MP3 of the week: Lady Sovereign

Download Lady Sovereign mp3s and find out more...

• FREE Lady Sovereign MP3: Download 'Public Warning Live' MP3
• FREE Lady Sovereign MP3: Download live session MP3
• MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/ladysovereign
• WEBSITE: www.ladysovereign.com
• LADY SOVEREIGN ON MOOKYCHICK: Lady Sovereign: Icon of the week | Save the hoodie

Musical style: UK Garage / Grime

Similar bands: M.I.A.

Who in the name of mash-up is Lady Sovereign?

* Verily, she is the First Lady of Grime (Grime sounds like a faster version of Southern hip-hop, rapped with British accents. Very down and dirty)

* She's also the Queen of Chavs - but although we love to hate them, she's the exception that proves the rule

* She is tiny and white. But she can hold her own.

So, tell me more of this Lady Sovereign

Lady Sovereign is a chavette who is a great live MC and very into her roots. Though she was kicked out of school when she was only 16, she became one of the UK's few white female MCs.

Lady Sovereign cites Ms. Dynamite as an influence and has supported The Streets, Obie Trice, Dizzee Rascal and Basement Jaxx on tour.

Lady Sovereign's MC voice is very low, harsh and primal. Lady Sovereign first received attention when she recorded "The Battle," a freestyle girls versus boys battle rap with Shystie, Suz Rock and Frost P. Each rapper who participated in the recording of "The Battle" has since been signed to a record deal.

When The Ordinary Boys released the single "Boys Will Be Boys", Lady Sovereign came back with her own reply remix, featuring the music and chorus of the original, but with mostly her own vocals to the tune of "girls will be girls".

Lady Sovereign is the first non-American female to appear on the Def Jam label. Her former lack of success in the UK may be due in part to her stigma as representative of chav culture. However, she has a following in the United States and is co-headlining a tour with The Streets with whom she appeared in a remix for his song "Fit But You Know It." Lady Sovereign cult following was again boosted after she recorded an attack on singer Jentina with "Sad Ass Strippa," a play on words of Jentina's song "Bad Ass Strippa."

Lady Sovereign achieved some fame by starting off the save the hoodie campaign, a protest against UK shopping centres attempting to ban people wearing hoodies in case they committed a crime while wearing a hoodie and couldn't be traced on CCTV cameras.

She's been both praised and accused for incorporating pop elements into her hardstyle MC delivery. Here at Mookychick, we like it. Her lyrics are playful and inventive, and we saw her live in Brighton once, and during a power cut she kept the audience laughing for hours with a spur-of-the-moment comedy routine while we waited for the power to come back on. MCs need to have an attitude and an idea of where they come from, but ideally they need to have timing and wit above all. An MC is so much stronger if he verbals like a fencer not like a tank, and Lady Sovereign's power, range and versatility are more than equal to the task of ensuring she retains her Grime crown.

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