Princess Superstar

She's been dubbed the female Eminem and the white Lil' Kim which would be no bad thing if it were actually true. She's glamorous, witty and makes Eminem look as funny as the last comic tragedy to leave the US. We caught up with Concetta Kirschner aka Princess Superstar to find out the struggle of a white woman in hip hop and to find out about her past in a psychedelic pop group.

Q: The first date of the recent tour was in a Prison with Jarvis Cocker on the Decks. How did it all go?
A: I loved it because you get tired of playing clubs all the time. It was a weird one and Jarvis is a bit of a rock star but aren't we all!!! I've played a few dates here and there before but this was the first real organised tour of Europe and the reaction from the press and the fans has been fantastic.

I definitely come from the punk rock school of performing rather than the hip-hop side of things. I like to entertain and have a good time. Its so boring for two MC's to go All Your Hands in the Air!!!
 

Q: Hip-hop has always been very male dominated. How have people reacted to you over the years?
A: Different reactions throughout the years. But I think that most of the time they don't really think that I can do anything but when I do they're shocked and impressed. Its gotten to be pretty successful so I'm happy - this is my fourth record and now I'm starting to break through so its been a long road!!!

I was in a psychedelic pop band as a guitar player before all this. I always loved hip-hop, always wanted to do hip-hop but I didn't think I could...I just did it though and I was bad but I got better. When I was growing up I was into everything from Led Zeppellin to the Smiths to Queen Latifa and Run DMC too. Believe it or not I was a depressed teenage listening to "Meat Is Murder" at one time.

Q: "Princess Superstar Is..." features collaborations with everyone from Kool Keith to Beth Orton. How did they all come about?
A: Well it turned out Beth was a fan of my last record so when she came to New York we hooked up. I was just like "We have to do a song together" and its one of my favouritest songs on the album. Its like the best of the old skool and there some current shit going on but I'd say its like this weird hybrid of the future...its future skool!!!!
 

Q: Do you feel an affinity with anyone around in hip-hop?
A: It is weird because I'm not sure...I have a lot of friends in hip-hop back home like High & Mighty, Kool Keith and the people on my album. But at the end of the day I'm doing some things different from them too. I love Missy Elliot, David Bowie and the Stooges - I feel affinity with all these different acts over the ages!!!

On my records you can find totally crazy party's and sex, but on this record I've got more serious and a conscious thing with Bahamadia on "Too Much Weight". Its kind of like all over the place because I never like to be tagged as just one thing.
 

Q: No-one is writing lyrics like yourself at the moment. You said before that you tried to make "Princess Superstar Is..." more personal. Is that a conscious thing?
A: I spent many years building up this Princess Superstar character and on this album I wanted to break it down a little...I wanted to build up the cliché and then tear it all down again!!! Princess Superstar is a real fantasy persona - basically when you're little you want to be a Princess and you want to be a superstar. The name also sort of takes the piss out of people who worship celebrity and royalty...its just so over the top its disgusting.

Q: Are Princess Superstar and Concetta Kirschner the same people?
A: There's a little bit of each of us in that but definitely Princess Superstar is not like my day to day. I'm really like just normal I suppose. My parents are so cool and they used to be hippies and all that- they were the ones that turned me onto so much great music back in the day. All the classic rock and the English stuff with David Bowie and the soul with Earth, Wind & Fire.

They love what I do. My mum blasts the record everyday in her car. Its like I'm there like any kid is trying to shock their parents and my mums going whoops to "Bad Baby-sitter".
 

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"Princess Superstar Is...." is out now
The single "Bad Baby-sitter" is out in February

For more info check out:-
www.rapsterrecords.com
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