Three The Hard Way

I can count the number of female producers in R&B/ hip hop on one hand. Beyonce, Missy, Amerie, a British girl from Notts I think who has done beats for Estelle (sorry, name escapes me) and er, well, that's about it, I think.

Good news then, that not only are there a couple more entering the game, but they happen to be British too - UK stand UP!

Three girls getting the Internets going nuts right now are Goldielocks (pictured), The CocknBullKid and Miss Oddkidd. The latter doesn't make beats, but the other two both concoct compositions and do their time on the mic.

It's a rough time for music, to be sure, but these three women from Croydon (Goldie), Portsmouth (Oddkidd) and CockNBull (Hackney Via Ghana) are at least getting the British music industry in a tizz. Publishing deals, recording deals, management deals...there's a lot of people trying to get at these girls. Why? Well, to do the lazy journalist thing, I'll make some quick comparisons and point out that they combine MIA, Lady Sov, Missy Elliott, Ruff Sqwad, CSS (and Lilly Allen, allegedly, but I'll skip that one) and many more music flexes like electro, indie, hip hop, Baile Funk, hyphy...you get the picture.

To me, it's incredibly refreshing to hear UK girls talking in UK accents on a beat that's decidedly un-pop. Sure they reference lots of other people, but what's truly original anyway? These three mark an exciting turn in the music industry - a return to the DIY approach of creating your own hype (thanks MySpace), touring all over the world (collectively Copenhagen, Bestival, New York, Birmingham etc etc) and standing apart from the rest of the nu-rave/ grime/ Shoreditch style of sound (ok, so they are maybe influenced by all of them, but hey).

Give me these chicks over the major label machine anytime. Even though, inevitably, they'll be oiling those cogs before long. Especially when someone hears Goldie's Future Cut produced Kids.

Don't believe me? Check em out for yourself at:
MySpace.com/thecocknbullkid
MySpace.com/missoddkidd
MySpace.com/goldielocksmusic