Imani Coppola

Renegade pop rapper Imani Coppola tends to a head full of musical ideas with varied results on this eclectic debut for Ipecac. After a flirtation with Columbia, Coppola rightly went underground, releasing countless albums via her website and label. Given her frank, self-reflexive songs, anti-industry rants and agit hip-hop stance on The Black and White Album, it’s no wonder she didn’t last long in the majors. In effect, jingles like "Spring Time” and "Raindrops From the Sun (Hey, Hey, Hey)” are a put-on, their shiny veneers thinly masking the one-woman Rage Against the Machine lurking within. Her bi-racial status sparks the hardcore thrash of "Woke Up White” and faux club jam monotony of "30th Birthday.” The anti-plastic rants of "Dirty Pictures” and "I Love Your Hair” are predictable enough but then "John Lennon is a Trademark of Yoko Ono” is completely clever and edgy. Coppola’s populist noise rock isn’t always successful but there’s something stimulating about her genre mind fucking.