superstar, a rapper, DJ, songwriter, and prominent celebrity figure, shapes a distinctive fusion of sample-driven hip-hop, electro, and electronic textures, all elevated by her singular personal flair. Following the 1996 release of her first album Strictly Platinum, she embarked on joint projects with figures such as Moby, the Prodigy, and Grandmaster Flash. The 2002 single "Bad Babysitter" climbed into the U.K. Top 20, and she returned to that chart in 2007 with "Perfect (Exceeder)," her Mason collaboration that peaked at number three. One year after issuing her sixth studio album, The New Evolution, in 2013, her YouTube reality series I Love Princess Superstar made its debut. During the 2020s she enjoyed renewed visibility when fresh audiences, including established artists like Doja Cat, embraced her catalog; alongside fresh singles, the prominent placement of "Perfect (Exceeder)" throughout the 2023 film Saltburn returned the track to the charts more than fifteen years after its original run.

Concetta Kirschner was born in New York City in 1971. She grew up primarily in Pennsylvania yet moved back to New York at age seventeen to enroll at NYU. There she took up guitar and, after completing a B.F.A. in drama, chose music over acting. She joined the Gamma Rays, whose two singles appeared on the Teenbeat label in the mid-'90s. Meanwhile she assembled her first Princess Superstar demo using only a four-track recorder and a pair of tape decks. The resulting 1994 release Mitch Better Get My Bunny, whose title playfully echoed a track by rapper AMG, generated early attention, including a mention in CMJ magazine's Futures section, and led to a deal with Fifth Beetle Records. Backed by drummer Kirsten "Pro" Jansen, bassist Doug Pressman, and guitarist Art "F" Lavis, she issued Strictly Platinum in 1996. The album quickly gathered momentum, reaching number one on select college stations in New York and Los Angeles while receiving broader airplay across the United States and Canada. Tracks "Theme Song" and "Flavis Special" were licensed for NBC's NBA Roundup and MTV's Slam and Jam. By the close of 1996 Kirschner asserted greater independence, establishing her own imprint, the tongue-in-cheek A Big Rich Major Label, and pledging never again to sign with an actual major. She also formed a new live ensemble featuring bassist Ski Love Ski, drummer Mike Linn, and DJ Science Center on live turntables.

Her second album, CEO, arrived in 1997 and was co-produced by Curtis Curtis, Godfrey Diamond, and Greg Talenfeld. After its release she mounted the Hostile Takeover Tour '98, a six-week trek across the United States and Canada that included a sold-out set at the South by Southwest Conference. In 1999 she performed at European festivals and began work on her third album, again with Curtis Curtis. Last of the Great 20th Century Composers appeared in 2000 on her own label, now called Corrupt Conglomerate. The supporting band at that point comprised Linn and bassist Walter Sipser, with DJ Cutless Supreme handling turntables and guitar. Princess Superstar Is, featuring contributions from Kool Keith, Beth Orton, and the High & Mighty on the single "Bad Babysitter," surfaced in late 2001 through Studio !K7 and Rapster. The following year "Bad Babysitter" charted across Europe and Australia, reaching number eleven in the U.K. A featured turn on the radio edit of Moby's "Jam for the Ladies" followed in 2003, and she appeared on the Prodigy's "Memphis Bells," issued as a limited-edition 12" paired with "Girls" in 2004.

Her fifth studio album, the 2080-concept project My Machine, enlisted dance producers Jacques Lu Cont, Junior Sanchez, Armand Van Helden, and Arthur Baker; it reached stores via Studio !K7 in 2005, the same year she issued two installments of the Now Is the Winter of Our Discothèque mix series. American Gigolo III arrived in 2007. That same year the mashup "Perfect (Exceeder)," combining her 2005 single "Perfect" with Mason's 2006 instrumental "Exceeder," climbed to number three in the U.K. and entered the Top 20 in multiple additional European territories. After a guest spot on Grandmaster Flash's 2009 album The Bridge: Concept of a Culture, she returned to Corrupt Conglomerate for the 2012 studio release The New Evolution. The 2014 EP I'm a Firecracker maintained her signature blend of irreverent rap and dance music. Around the same period she launched the YouTube reality series I Love Princess Superstar. In 2015 she supported comedian Margaret Cho during a musical segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and she appeared on an episode of Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer the following year. Under the pseudonym M.O.M., Kirschner issued the children's album These Are the Magic Days in 2018, with Curtis Curtis engineering and co-producing. After the 2019 rarities collection Look What I Found she began releasing new material, including the 2020 single "Turnin' Trix" and the 2021 track "Gettin' Older (Pussy Still Pop!)," the latter marking her fiftieth birthday. By then a new wave of listeners and fellow musicians had embraced her work; Doja Cat highlighted the song "Famous" on social media, producer Hamdi built the 2023 track "Counting" around a sample of "Perfect," and Saltburn featured the latter song for more than a full minute in a party sequence, prompting renewed U.K. chart activity. She has continued live performances and new releases, among them the 2023 singles "Iceee Cream," "Tik Tok," and the Steffan Goldmann collaboration "Who Am I Now?"