When I was getting my usual dose of news from BBC, I read that Lilly Allen was third in the list of coolest women in music according to NME which is funny because she gives a very angry statement about it in a her blog page.

I was happy to see the article in BBC because I hadn't known her name. I had seen her video SMILE on MTV Base but hadn't registered the name. I loved the song from the first time I heard it because I think it is a hilarious account of joy that you feel when you see someone who has hurt you go through a trouble time, something I'm sure a lot of us has gone through. The chorus goes: At first, when I see you cry, it makes me smile, yeah it makes me smile/at worst, I'd feel bad for a while, but then I just smile.

Since I enjoyed the song smile I'd thought I'd check out some of her other tracks and since the album is not out yet in Botswana, I went through Google to see if I can hear some of her tracks online (which is why I'm so grateful for the Internet). I managed to hear a few and I loved all of them. Her sound of laid back reggae sound with pop and garage underlined with cheeky lyrics is fantastic. The critics call her sound Ska which is what's popular in Britain at the moment with bands like The Streets and Arctic Monkeys. The Streets is one of the bands that I also enjoy even though Mike Skinner's 'rapping' could pince the nervous a bit.

The other track that I heard was 'Alfie' a song which sounds like there was a big brass band that was commissioned to be on with a sample from an old French children's song. The song is about her younger brother and I read that her brother throw out her laptop out of the window because he was pissed about it. Which is something you would understand after hearing the song as she goes on about how's his a twat and won't get laid if he doesn't stop playing TV games.

She also does a great cover of Kaiser Chiefs song 'Oh my god'. I can see why NME named her in the coolest list because her sound is so refreshing compared to what's out there in pop now days. To me British music has always been a trendsetter because they are never afraid to be original with their sounds which in the end everyone else follows. Case in point, M.I.A who's sounds got everyone talking and now artists like Fergie and Gwen are embellishing the sound.

If you are from Botswana or Africa for that matter and have no idea who I'm talking about, you can check out her music webpage and her myspace.