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Betty Boo If you're interested in the idea of a British woman (half Malaysian, half Scottish) who raps over dance/hip hop tracks flavored with 50's/60s rock licks, and occasionally sings too, Betty Boo is the artist for you. I'll say for her that she doesn't pretend to be black, filling her rhymes with white UK dialect, and she has a real good ear for melodic and rhythmic hooks. I occasionally hear rumors about a new album but haven't seen anything yet. Betty Boo hasn't done much in the States, but she was huge in the UK, and there are several pages dedicated to her. Here's the best one I've seen. (DBW) Boomania (1990) Most songs here follow Boo's girl-group-meets-hip-hop formula, including the hit "Hey DJ/I Can't Dance," and it works: she piles up hook on top of hook, guitar licks, piano riffs, bass lines, backing vocals, until the cauldron threatens to boil over. (This wall-of-hooks approach recalls Parliament's heyday.) The lyrics are amusing, although they're essentially typical love songs. She even succeeds with an instrumental ("Boo's Boogie") and a straight-ahead dance number that sounds almost like Paula Abdul ("24 Hours"). (DBW) Grrr! It's Betty Boo (1992) Mostly in the same mold, although it's a bit mellower ("Close The Door" is a gentle ballad that recalls Queen Latifah's "How Do I Love Thee," "Let Me Take You There" is a joyous midtempo love song). "Thing Goin' On" opens with an aching slow keyboard hook, then turns into Boo's standard dance tune; "Catch Me" is fun but ordinary dance-pop. Love done wrong continues to be a theme, on "Gave You The Boo," "Curly Girly" and "I'm On My Way," on which Boo displays her good taste: rather than sampling the Beatles' "Lady Madonna," she brings in the four musicians who played sax on the original song (including Ronnie Scott) to record the part. (DBW) Wilson & Alroy's Hip Hop Reviews  Main page   New additions   Pop: 00s  90s 80s 70s 60s 50s  Latin/Jazz   Top 20: DBW JA   E-mail