ONES TO WATCH - Rye Rye

Straight from the notorious projects and club scene of Baltimore, we make way for the new princess of MCs: Rye Rye. She's the new wonderkid raising the bar across dance floors and studios universally Baltimore’s newest start, with her ‘I can take anything you throw at me’ attitude, is ready to break down the establishment and rewrite the rules.

Rye Rye (real name Ryeisha Berrain) came on to the scene when she was just fifteen after recording the addictive, ‘Shake it to the ground’ track with hip hop producer Blaqstarr. She met  Blaqstarr through her sister. When she left an answer machine message rapping to him, he got her in the studio. M.I.A overheard one of her tracks and a star was born.

Since this, she has gone on to create some absolute gems, working with Diplo on ‘Wassup Wassup’ and then stunning dance floors last year with the bouncing ‘Hardcore Girls’ from the much accredited legends Count and Sinden. M.I.A, after hailing her as her protégée, signed her on n.e.e.t records, leading them to releasing the melodic highly original Bmore Club hit ‘Paper planes’, and now she has been signed to Interscope Records, home to legends such as Snoop and Fergie, and is due to release her first album later this year.

All that and still only seventeen, it really is hard to believe. At seventeen, she’s got more esteem and repertoire than most rappers could dream of for the whole of their career, yet there is still something remarkably grounded about her. She has managed to balance a year of becoming the rising star of rap on the dance floor whilst still attending high school – perhaps this is why she talks sense. She is keeping it real, being seventeen and still posting her prom photos on her myspace.

It’s pretty obvious Rye Rye has a mission, she wants you to go out there and dance, to break down any inhibitions and have some fun. She wants everyone to have a go. It’s about growing up in Baltimore and the people that live there too. It’s about going crazy on the dance floor when you hear that tune you love. Her music is signatured by a hard beat that hits you straight away and doesn’t shy away from a message. Baltimore is where it’s at. Rye Rye, alongside artists such as Spunk Rock and M.I.A, is putting Baltimore club, also called ‘Bmore Club’ or ‘Club Music’ on the map. Bmore Club is a blend of hip hop and chopped staccato house music, created in the early 1990s by pioneers such as Scottie B. Based on an 8/4 beat structure, it includes tempos around 130 beats per minute, so it’s cranked up a notch from house or techno. Similar to ghetto house and ghetto tech, some of it includes samples taken from shows such as Spongebob Square Pants leading to the dance moves accredited to the scene such as the Spongebob, which are definitely worth checking out on Youtube. The video for Rye Rye’s ‘Shake it to the ground’ exhibits some of these moves, alongside wheelies, Bmore Club original footage and other such treats.

Rye Rye knows what she’s doing is good, but her confidence is not misguided. Something of an early Ciara with the cuteness of Rhianna and the attitude of Missy, she speaks about how she ‘kills’ dance floors and describes her style as ‘cute and fly’.  With no props and what you see is what you get, she is different from anything else that’s around at the moment. Rye Rye shows blatant love of performing with an attitude that others could take a lesson from. She places her stamp on every beat and a guarantee that her lyrics will deliver what they promise. An MC with an important message, she cares about respect and speaks fiercely about 21st century feminism in terms that we all understand. She is proud to be a woman and knows the language of booty, but not in the grotesque and clichéd manner we are used to in hip hop, rather from the perspective of a clever seventeen year old who wants to have fun. It’s putting a positive slant on something that has borne so much negativity for such a long time and there is still so much more to come.

Could this be the role model for young stars of the future that the music industry needs? Breaking down prejudices, producing mind-blowing beats, succeeding with determination and keeping it real … and oh, did I mention that she can dance? Hell yeah, this girl can move!