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Public Warning [PA]

Lady Sovereign
1 disc

1. 9 to 5 - (remix)
2. Gatheration
3. Random
4. Public Warning
5. Love Me or Hate Me
6. My England
7. Tango
8. Little Bit of Shhh, A
9. Hoodie - (remix)
10. Those Were the Days
11. Blah Blah
12. Fiddle with the Volume
13. Love Me or Hate Me - (Remix, remix)
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 7625
Credits

Producer Menta; Steve Osborne; Basement Jaxx; Dante Ross
Engineer Josh Eilbur; Steve Osborne; Josh Wilbur
Personnel: Gabriel Olegavich (guitar, synthesizer, drums); Jonas Jalhay, Edmund Cavill (guitar); Jamie Teasedale (synthesizer); Mikey Cusik (bass guitar); Nathan "Tugg" Curran (drums); Basement Jaxx (programming); Adam "DJ Am" Goldstein (scratches).
Audio Mixers: Tom Elmhirst; Adam Pendse; Mark Needham; Serban Ghenea.
Recording information: Atlantic Jaxx; Eden Studios, London, England; Right Track Studios, New York, NY; Sweat Shop Studios; The Dairy, London, England.
Photographer: Nichell Delvaille.
Alongside Dizzy Rascal and the Streets, Lady Sovereign is among the most hyped hip-hop acts to emerge from the U.K. in the 2000s. Thankfully, neither the hype machine nor her high-profile recording deal with Def Jam blunt any of the thrilling impact or power of PUBLIC WARNING, the artist's 2006 full-length debut. In large part this is because Sovereign doesn't water down her grime roots for crossover appeal. She never lets up on her wild, hard-fast rhyme style, lessens the battery of working class Brit slang, or works with anyone but her spectacular long-time producer Medasyn.
This is not to say PUBLIC WARNING isn't accessible. The album is packed with hooks, from the carnival-Bollywood bounce of opener "9 to 5" to the giddy sing-along on the chorus of "Hoodie," the album's first single. In fact, the disc strikes a near perfect balance between delicious, pleasure-giving production and the unadulterated spirit of underground hip-hop, elevating both in the process for a set that's purely creative and individual. PUBLIC WARNING sets its own terms, and in doing so outdistances any hip-hop release of 2006.
Critic Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.70) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[Her voice] ensures that her strongest songs have a gloss of novelty, from the playfully rowdy 'Random' to the fits-and-starts wordplay of 'A Little Bit of Shhh'."
Rolling Stone (p.109) - Ranked #48 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "[C]ompletely lovable..."
Spin (p.101) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The production, mostly by U.K. crony Medasyn, mixes heavy bass wobbles, video game bleeps, '80s ska rewinds and even some jazzy hip-hop."
Spin (p.60) - Ranked #15 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "[H]er scrappy, sharp-tongued flow, paired with brilliant sidewalk-boom-box beats, masters Jay-Z's rule of empire..."
Entertainment Weekly (p.76) - "[The] rapper's rubbery rhymes and punky energy are definitely entertaining and well worth sampling..." -- Grade: B
Q (p.111) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Louise Harman's tongue-twisting way with rhyme, delivered in a transatlantic twang ensures she is truly multinational."
Uncut (p.91) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's the grimy older anthems like 'Random' and 'Blah Blah' that stand out."
CMJ (p.39) - "WARNING hardly takes a breath....No filler, no excess..."
Vibe (p.156) - "Lady Sovereign combines the digitized, dancehall-driven flavor of Britain's grime scene with the sinuous swagger of stateside rap."