Speech DeBelle is a British MC, and a female...so those two things will probably mean that she'll never really hit in the states as anything more than a gimmick, or will be compared unjustly to Lady Sovereign (because she's the only other British female MC most folks could name). And for better or worse, Ms. DeBelle won't hit as a gimmick, because there is nothing in her music that could be seen as anything other than real, and that doesn't play well among the irony set.
"The Key" - Speech Debelle
Her debut is titled Speech Therapy, which is apt, because her name is Speech and she's getting a lot stuff off her chest with this album. Lyrically, it is some of the realest shit I've heard all year, and pretty much every cut is on point.
The closest sonic analogy would be Digable Planets...mostly on the clean, organic jazz backing sounds, but that still doesn't do her justice.
I've got to admit, one of the reasons this album struck me was because it is so completely different, and so refreshing. I've gotten jaded with hip hop lately. If it's not trite top 40 noise, then its cookie cutter underground where local heads with fruity loops do their best 9th Wonder impression while some cat spits about how we need to take back the art from commercial interests. Or it's some synth heavy, ironic party track that trivializes everyone involved. The whole game isn't like that, but if you follow hip hop then you might feel where I'm coming from - sometimes it feels that way.
Speech is on some other shit. Her verses would be incredible spoken word pieces if their weren't beats behind her. Her wordplay is clever, her verses are tight, and there are some lines that will make you check yourself real quick.
She doesn't sound very old, but her music is grown-up.
"Where Do We Go?" - Speech DeBelle
I'm a little late posting this, the album dropped June 1, but you should go buy it because if you like these two tracks, the rest of the album won't disappoint.
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