Princess Superstar

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk shop with bigstereo favorite Princess Superstar. It was all very serious… very Barbara Walters. I think she even cried at one point.

Superstar dished the dirt on The Diskokaines, her new album and…

Travis: Over the past few years there has been a mini-explosion of “non-traditional” female rap artists… Northern State, Peaches, M.I.A., Avenue D, FannyPack… yourself of course. What is your take on this phenomenon?

Princess Superstar: I wouldn’t consider them rap artists. That’s Missy Elliott, Salt N Pepa, Lil Kim, Bahamadia, etc. But these ladies mix some old skool rap with new shit and it works.

T: Certainly not in a traditional sense, no. Any favorites?

PS: I love Peaches and M.I.A. and Avenue D.

T: What else are you listening to these days? What’s on your playlist?

PS: DJ Traxx, Tom Vek, Legowelt, Missy Elliott, Rub n Tug, LCD Soundsystem, Jay-Z.

T: A few months ago, I was in a backwoods diner in Maine and had a DJs Are Not Rockstars t-shirt on. The waitress, who must have been in High School, was all about it and said she loved you. You break a lot of different stereotypes. Do you feel like you’re a role model for girls and young women?

PS: I hope so. Better me than Britney!

T: So do you consider yourself a feminist?

PS: Yes. I think there are many ways to be a feminist.

T: The song you did with The Diskokaines, “Lick The Alphabet,” is great. How did you come to work with Wolfram?

PS: He tied me up and forced me to sing on his track. I was trapped in a basement for 4 days, and he would only let me listen to Italo-disco and eat Viennese sausages. That’s what came out.

T: What else can we expect from The Diskokaines besides “Lick The Alphabet”? Is there a full length in the works?

PS: You never know. We may go to a private island in the Balkans with a 303 and some vintage Armani sunglasses and return with a double disk.

T: “Coochie Coo”, the first single from your new album My Machine, has a very dancey feel to it. And you’ve worked with some producers who are known for dance such as Jacques Lu Cont, Felix da Housecat and Junior Sanchez. Should we expect a much more dance orientated album than your previous work? Have you left hip-hop behind?

PS: Absolutely not. I am just marrying hip hop with dance. I am rhyming on almost every song. Just trying to do new shit.

T: So any Kool Keith on My Machine? Any guest stars?

PS: No. I play all the characters except the Narrator.

T: My Machine is being called a “concept album”? What’s the story?

PS: In the future everyone gets 1 clone, or Duplicant as they called them, so that they may be more productive. But the Superstar illegally makes 10,000 Duplicants so that she can be the only celebrity on the planet. But it all goes wrong in the end….

T: You’ve been touring pretty much non-stop the past few years with DJs are Not Rockstars. Can we expect a solo tour in support of My Machine? Any plans on being in the States?

PS: Yes. It will be a full live worldwide show complete with video and theatrics. It is going to blow your mind.

T: What is your take on file sharing and mp3s on the Internet? Is this helping or hurting artists? Or a little bit of both?

PS: I think it’s both. I definitely have more fans because they download and share my music. But then, I don’t get paid for it. The truth is, I download music. But I still spend a lot at the record store too. So, hopefully people are balanced about it.

T: Thank you for taking the time with bigstereo today. My Machine, The Diskokaines, Djs Are Not Rockstars. You are a very busy lady these days… life is good. No?

PS: Yeah. Can you clean my house?

T: Hm, everything but the dishes.

My Machine hits stores September 2005.

Check out these links for more info:

• Princess Superstar’s MySpace profile: read her blog and listen to new songs!
• Buy “Coochie Coo” on !K7: both vinyl and mp3 formats
• Princess Superstar’s website: form cults
• The Diskokaines: learn the ABCs