The history of US R&B girl groups is a proud, storied one – but since the disbanding of Destiny's Child midway through the decade to permit Beyoncé Knowles to pursue her own solo destiny, there has been a vacancy in the ranks. This year, though, saw the emergence of a four-piece group who teamed with R&B's producer-of-the-moment, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, in an attempt to resurrect the form.
The-Dream – the man behind Rihanna's Umbrella and Beyoncé's Single Ladies, and a recording artist in his own right – is the Prince to Electrik Red's Vanity 6, though, crucially, they do not fulfil any stereotype of puppets beholden to a male svengali. The-Dream admitted the four women "bullied" him into making the album that they felt best represented them, and an early Darkchild-helmed false start, 2006's sultry Electrik City single, confirms that the Electrik Red aesthetic predates their hooking up with The-Dream.
How to Be a Lady: Volume 1 is a fully-formed and magnificently executed vision – of love, of sex – set to beats that thrill and seduce in equal measure, and sung with an unabashed confidence. Electrik Red's parentage is easy to trace, but they build on and push forward the traits they have inherited from previous generations of black female pop – the straight-talking righteousness of TLC, the eccentric adventurousness of Kelis, the aggressive sexuality of Lil' Kim – in such a way that their concerns seem totally fresh. They treat sexual and social mores with playful ease: their lyrics are often hilarious, endlessly quotable and knowingly outrageous, and they delight in pulling the rug from under the listener's feet by constantly switching their line of attack.
Opener Muah sets out their stall, effectively acting as the Electrik Red manifesto: "I'm not a freak, I'm not a nasty ho/ Well I'm lyin', but I'm classy though," states the group's terrifyingly ferocious rapper, Kendra "Binkie" Reevey, over an abstract cloud of synths. Across the album, they curse with relish, strut like supermodels, booze like sailors and demand both respect and money, all while mocking a paramour's skinny jeans – but they're not above swooning, sighing or pledging devotion either, though their devotion has to be earned: "Little boy! It's gon' take more than game – to get me to change my name!" The adept way in which Electrik Red pull off both swaggering as though they are the toughest of rappers and crooning the sweetest love songs means masculine/feminine and dominant/submissive divides feel reductive and simplistic.
They bring the full spectrum of emotions to brilliant life – helped by The-Dream having bestowed some of his most inventive, irresistible beats on them. How to Be a Lady is a riot sonically. Take Freaky Freaky, which erodes completely the distinction between club joint and slow jam: as that distinction crumbles, so too do the singers' defences amid swells of voluptuous synths and the tender sensuality of the lyrics. Even as its middle eight winds down, it manages to amaze, with the beat dropping out to allow Electrik Red to harmonise a dawn chorus.
Elsewhere, So Good captures the pure, sensual pleasure of giving into a crush – and finding yourself suddenly unable to get out of it. "I thought I wouldn't really give a fuck, but now a bitch all in love," they sigh, their harmonies curling around the expletives as though savouring their taste. Drink in My Cup stands as 2009's finest drinking song, its vertiginous, woozy synths and shot-downing chants capture the sound of being wasted in a club in the early hours.
Despite the richness of their hooks, their sounds and their harmonies, the world has failed to take Electrik Red to its heart; How to Be a Lady has had only moderate success in the US, and is only available in the UK as an import. Given Electrik Red's commitment to pushing the girl group form further and harder than anyone else, that is not necessarily a surprise. Regardless of whether the world is ready for Electrik Red, though, the power and vitality of their debut proves them ready to take on the world; and How to Be a Lady stands on its own two feet as one of the most essential R&B albums of the decade.
