Irish
Spring
Dublin-born Samantha
Mumba leaps to stardom
By CHRISOTPHER JOHN FARLEY
Teen
pop queens of late have been manufactured in a dispiritingly
limited variety: blond and blonder, bland and blander. Samantha
Mumba, 17, is a refreshing change. Born in Dublin to a Zambian
father and an Irish mother, she's already a star in Europe,
and her first single, the winsome Gotta Tell You, has entered
the Top 10 in the U.S. Irish acts have long drawn on American
R. and B. for inspiration. Now the Emerald Isle is sharing
some of the soul it borrowed, and American pop could use it.
On Mumba's debut CD, Gotta Tell You (Interscope), she speaks
the international language of pop, offering up playful lyrics,
curvaceous grooves and production as smooth as newly printed
bills. One of the best tracks, Body II Body, wriggles and
sweats like two teens making out in the backseat of a small
car (it also features a smartly chosen sample from David Bowie's
Ashes to Ashes). Mumba's music is ear candy: it crunches,
it bubbles, it melts in the mouth. Her vernal personality
(she co-wrote seven of the 12 songs) is what gives her CD
lasting flavor. She's soulful but never oversings her material;
youthful but never comes off as childish. Growing up as a
woman of African descent in Ireland, Mumba says, "I never
felt different. There's been a little twang of racism recently,
because all of a sudden a lot of [Third World] refugees have
come to Dublin, and it has been very hard for Ireland to adjust.
But people are getting used to it now." Mumba's own adjustment,
from relative unknown to international pop star, should be
no problem at all.
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November 27,
2000 | NO. 47
U
N I T E D S T A T E S
COVER:
One Nation, Under Chad
In the murkiness of Florida, amid bickering about bits of paper, will
the next President be decided in the margins of error?
THE
CANDIDATES: Tales from the War Rooms
The inside story of the battles to take the White House
VIEWPOINT:
Will Defeat Be Good for the Democrats?
Jeff Greenfield speculates on political expediency
THE
COURTS: Where Will It All End?
Adam Cohen on judges, briefs and supreme decisions
VOTING:
A Map for the Electoral Labyrinth
Richard Lacayo on the morass-and ways to get out of it
S
O U T H P A C I F I C
INDONESIA:
Trouble on the Border
The first pictures from a West Papuan separatist training camp
Viewpoint:
The rebels' presence in P.N.G. could hurt Australia
T
H E A R T S
BOOKS:
Frank Moorhouse
brings his lively League of Nations chronicle to a close
Barbara Kingsolver
returns to her roots
CINEMA:
Girlfight's Michelle Rodriguez, a knockout talent
MUSIC:
The rich afterlife of Everlast Soul Sister Mumba One
TRAVELER'S
ADVISORY
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