Sadly, when many people think of Ukraine, one of the first things that comes to mind is prostitution - along with Moldova the country is Europe's leading exporter of exploited women. Yet, as the government runs constant TV and press campaigns reminding the nation that "lyudna ne tovar'" (people are not merchandise), one girl seems actively determined to keep putting the "ho" in "hohol".

Katya "Stereoliza" Shalayeva appears to have learned English primarily from Foxy Brown and Lil' Kim records much in the way that Japanese children were reported to have picked it up from John Wayne films in the 1950s. Although the tunes on her debut album X-amine Your Zippa are good on their own, half the pleasure comes from her idiosyncratic use of language, whether gloriously stating "i radiate pomp" on Rough or asking "sweet fucking Jesus, who's the dirty bitch man?" with heavy accent on the scatological and ridiculously addictive X.Y.Z. The latter was a bit of a breakthrough hit in Poland, although you can imagine daytime airplay might have been limited.


Stereoliza - Rough

Stereoliza - X.Y.Z