Verse

Fresh Prince meets Saved by The Bell. That's how 21-year-old Natalia Cappuccini, aka Verse, describes her brand of feel-good hip-pop.

Born Natalia Keery-Fisher to a Jamaican father and Uruguayan mother, Cappuccini started acting at age six, appearing on several TV and radio shows in the United Kingdom, including the BBC sitcom All About Me and radio opera The Archers.

In 2005, two years after signing a deal with dance label All Around The World, the actress-turned-rapper released a single, Don't Play Nice, under the name Verbalicious. On the bravado-filled rap jam, Cappuccini sounds and looks like the Disney channel version of another petite British MC, Lady Sovereign.

Alas, Verbalicious' debut album, Don't Play Nice, Get Over It!, was shelved last year but Cappuccini bounced back by simultaneously going independent and dropping the tough-girl front. Earlier this year, she re-emerged as the friendlier Verbz – later changing her name to Verse – releasing Shopaholic and "Swagerrific," two Gwen Stefani-meets-Kid Sister tracks that had bloggers like Perez Hilton swooning.

On the very first entry of her MySpace blog, Verse is confident she's finally hitting the right notes: "I don't have a deal, but all that's about to CHANGE."

see: myspace.com/dontplayniceverbal

Updated: August 12, 2008.