Little Jackie

New York's got its fire hydrants, and Georgia's got its swimming holes, but all of us like to get wet and play in the summer. Little Jackie finds common ground by kicking some jams together with classic-sounding, '80s-veering hip-hop and R&B vibes and Southern '60s soulfulness. It's all sugary, and done well, particularly on the album's title track and its follow-up "The World Should Revolve Around Me."

Aiming for the mainstream's no bad thing, but the sunny, poppy R&B debut disc from Little Jackie–the Brooklyn duo of singer Imani Coppola and deejay/programmer/multi-instrumentalist Adam Pallin–aims a little too hard, turning away from some of the more idiosyncratic tendencies Coppola has leaned towards ever since her Donovan-sampling semi-hit "Legend of a Cowgirl" dropped a decade back. Coppola seemed to want to be the next Neneh Cherry back then, and maybe she still does a little, but the current crop of brash and "eclectic" singers like Lily Allen and Katy Perry–singers whose quirkiness seems more and more cookie-cutter by the week–allows Coppola a fine opportunity to reinsert herself into the music game.

Her considerable lyrics are playful and plentiful, but Coppola too often falls back on lazy rhymes that seem geared more towards supporting a memorable musical hook rather than creating a memorable turn of phrase. The reliance on hooks is great, but if Coppola and Pallin could've bridged that and her innate weirdness, The Stoop would've been even more successful. It's pop music, and good pop music, but it's one step shy of reaching past this summer and into future ones.

—Chris Hassiotis
10.05.08

Little Jackie is the sonic brain trust of singer/songwriter Imani Coppola and producer Adam Pallin. It's quite telling that they nabbed their name from a Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam tune called "Little Jackie Wants to Be a Star," since it's got that sense of simmering vibe, of boast and feminine grit that the best N.Y.C. music has. In fact, if there were one recording that summed up New York City in the summer of 2008, it's The Stoop. It seamlessly melds streetwise sunshine pop, funky retro-soul, old-school hip-hop, humor, poppin' poetry, in your face attitude, sensuality, and pure backbone slippin' vibe. Eleven tracks celebrate Coppola's world -- or at least her neighborhood -- from a porch stoop; but she and Pallin get infectiously tenacious, rhythmic, and sassy as hell in the process. There isn't a dumper track on the set, but a few have maximum club jump, such as"The World Revolves Around Me," where Motown-rich string samples, punky, ragged breaks, and the unforgettable existential lyrical conundrum "...I bide my time with philosophical questions/not for nothin' but what came first, the Chicken McNugget, or the Egg McMuffin?" that holds sway. There's the single with its early doo wop vibe stitched together with strings, church bells, double-layered cut-time shuffles, and a slow, decidedly low-key strutting bassline à la Duck Dunn with Coppola's truth hurts lyrics entitled "Guys Like It When Girls Kiss." This is most certainly not a novelty track but an emancipated political and Sapphic sexual anthem. That's only a pair, but there isn't a weak cut on the set despite its indulgence in hedonism, selfishness, raw sexuality, good-time smack talk, and butt shaking groove. The most amazing thing is it's all done electronically, but most of you'd never notice. Fans of the Young Rascals, Berry Gordy's empire sound, early girl group rock & roll à la Phil Spector, Stax/Volt, the Platters, and old-school female MCs will dig this and be unable to resist. Yeah, it is that good. Hippest thing about this set is that you'll be wrapping your head around the words for countless plays, and the beats for years. All killer, no filler. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide