Maryland:
Rye Rye
CITY: Baltimore
SONG THAT GOT US: “Shake It to the Ground"
ON THE TUBES: MySpace, Facebook, You Tube
RECORD LABEL: N.E.E.T./Interscope
WHY HER? Rye’s guttural splattering of minimal world-beat-hip-hop funk is poised to hit the world like Lil’ Mama v. 2.0: her impending debut LP, Go! Pop! Bang!, mixes the cadence of playground taunts with a forceful presence that will soon be hard to ignore. “I’m a really nice girl you know/We should take a little trip to Baltimore,” she intones on “Hardcore Girls,” which is like an answer to all those endless odes to the party antics of Atlanta and St. Louis we’ve been bombarded with over the years. At 18, her sheer bravado and, dare I say, swagger is electrifying — there’s no possible way you won’t be rocking this by the end of the summer.
BONUS BIT! Rye is the first signee to M.I.A.’s own label, N.E.E.T. (Not in Education, Employment, Training).
