Carolina Dirty, ferocious female emcee hailing from SC (South Carolina), just dropped a free EP entitled “New Girl in Town” on Kevin Nottingham’s Hip NOTT Records imprint. Known for her associations with 90’s rap duo “Illegal” and TLC’s Left Eye, Carolina Dirty returns with a laser beam acute focus. According to Hip NOTT Records “The EP …New Girl In Town is just a sample of the full-length (titled STILLATIT/ Still At It) being positioned for release later this year.”

Keeping in good company, Carolina Dirty teams up with underground hip-hop favs, the Dynamic Duo (Spectac & Amiri – also of Hip NOTT Records), to bring a refreshing taste of summer boom-bap and lyricism. The six song EP features production by Amiri and Troy and finds emcee Spectac on two of the six tracks while Carolina Dirty makes it clear that no assistance is needed as she holds it down as the focal point of the release.

Carolina Dirty and Spectac make a good duo on the mic. Their pass the baton style of lyrical tag hearkens back to the days when word play and lyrical dexterity mattered and played center stage in the world of hip-hop. Good Neighbor, produced by Amiri, finds Carolina Dirty and Spectac trading 4 bar sprints over classic 12 bit-esque boom-bap that prominently features what sounds like a well placed State Farm Insurance sample /chop. You know the one, “Like a good neighbor…” (I knew you’d finish the line). None the less, this joint is fresh and creative. It allows our host emcee to spit that fierce metaphorical flow that I’m sure she’ll be known for soon enough.

The title track “New Girl in Town”, also produced by Amiri, plays like an announcement of Carolina Dirty’s arrival. The female vocal sample rings out in the intro and chorus, “There’s a new girl in town with a brand new style. She was just passing through but if things work out she’s gonna stay.” The track’s low-end kind of reminds me of early Eric Sermon productions. Very good use of a nice vocal sample to set up our hostess to catch wreck.

On 22:16, produced by Troy, Dirty gets it in yet again showing she is no slouch when it comes to effortless flows over melodious boom-bap (have we mentioned boom-bap here before?). Troy flips, what I believe is, Barry White’s “September” joint nicely. The change-up to a bridge / chorus works out but its a bit jarring when the verse comes back in. Not because of vocals but because the transition is not as smooth musically. If you listen you’ll notice the sample sort of jumps (partly due to the vocals from the original sample beginning to come in “Sept…”) and abruptly slams into the verse and / or the main melody. When I first heard that I started the joint over. I thought my iPhone was buggin’ out a bit. Still in all, and despite this small imperfection, the overall composition is fresh. Nice touch to allow Dirty to spit A Cappella at the end. “I’m the Pope in this game, so dope in this game, when nothing else is left I’m the hope in this game.”

All in all, Carolina Dirty’s “New Girl In Town” Ep shows us a couple of things… 1) she is no punk on the lyrics / delivery, and 2) she made a damn good decision to re-enter the rap game now. I’d put her in a lane with the likes of Bahamadia and Jean Grae for the shear lyricism she displays. I’d fore warn that she is raw with it though. Sort of reminiscent of that “Real Sh!t” attitude of Hurricane G (for those of us that are seasoned enough to make the connection). The long and short of it? This is a real female emcee, no chaser.

If there is any truth to the chorus of the title track “She was just passing through but if things work out she’s gonna stay…” I’d say she’ll be around for a good while. I’m looking forward to her full length project which is slated for release later this year.

For more on Carolina Dirty stay tuned to her profile on Hip NOTT Records or catch up with her on Twitter (@carolina_dirty) and facebook at facebook.com/Carolinadirty.

 

 

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