Listen here

TRACK: Pro Nail featuring Kanye West.

WHO: Chicago-based MC Kid Sister.

WHAT: Lippy, smooth-flowing electro party hip-hop.

THE HYPE: “There's something about Kid Sister's flow – swift to the point of indecipherable, but with a pleasing drawl to it – that's hard to shake off, even if she is banging on about fancy manicures. In other words, it might be advisable to watch this space.” - Digitalspy

WE SAY: Hip-hop has gone on a bit of a roadtrip through the States over the past few years, seemingly giving itself revitalising musical Botox jabs at every stop. The dominance of the traditional hotspots of New York and LA have weakened, thanks to the genre bombs going off in Atlanta, Texas, The Bay Area and, most impressively, Chicago. Kanye, Lupe and Soulja Boy have taken Chi-Town to the mainstream, but the likes of Cool Kids and Kid Sister are themselves building up quite a head of steam, and are looking ready to pop their corks.

Born Melissa Young and boasting a diverse family heritage that stretches from Native American to Japanese, Kid Sister’s output also takes a nobly broad approach. Pro Nails opens with a Texan Screwed and Chopped chorus – a short-lived bizarro phase that was big on stretching out vocals and slowing beats to a standstill so as to simulate the fug of a cough syrup binge – but then feints, changes gear and scrubs up nicely with some squelchy house beats that suit Kid’s limber rhythmic flow, one that hints at the gobbiness of Salt N Pepa, Roxanne Shante, hell even maybe shades of the Cookie Crew.

A hymn to the humble pleasure of getting one’s digits ‘did,’ Pro Nails is further evidence of the rise of Hipster Rap, breezier post-Ronson hip-hop that’s shunning the macho hustler chic for the fluffier realm of everyday lifestyle and cultural consumption – see also Wale’s Mixtape About Nothing, which waxes lyrically about the joy of Seinfeld, among others.

Oh, one last thing. Check the video for Pro Nails. If you can find anything more impressive than finger-puppet breakdancing, I wanna know about it.

IF YOU ONLY NEED TO KNOW ONE THING: Kid Sister’s dulcet tones may sound a tad familiar – she recently guested on Count & Sinden’s bassline house tune Beeper.

WHERE CAN I GET MY HANDS ON IT: Pro Nails is Released June 23 on Asylum.

FIND MORE: www.myspace.com/kidsister

Explore Music

• Festivals

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

• Classical

Editor's choice

• U2 at Nou Camp Stadium, Barcelona
• The 50 Best Movie Villains
• The 15 golden rules of theatre etiquette