Lily Allen

Anyone into British music with a big beat, a la Gorillaz, is set to fall in love with the music of London cutie Lily Allen. Considered one of the U.K.'s top artists, alongside Coldplay and Robbie Williams, Allen will drop her debut album, Allright, Still, in the U.S. in just a few months. Already, the 21 year-old Allen has played a couple of sold-out shows in the U.S. promoting her digital-only Smile EP, to widespread acclaim from bloggers and music critics alike.

Equal parts cute and feisty, Allen owes her seemingly overnight fame to her good sense and great talents rather than to any record label’s marketing efforts. Unlike other musicians who became Internet-famous before even releasing an album – e.g., Clap Your Hands Say Yeah or Arctic Monkeys – Allen already had a record deal when the demos on her MySpace page started to blow up on the blogosphere. After proving to her label that her songs were ready for public consumption – and did not need additional polishing from any hot sh*t producer – her first single, Smile, immediately landed at number one on the British charts when it was released last summer.

With a very cool-sounding record that mixes soulful reggae samples with swanky R&B rhythms, Allen may have produced one of the most refreshing pop albums in years. Even when her lyrics are all about the boyfriend break-up, Allen's sassy delivery makes each bubblegum explosion snap like loose electrical wires. It’s a warm, bratty attitude with the same cosmopolitan vibe that has made Lady Sovereign and M.I.A. commercial successes. Just catch the first minute of her video for LDN and you'll know why she's both entitled the positive press and the wise-ass stance she strikes with such seductive confidence.

You can get a taste of what Lily Allen's world of sound is like when you download the two free mixtapes available on her official webpage. While you're there, don't miss the lyrics and staccato breakbeat and rollicking piano line on "Knock Em Out".