Lady Sovereign w/ Chester French

In 2006, Lady Sovereign was set to be what M.I.A. would eventually become, a club rap superstar, but for all the early hype, her Def Jam debut, Public Warning, met with only lukewarm reviews and interest. The label booted her shortly after its release, which may have been a smart decision, given the downright frosty reviews of Sovereign’s latest, Jigsaw. So far the similarly hyped Chester French has avoided that kind of backlash. The hip-pop duo, which includes one-time Milwaukeean D.A. Wallach, reportedly incited a bidding war between rap moguls before being signed to Pharrell Williams’ Star Trak label, where they delivered with a strong showing of their debut album’s first single, “She Loves Everybody.”