Hey Lil Mama.

Lil Mama's persona sort of troubles me. She has this very calculated, exaggerated style that should be reminiscent of M.I.A. and Agyness Deyn. But M.I.A. and Agyness do the cartoonish-neon-80's-hipster look with a strong sense of irony. That's what makes their style cool and influential. Whereas Lil Mama is attempting a similar look, but she doesn't appear to have any sense of irony about it. And how can anyone possibly pull off an intentionally ridiculous look without having a sense of humor about themselves? (Well...Flavor Flav sort of does, but that's different.) I mean maybe I'm totally wrong about Lil Mama, but I always get the impression that she actually takes herself really seriously. It's like she looks in the mirror and just says to herself, "Damn, this outfit is poppin'," without laughing at herself a little bit at the same time. I find it very disconcerting.