Music Review: Amanda Blank, “I Love You”

Posted by staticblog

on August 11, 2009M at 3:00 pm

Rating: 51
Philadelphia rapper Amanda Blank became buzzed-about thanks to her light-speed lyrical flow and taste for ultra-filthy rhymes, but after popping up on influential compilations and collaborations, Blank’s debut disc, “I Love You,” sounds curiously been-there, heard that. This is not a matter of hype and expectations capsizing a project — most of Blank’s first album simply sounds like extraneous tracks that didn’t make the cut on the latest M.I.A. or Santigold discs.

This comparison is due in part to Blank’s collaboration strategy. Her work on “I Love You” with frequent M.I.A. and Santigold mixers Diplo and Switch means Blank tracks such as “Something Bigger, Something Better,” with its gun-magazine samples and laser-gun effects, sound like pale imitations. On “Gimme What You Got,” featuring Spank Rock, Blank’s growl and flow makes her sound like a less frenetic version of underground rapper Princess Superstar — there’s plenty of emulation and precious little originality on display.

To that end, Blank scores one of her few surprises with a cover of “Make-Up,” a Prince song that appeared on Vanity 6′s self-titled 1982 album. Blank gels with the robotic sexuality of that track, and finishes “I Love You” with dreamy elegance on “Leaving You Behind,” a duet with Swedish siren Lykke Li. But the title of “I Love You” is telling: the rapper, who was born Amanda Mallory, spends too much time showing her love for other artists, ultimately presenting herself as a Blank slate.

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