When it comes to female rappers it seems the key to commercial success can pretty much be boiled down to “be American.” However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t loads of talented British rap girls vying for a chance, and one who I recently discovered is Phreeda Sharp. Phreeda is 24 and clearly not a bandwagon-jumper – she’s a genuine tough London girl you wouldn’t want to mess with and talks about a “raw rap movement” in her YouTube video descriptions.
Phreeda’s recent videos and songs have been much more polished than her early “rap spills”, and Bad Jane especially shows real hit potential. I love her attitude, the energy and the production. The indie blog scene will probably never give her the time of day, and she’d have no time for their geeky white boy readers either, but those who love Azealia Banks should be all over her. I can’t claim to be an expert on rap but I can spot a crossover hit and this could definitely be one with support from the right people. She’s headlining Hoxton Square Bar in November so things are looking good, but she may need the whole industry on her side to do better than Lady Sovereign and Shystie.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghz_R8UPp2I]
If you love Phreeda, come back in the last week of October to vote for her as the best UK unsigned pop act. You can also sign up to my Future Pop mailing list to receive all the Unsigned Month featured artists by email!