Track Listing

1. Mic Tester
2. Better Already
3. Oooh Girl
4. Mother May I? (feat. Chuck Brody)
5. Away Away
6. Good Distance
7. iluvitwhenya
8. Sucka Mofo
9. Cold War
10. Run Off The Road
11. Things I'll Do
12. Cowboy Man
13. The Three Amigas (feat. Mr.Murray Hill)
14. Fall Apart (w/ Kaki King)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #138535 in Music
• Released on: 2007-08-28
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
"Can I Keep This Pen?" pushes the limits more than anything we've recorded before in terms of what a hip hop song might sound like, what a rock song might sound like, and what Northern State might sound like. The album includes songs about our friendship ("Better Already"), our president ("Cowboy Man"), the apathy that surrounds us ("Cold War"), as well as what may be the first Northern State love song ("Away Away"). Our classic old school hip hop sound runs through the album, weaving its way through a new electro-rock current.

Spin.com, March 19, 2007
It Happened Yesterday:SXSW Four

With only twenty-minutes and about eight square feet to work with at Saturday afternoon's Redeye Distribution 10th Anniversary party, New York chick-hop unit Northern State pulled an impressive fest by wowing the heavy Austin rock contingent at the Yard Dog Gallery. Guinea Love, Sprout and Hesta Prynn brought a flawless ping-pong rhyme routine gained from compulsive touring, added local spice with a southernized "It Takes Three" and stirred in the methamphetamine-driven Ad-Rock collaboration, "Sucka Mofo" for what could be considered one of the week's most unique bread and butter boom-bap sets.-Chris Faraone

About the Artist
We are Northern State. We are pleased to announce that our new album "Can I Keep This Pen?" will be released on Ipecac Recordings this August `07.

We've been friends for a very long time. Our names are Spero, Hesta Prynn and Sprout. We grew up together in deep suburban Long Island and found ourselves living in NYC after college. We have always shared a love of music, and we especially loved hanging out and listening to hip hop off of Hesta Prynn's computer (this was before ipods even).

One night at a party at Hesta Prynn's apartment we had the idea to start a rap group. So we did.

We have now been a band for seven years. "Can I Keep This Pen?" is our third proper album, following "All City" (Columbia Records, 2004), "Dying in Stereo" (Northern State Records/Startime/Wichita UK, 2003), and our 2002 independent EP "Hip Hop You Haven't Heard", which was supposed to be our demo. We got our start playing gigs all over NYC, and in our seven years as a band we have had the good fortune of sharing the stage in the US and Europe with the Roots, Le Tigre, Talib Kweli, De La Soul, The Gossip, Gym Class Heroes, Tegan and Sara, and Cake.

After "All City" was released, we became increasingly frustrated with the Columbia/SONY machine and left the label. Finally free, we teamed up with producer Chuck Brody of Shitake Monkey (Wu Tang Clan, Yoko Ono etc.) and Adrock from the Beastie Boys. We wrote a bunch of new songs and did an unprecedented amount of singing. We were fortunate to have some talented friends like Mr. Murray Hill, Kaki King, and Katie Cassidy stop by and play on the album. And we are no longer allowed to hold "writing meetings" at the Rodeo bar.

One day we felt like our album was finished, and we named it "Can I Keep This Pen?"

"Can I Keep This Pen?" pushes the limits more than anything we've recorded before in terms of what a hip hop song might sound like, what a rock song might sound like, and what Northern State might sound like. The album includes songs about our friendship ("Better Already"), our president ("Cowboy Man"), the apathy that surrounds us ("Cold War"), as well as what may be the first Northern State love song ("Away Away"). Our classic old school hip hop sound runs through the album, weaving its way through a new electro-rock current.

Mike Patton and Greg at Ipecac heard the new record and loved it and we are thrilled to finally be working with a label that encourages us to be as weird as we are.

Oh, I'm sorry..Can I Keep This Pen?

Customer Reviews

These super-white chicks can rap!
Musically, I liked NS right away but it took awhile for me to aclimate myself to their style of rapping. Eventually the music won me over and I bought the cd. I know they hate being compared to the Beastie Boys, but I'd say they sound like a cross between them and the Go-Go's.

best female hip hop artists
These three women are probably the most talented hip hop artists out there right now. Their lyrics are incredible, and they write all their own stuff. The drum beats are really tight. They do everything on their own: set up their own stage, sell their own merch, get their own gigs. I am totally impressed by these talented women. Buy this CD, if you like women's group, and or hip hop music, you will not be disappointed at all. They are very underrated.

Nancy Nickle
Catz Go Round Records, LLC

Excellent Hip-Hop from the Long Island Crew
"Can I Borrow This Pen?" is the third album from Long Island-based hip hop trio Northern State. Spero, Hesta Prynn and Sprout kick rhymes with a throwback 1980's style cadence, about the standard subjects of dissing sucker MCs who come their way, but they also kick game about romance and touch on social commentary from a woman's point of view.

The group is largely self-produced, though Beastie Boy King Ad-Rock contributes beats for two songs. The music is mainly heavy on beats and bass, with some rock guitars thrown in here and there; on a few songs the ladies do some straight-up singing, but here it makes sense instead of sounding out of place.

There is a shameful dearth of female performers in hip-hop, let alone female-centered groups in the genre. Northern State hold it down for Golden Age standards, when lady rappers didn't have to be gangster-chicks to get respect on the mic.

Unfortunately, "alternative rap" and most genre artists from the indie world tend to get zero airplay on urban radio; it would be wonderful if songs from this album were pushed on hip-hop radio, as more diversity (thematic, gender, and, yes, racial) in playlists is desperately needed.