Princess Superstar!
Princess Superstar may quite possibly be the hardest working Homo sapien in music.
For the past eight years, the Princess, also known simply as Concetta Kirschner, has kept herself busy recording five albums of various styles as well as remaining the most fashionable person alive (sorry, P. Diddy). Princess Superstar’s latest project, djs are not rockstars may seem like a jump to some, but upon further inspection it becomes perfectly natural.
Kirschner started her musical adventures by looping and splicing tape samples in her apartment in New York, producing homemade cassettes with titles such as Mitch Better Have My Bunny.
Eventually, record labels came calling and she released her first proper album titled Strictly Platinum in 1995, which was a bold mixture of live band instrumentation, MCing, tape loops, and samples varying from Terminator X to Fugazi. Her next album, 1997’s CEO, saw more or less the departure of the live band and centered more on hip-hop and DJ influences, with Superstar’s raps becoming more and more creative.
Her third album, Last of the Great 20th Century Composers, once again went in a whole different direction, this time creating a concept album of sorts concerning robots and a post-apocalyptic future that sounded more like an electro album than anything.
In 2001, her fourth album, Princess Superstar Is …, appeared to signal that perhaps Kirschner had finally narrowed down her musical scope, churning out one of the most underrated hip-hop albums in years.
Just when you thought she had settled on being a superb hip-hop producer/MC, this year Princess Superstar has decided to remind the world that she is still a master of her first love, putting two songs by two distinct artists (such as the Beatles and Trina) together and seeing what happens. After producing the underground CD Princess Superstar Mixes Your Life,” which is full of these concoctions, she decided to take the act on tour. The ever-fashionable Princess hooked up with DJ Alexander Technique and djs are not rockstars was born. The two DJs bring four turntables and a bevy of records to their shows and apparently mix a whole bunch of stuff together (duh).
It’s nothing completely original, but it is definitely an important and logical step for Princess Superstar and her ever-growing amount of titles. If she was already an MC, a producer, a record label CEO (of her own independent Corrupt Conglomerate) and a princess, how could she not add superstar DJ to the list?
Whether or not Princess will perform any of her hip-hop material is a mystery, but what is known is that the Superstar knows how to rock a crowd.
On her last visit to Portland, in support of Princess Superstar Is …, she gave the crowd a much-needed encore and even stuck around to speak to every last person.
Who says a CEO can’t have some people skills? So don’t miss out on one of the most undervalued talents in music today and find out just why DJs are not rockstars. Please, whatever you do, don’t call her the female Eminem, the white Lil’ Kim, or ask her who writes her lyrics. That’s just stupid.
