"I'm not a lightweight"
Brendan Murphy
|
Lady Sovereign: Looks can be deceiving, nawhwatimean?
photo: Perou
|
From music making to vodka drinking, the U.K.'s Lady Sovereign is holding her own
If Lady Sovereign was a dishevelled emo singer/songwriter, one might expect the flat monosyllabic answers Hour received when first speaking to her over the phone from London. But if you've ever seen the first lady of grime on stage, where she's a pacing be-hoodied ticking time bomb of loutish good-humour and drunken irreverence, the lack of enthusiasm seems out of place. Given that her rise to fame is currently being propelled to even more ridiculous heights by an upcoming album for Jay-Z's Def Jam, it's readily apparent that the reason she's being a tough interview is that she's been doing them non-stop. I tell her she sounds like she's getting swallowed up by the machine. "Yeah, can you tell from the tone of my voice?" Just a bit. I ask if she's into stock-answer mode, an auto-pilot feature employed by many an over-interviewed artist.
"I'm getting too used to it. I shouldn't be, but I am. That's the thing, that's the thing, I do [switch into auto-pilot]." Is she also getting sick of seeing her face on magazine covers around the world?
"No, not yet." She laughs, and I believe we're rounding the corner. The eagerly anticipated album Public Warning continues where last year's Vertically Challenged EP left off, combining fast, frenetic grimy beats with her addictively humorous mic dexterity. She's still working with mostly U.K. producers, like long-time cohort Medasyn (whose real name is Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of Sergei), Menta and club kings Basement Jaxx. Because the rap
world loves to harp on lost roots, I ask if the U.S. love is creating a U.K. backlash. "I mean, [the U.K. press] has gone quiet a bit - that's 'cause I'm not running around like a lunatic. I haven't been in the U.K. for ages, so half of them don't even know what's going on with me."
It gets said a lot that you need to see so-and-so in person, but really, you need to see Lady Sovereign live. She's stolen every stage I've seen her on over the last year, whether it was opening for The Streets, or just last month on a rain-soaked stage at Osheaga. Let alone keeping up the high-octane energy, I ask how she manages to keep drinking as much as she appears to be.
"It's all good. In the back of my mind I do fink, 'Ahhh, God, I shouldn't be doing this.' I'm only a little thing, nawhwatimean?" At five-foot nothing and 100 pounds soaking wet, it seems like it wouldn't take a lot to get her drunk.
"Oh I can drink a lot of people under the table. I'm not a lightweight."
For a girl who got her start posting homemade music online, being a major-label musical superstar that it takes three weeks and four different interview times to get in touch with has to be a bit of a surprise.
"Kind of. Some years ago, I had this little feeling in my stomach that I had something. So, yeah, I guess not really."
Lady Sovereign
w/ Young Love
At Club Soda (1225 St-Laurent), Oct. 23
| (((My Two Cents))) - England's Young Rapper Finally Gets Recognition Over Here |
|
Lady Sovereign, this young 19 year old rapper, has been doing this for quite some time now. Her beats and her rather peculiar voice have been awfully popular in Great Britain but it took her quite some time to truly get recognition over here though. Finally though, since last year's opening for the Streets, it seems as though she is finally being recognized for what she does best. She is original, she knows what music is all about, and her perseverance is incredible. I'm very much hoping that the Club Soda will be packed for her performance and I'd like it if she begins getting more popularity down here!
|
|
Zachary Masoud
|
{48 votes}
|
|
|
She can drink you under the table even as she raps and rhymes her way into your heart. Wow, not only does Lady Sovereign have charisma and talent to burn, her spunk and drinking prowess really do belie her miniscule frame! If you haven't seen her yet - and Lord knows you've had countless opportunities - don't miss her Monday night!!!
|
|
Mark St Pierre
|
{24 votes}
|
|
|
| Jay-Z's protégé is finally making her mark on the other side of the pond |
|
This Sporty Spice look-alike has talent. There is no denying that. But she also has spunk and she knows who she is, qualities that are hard to come by in a 20 year old artist. Most young female artists these days are prepackaged dumb blondes who wear revealing outfits and charge 75$ for their concerts that only 10 year old girls go see (think Hilary Duff and Jessica Simpson). But Lady Sovereign isn't like that, not one bit. She has a fresh sound that has been labelled as "grime". She also hasn't let her celebrity go to her head, charging a mere 17,50$ for her concert in Montreal this week. I know I can't to go see her.
|
|
Rachelle Doucet
|
{33 votes}
|
|
|
ok so my best friend (brooke) thinks that because in your song it says "this is the biggest midget in the game" that your a midget but you dont look like it and it doesnt say anything about you being one so are you or not?
|
|
Civie Case
|
|
|
|
