Hot Tracks PALOMA FAITH

I don't really feel that I'm of this time," says British singer Paloma Faith, who brings a mad splash of color and pizzazz to the current music scene. "I don't connect much with the present. I have more of an affinity for what came in the past." The London native has been compared to Amy Winehouse and called "the next Adele," but Faith's timeless singing style actually has more in common with the brazen drama of Shirley Bassey and the emotional delivery of Etta James. She eschews the "neo-soul" label that gets put on her, and says, "I think soul is soul. I don't see new soul as any different to old soul. I tend to think of music in terms of old R&B, and soul is definitely more old-fashioned, which is what I am."

Faith is a former theater-design student, dancer, and magician's assistant. She's performed with Prince and co-starred with Tom Waits in the Terry Gilliam movie The Imcigincirium of Doctor Parnassus. She describes herself as a "massive film fan"—particularly of directors Federico Fellini and Wong Kar PALOMA Wai—and says she k watched at least three or four movies every week while recording her latest album, Fall to Grace. That album entered the U.K. charts at No. 2 and stayed in the Top 20 for five months. Next month, when Faith comes to the U.S. for a multi-city tour, she'll sing her big, gospel-influenced ballads as well as understated songs about heartbreak and hope. On display too will be her trademark glamorous, vintage fashion style. "I've always dressed this way," says Faith. "It's something innate in me. Before I was in the public eye, I would constantly dress up all day, every day. Part of my ritual every night before I went to bed would be to plan what I was going to wear the next day." Well versed in the fashions of 1980s British club kids as well as fetish-club habitues, she finds it odd that Americans think the Brits are even the slightest bit repressed. "When you walk around the streets of London," she says, "there's always been a real acceptance, freedom, and expression in terms of clothing and style. It's celebrated in British culture to be eccentric. Especially when you're around people who come from a long line of wealth; they're all absolutely crazy. It's wonderful."

When Faith carried the Olympic torch for England last summer, she ran through the streets of London wearing a tracksuit and red patent leather, six-inch stiletto heels. While running in heels is not yet an Olympic sport, Faith says for her, "that was nothing strange. I always ran for buses wearing them."

LISA ROBINSON

Rap music—originally the domain of the outsider and the outrageous—has long since been a staple item in the world of pop. But every so often, someone comes along and shakes things up. Fifteen years ago, producer Dr. Dre signed Eminem to his Aftermath label. Now, Dre's newest protege is the 25-year-old Compton, California, native Kendrick Lamar—who was introduced to Dre by Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg. Lamar's critically acclaimed, socially conscious album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, entered the charts at No. 2, and has been hailed as the most dazzling major-label rap debut of the last two decades. In addition to appearances on that abum from Dr. Dre and Drake, Lamar has collaborated with his friend and fan Lady Gaga. (Because Lamar's album was released several weeks after eligibility for this year's Grammys, it won't get its inevitable nominations until next year.)

Today's rap scene is an incestuous one in general: everyone produces tracks or guest-stars on other artists' albums. Adam Levine, Eminem, Alicia Keys, and Dr. Dre all show up on 50 Cent's new Street King Immortal, and Usher,

Kelly Rowland, and EDM star D.J. David Guetta will be heard on Ludaversal, the new one from Ludacris. —L.R.

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