It’s no surprise that I prefer hip-hop with a strong pop bent, and if it’s fronted by a female, well, all the sweeter indeed. That’s why “Sunshine,” the new single from 19-year-old Baltimore rapper/dancer Rye Rye, caught my ear when it premiered yesterday via Stereogum.

Signed to M.I.A.‘s N.E.E.T. Recordings, Rye Rye first joined up with the British jill-of-all-trades in 2006. Go! Pop! Bang!, her full-length debut, was to be released last year but was shelved when Rye Rye became pregnant (she also had to cancel plans to tour). Now the mother of a one-year-old girl, she expects Go! Pop! Bang! to come out in January 2011.

“Sunshine” serves as the lead track from Rye Rye’s much-anticipated effort, and based on this taste and that exclamatory album title, I can’t wait to hear the rest of what the new mom had to hold back. Like most of Rye Rye’s singles to date, boss/mentor M.I.A. contributes vocals to “Sunshine” and wordlessly mimicks the bass line to keep the song playfully strumming along. Hear here:

Purchase Rye Rye feat. M.I.A. – “Sunshine” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.