For fans of hip-hop, R&B and soul music, buying new CDs often can be a frustrating experience when there are no lyrics in the liner notes.

How can you sing along to your favorite song when you don’t know what the singer is saying?

Fear not, Leonie’s Lyrics is here to help. Located at http://crash.ihug.co.nz/~denisg/music/lyrics.htm, it is one of the most comprehensive and well respected lyrics sites on the Internet.

The site has been online approximately 18 months, said Sandra Grogan, speaking on behalf of co-site maintainers Leonie and Melanie.

“Leonie’s Lyrics has the latest R&B and hip-hop lyrics and updates as regularly as possible, as well as having lyrics from the previous two years,” Grogan said.

There’s no question about that. A quick glance at this comprehensive site reveals everything from the newest songs by Boyz II Men to classic songs by Notorious B.I.G. and Mariah Carey.

Leonie, at age 15, is probably one of the youngest people online to produce a Web site that averages 5,000 hits per day.

“The site has won MusicSearch’s Site of the Day approximately 10 times,” Grogan said.

Where does Leonie’s Lyrics get the song lyrics that aren’t available from the album or artist itself?

“[We] transcribe many of the lyrics and also have quite a few sent in by visitors to the page. Also, some of the lyrics are from other lyric sites,” Grogan said.

Visitors will also find a section devoted to lyrics from soundtracks, as well as “artist” pages which list all of the songs artists have had on various projects besides their own record label’s latest releases.

Grogan described the target audience as mostly teenagers, but said that anybody who loves music finds the site useful.

“The most positive comments are when people write and say how much they enjoy the site, and that if ever they want the lyrics to a song they usually find them on the page,” Grogan added.

Visitors are encouraged to sign the guestbook and to request lyrics to any R&B, soul or rap song they haven’t been able to find.