There's a new genre hitting the mainstream: White Girl Electro-Party-Rap. Ke$ha gets the credit for introducing it to Pop radio, though it may not have been able to get there without the fair amount of tween buzz created around critically-loathed White Girl Electro-Party-Rap trio Millionaires. The lyrics, which usually have a flow so simple it approaches self-parody, circle around going to the club, dancing, getting trashed, having sex (or withholding it), etc.

What's making this music popular? Part of its appeal is that it's Club music talking about the club experience. When you hear it played in nightclubs, you instantly relate. It's fun music, easy to dance to. The Pop hooks and choruses are catchy, because they're simple and repetitive. And the girl power angle is strong; the woman is always confident, always in control. From a feminist perspective, it's a reversal of the familiar male rapper trope of boastful misogyny. And the guys like it because the lyrics are provocative and confidence is just plain sexy.

In 2006, years before White Girl Electro-Party-Rap broke through to the mainstream, one white female MC was granting legitimacy to the genre in the Club scene: Uffie. Uffie, born Anna-Catherine Hartley in 1987, spent her childhood in the States and in Hong Kong. She visited her father in Paris at age 15, fell in love with the city and the European lifestyle, and turned the visit into a permanent stay.

While studying in Paris, Uffie met DJ Feadz, who convinced her to try her hand at music. He made the beats, she put down the rhymes, and the rest was history. In an interview with 3D.com.au, she speaks of her unique lyrical style: "I’ve never had any musical training. I don’t know how to sing properly. I think that’s why it sounds a bit more like hip hop, ’cause it’s more speaking than singing.”

In the lyrics of her first single, "Pop the Glock," the young MC mocks her stilted flow with the line "Sound like Twista/ Fast as hell." In 2006, "Pop the Glock" blew up on MySpace and took over the club circuit in France. The hit track won her the attention of the head of French Electro record label Ed Banger Records, home to artists like Justice and Mr. Oizo. He approached Uffie with a recording contract. Recognizing this as a major opportunity, Uffie dropped out of school, where she was studying fashion design, and signed to the label.

Later that year, Uffie released two EPs, Pop the Glock/Ready to Uff and Hot Chick/In Charge. The singles off these EPs continued to build Uffie's following in the underground. She followed this up with a third EP, Suited and Looted, in 2007. The MC also did a guest spot on Justice's debut album, on the single "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy." Some critics say that Ke$ha's hit single, "TiK ToK," is just a rip-off of this track.

In 2009, Uffie re-released Pop the Glock as an EP featuring remixes of the track, and after three years, her first hit song finally received the music video treatment. In January of 2010, she dropped the MC's Can Kiss EP, which featured production by Mr. Oizo. The track "MC's Can Kiss" is strongly influenced by old school Hip-Hop.

So far, Uffie has only released EPs, but that's about to change. In Spring 2010, Uffie will put out her full-length debut, Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans, an album which has been hinted at ever since 2006. The record will feature appearances from the prolific Pharrell Williams and Dance Punk band The Rapture's Matt Safer. Accompanying DJ Feadz in the booth are producers Mr. Oizo, SebastiAn, and Mirwais (known for his work on many of Madonna's albums). Uffie has said that she'll be doing some singing on the record along with the usual rapping, and that the tracks will have a more mature feel to them.

Uffie has been building her international online fan base for years, and this new release might just catapult her into the mainstream. Will you have White Girl Electro-Party-Rap on your iPod n 2010?

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