Mis-Teeq
Mis-Teeq: Greatest Hits

THE REVIEW

When the Hip-Hop/R&B trend of American origin, that sugary and less "dirty" of the MCs, once the relentless ruler of charts and nightclubs, crosses the turbulent Atlantic Ocean and lands in the Old Continent, all sorts of things happen. And all kinds of sounds. In particular, the female quotient of the mainstream gangsta, spicy, skimpy and attractive, takes on, in European lands, more specifically British, the eclecticism and cunning alternative cultivated in the gardens of various Majesties and Crowns: Eclecticism and cunning thus multiplied in girl-groups, perhaps of short duration, maybe not as significant as Beyoncé & co, yet worthy of even a brief mention.

The story of the English group Mis-Teeq does not differ much from the biographies of compatriots like All Saints: a female formation born in the underground turmoil of the island, blooming with the rise of late millennium teen bands, with few studio works to their credit, a decent pile of successful tracks, early disbandment, end of performances. Their debut in 1999 with the single Why? and with the album Lickin' On Both Sides two years later (and one member less), both received with favorable reviews and substantial sales, was followed by Eye Candy and the super-hit Scandalous, a track that even reached the American Billboard (and got the otherwise dull local music scene moving). The adventure of the three Mis-Teeq (Su-Elise Nash, Sabrina Washington, and the leader Alesha Dixon) didn't take long to end, with the curtain falling with the Greatest Hits of 2005, a quick replay over a few years on the Union Flag charts (and beyond).

Even with only two studio albums to revisit and thus few tracks available, the only Mis-Teeq collection manages to delve perfectly into what was the brief production of the trio, capturing all its facets. Besides the aforementioned Why?, an interesting trip-hip hop combination, and Scandalous, a sexy and indulgent dancy track, noteworthy are the garage-urban influences in My Song, the playful R&B of Style, the club-rap dynamics of Just For You and All I Want, as well as the synth gangsta-naughty tones of One Night Stand and Best Friends.

It's sad to listen to compilations and greatest hits of artists and groups already dead and gone (even though an imminent reunion for Mis-Teeq seems near) knowing you can't bypass the unfair curtain they let fall. Yet a handful of beautiful songs remain, perhaps without pretensions and ambitions of grandeur, still significant in consulting even just a few pages of the great book of pop, which remains incomplete and left to be written by the new and highly ambitious generations of the idyllic and pleasant commercial-recording welfare.

Mis-Teeq, Mis-Teeq: Greatest Hits

Scandalous - My Song - All I Want - All In One Day - Can't Get It Back - How Does It Feel - Best Friends - Why? - Just For You - Style - B With Me - Home Tonight - Roll On - One Night Stand - Shoo Shoo Baby.