I heart Kid Sister. The burgeoning Chicago rapstress has gone from underground upstart to the next face of inner city pop in record time. As part of the new Chi-town scene alongside the likes of the Cool Kids and DJ duo Flosstradamus (featuring Kid Sis’s little brother J2K), the girl born Melissa Young has in three short years elevated her game tremendously.

Seeing her perform at SXSW this year, imagine my excited surprise when L.A. rap legend Ice Cube rolled in with a posse. Cube and his crew posted up right next to me, watched Kid Sister do her set, and then promptly left. So don’t you be surprised if she pops up in one of the revenue-generating family films that Cube’s been making lately.

At this year’s Coachella, Kid Sister showed that she’s definitely ready for prime time. With a supporting trio of prepubescent girl dancers in brightly colored dresses and her man DJ A-Trak on the turntables, she put on a crowd-moving show that’s already transcended any kind of ‘hipsterism’ and is ready to carve out a genuine career in the merciless music industry.

Running through tunes like “Beeper” and her hit “Pro Nails, Kid Sis simply knocked it out of the park. Possibly one of the sleeper sets of Coachella ’08. Get to know her now before you have to hear Ryan Seacrest tell you about it later.

—Scott T. Sterling 

(Photo by Spencer Weiner / LAT)

OK, it’s officially time to call bullsh*t on this whole “tradition” of having huge artists play in the relatively small “Sahara Tent” at Coachella.

As a huge M.I.A. fan, I was amped to see her show and prove why she’s one of the most exciting and innovative artists working in music today. But after having seen the giant crowd overflowing the Sahara for Hot Chip’s dance-tastic set earlier in the day, I started to worry. Would I be able to get a glimpse of M.I.A.’s roof-raising world party? Sadly, the answer was all Whitney Houston: “Oh hell to the no.”

By the time she took the stage, the crowd spilling out of the tent on all sides was packed as far back as the gate. Pushing to at least get a sightline of the stage, all that could be seen were countless heads and M.I.A.’s color-explosive visuals on the big screens. I waited for shots of M.I.A. to grace the screens that never came. Two songs in (which sounded great, by the way), and it became clear that there would be no footage of the actual performance on the screens. So not only was I stuck back by a gate, but I couldn’t even watch on the big screen. And it sucked. Big time. 

It’s really a bummer for all of the M.I.A. fans (of which there are obviously many) to not get to see ol’ girl at all, even in video form. For those close enough to see, it was a tough trade-off, as the overstuffed tent gave way to lots of pushing and shoving, girls getting roughed up, and security eventually turning on the house lights in an attempt to quell the madness. Not exactly my idea of a good time.

Eventually shuffling over to the Outdoor Stage to at least see Mark Ronson's soul revue, I was able to console myself with a sweet new M.I.A. t-shirt at the merch stand. But what would really make things better would be if an L.A. concert promoter would book Miss Thing for a proper date sooner than later. You know, the kind where you can actually see the act perform. Please and thank you. In the meantime, I’ll just cue up “Bamboo Banga” again, and imagine what could have been…

— Scott T. Sterling

(Photo credit: AP/Chris Pizzello)

Doesn't anybody remember laughter? Prince certainly does. He had to be laughing as he whipped out an extended, atmospheric take on Radiohead's "Creep" towards the end of his epic closing set Saturday night. With so many people grumbling about the absence of Johnny Greenwood and the gang at this soiree, it was a daft move that was totally hilarious.

Well, his set was epic for true Prince fans, anyway. Opening with a one-two double-banger of classics by the Time, complete with Morris Day on vocals, they flipped it into an elastic workout of "Glamorous Life," with Sheila E manning the timbales and microphone on the '80s gem.

Moving through various eras with ease, he ran through fan favorites like "Seven," "Controversy" and "I Feel For You," an early single that was made famous when Chaka Khan remade it back in the day.

Of course, he pulled out big guns like "1999" and "Little Red Corvette," saving "Purple Rain" and "Let's Go Crazy" to end the show. Being Prince, he had to have his moments, like an anti-war jam on "Come Together" by the Beatles. The was also quite the guitar solo over a loose take on the B-52's "Rock Lobster."

But really, we should just be talking about the fact that instead of selling t-shirts at the merch stand, Prince had glossy embossed tambourines. That's just pimp game right there. 

Altogether, the single greatest performance in Coachella history. 

—Scott T. Sterling