The Saltburn effect! Rapper Princess Superstar re-enters the UK Top 40 with Perfect after 17 YEARS

Saltburn has already spun Sophie Ellis-Bextor back into the charts with 2001’s Murder on the Dancefloor – but she’s not the only early-noughties artist to enjoy a resurgence thanks to Emerald Fennell’s buzzy thriller.

Step forward Princess Superstar, the American rapper whose 2006 song Perfect (Exceeder) with Dutch DJ-producer Mason, has not only re-entered the UK Top 40 Charts this week after 17 years, but also given the artist her first ever placement on the US Billboard Chart – currently riding high at #12 in the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs category.

The club track – a remix of the rapper’s original song from her fifth studio album My Machine – has gone viral (hitting #6 on the viral Spotify charts in the US) after being featured in the Golden Globe-nominated film’s party scene with breakout star Barry Keoghan.

However, similar to the Margot Robbie-produced mystery movie, all is not what it seems. In fact, there’s a mind-boggling backstory as to how the ‘indie sleaze’ dancefloor staple came to be, that has been left untold until now.

US rapper Princess Superstar (pictured above) has found chart glory once again after her 17-year-old song Perfect was featured in Saltburn

Princess Superstar – real name Concetta Kirschner – exclusively reveals to DailyMail.com for the first time how, after striking a deal with Ministry of Sound Records, was left almost completely cut out of her own song’s success.

‘I licensed the song in 2006 [to Ministry of Sound] with a clause in my contract that said I had full creative control of my image and video,’ Kirschner explains of the ‘mashup’ version of her original track.

The music video featured a trio of brunette-haired models posing seductively on exercise balls, bouncing along to Kirschner’s vocals and original lyrics – with the recording artist nowhere to be seen.

‘Ministry went ahead without telling me and made a video with models and cut me out of it – and I only found out about it on a then-brand new platform called YouTube,’ she adds.

Things went from bad to worse when the scantily-clad models were hurriedly ‘sent out on tour as “Princess Superstar” lip synching my song in clubs,’ Kirschner says.

Kirschner reveals that she managed to settle the touring debacle with a cease-and-desist letter, but sadly couldn’t afford to take legal action over the video.

‘The whole thing was so bad for me as an artist,’ she admits now. ‘People knew me from Bad Babysitter and then were confused.’

The viral hit has also given the artist her first ever placement on the US Billboard Chart – currently riding high at #12 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart

The catchy ‘indie sleaze’ dance track is used prominently in the above scene in Saltburn

Bad Babysitter is another well-known Princess Superstar hit, peaking at number 11 in late February 2002 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as charting in Australia, Flanders, Germany, and Ireland.

Still, the trailblazing star – who recently received high praise from Paint the Town Red rapper Doja Cat – is now feeling happy about her renaissance and the song’s second life which she calls ‘healing.’

‘To this day people don’t know I’m the singer of my own song. There was no social media to stop them back then – but it’s fun 17 years later people are like oh that was you? It’s been just very healing for me in general that it’s so successful again!’

Paula Moore, CEO of Greater Than Distribution, who joined Princess Superstar’s management team at the time, also spoke to DailyMail.com about her knowledge of the situation.

Origin: Perfect first appeared on Princess Superstar’s fifth album My Machine in 2005

‘Following Perfect (Exceeder) hitting number 3 on the UK charts, I was appalled at how the label who licensed her song had treated her,’ she says.

‘It came across as if she was a hired background singer, rather than the songwriter and artist performing her own song licensed to them for a remix. It was a strange and counterproductive move to not utilize her in every way to make the song an even bigger hit.

‘Now, with the advantages of social media and fans driving the song back into a hit organically, it is connecting with a whole new audience without warning and without a label “marketing” the 17-year-old song.

‘It’s an incredible testament to the power of her infectious lyrics standing the test of time with only a brief appearance in a scene of the film Saltburn.

Moore adds that with the revived interest in the song, fans should expect more to come from the rapper, teasing: ‘We are excited to provide support to Princess Superstar in this incredible moment, and for her to experience the success of Perfect once again.’

Dave Cronen, Director of Trust Management, who brokered the original deal for the song, also confirms: ‘We did the deal for Princess Superstar in good faith and were granted creative control on the single campaign. From the point of the deal being executed all decisions were taken away from us including the video where they elected to use models as opposed to featuring the principal artist.’

DailyMail.com has reached out to Ministry of Sound for comment.

Princess Superstar – who has 2.2million monthly listeners on Spotify – has released eight studio albums in her decades-long career, collaborating with artists including Moby, The Prodigy, Arthur Baker, Prince Paul, Kool Keith, and Grandmaster Flash, amongst others.

Last summer, Doja Cat – who has recently been hailed as the current queen of rap – used Princess Superstar’s song Famous in an Instagram post during the promotional rollout for her hit album Scarlet, and publicly declared her love for the artist.