Up until now, you've probably only heard of Lily Allen if you trawl t'interweb for new music, obsessively scan music websites or magazines or make a habit of picking up limited edition 7" singles.
If you're one of those people, it's more than likely you've fallen madly in love with the feisty 21 year old, tried to get hold of as many of her songs you can possibly find and spent most of your days driving your friends mad by telling them how brilliant she is.
Yet with the release of Smile, her first 'official' single, it's time to let our Lily off into the big bad world - for, make no mistake, this will be nigh on inescapable over the summer months and will turn her into a bona fide superstar.
The gently lilting reggae rhythm will be heard pouring out of every shop in the high street and Lily's very English sensibility will mean that even people who profess to hate pop music will secretly be tapping a foot. Forget the frankly bizarre comparisons to Lady Sovereign, The Streets or Jem - this is just downright perfect pop for lolling around during the lazy warm months to come, and is guaranteed to cheer you up, no matter how down you're feeling.
So if you're an 'early adopter' of Lily, this could be a bittersweet moment, but one to savour all the same. She may not be your little secret anymore, but, in a similar way to Arctic Monkeys last year, we'll have the undeniable thrill of watching someone we've known about for ages become deservedly absolutely stellar.
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