Kurejea Guthrie
Last year another U.K. Hip Hop artist by the name of M.I.A. was getting all the buzz in the magazines and on stations like MTV2 because of her innovative sound that combined multiple genres.
This year’s newest U.K. import that people are already and are going to be talking about is Lady Sovereign.
The 19-year-old London native whose real name is Louise Harman, has been getting mention in articles in magazines like Blender, URB, Vibe and Rolling Stone.
All agree that this petite 5’1″ rapper is destined for success in the states, especially after signing with Jay-Z over at Def Jam in late 2005. Her imported EP on the indie label Chocolate Industries, by the name of “Vertically Challenged,” was recently released in the U.S.
The sound of the album is a combination of drum and bass break beats, dancehall, U.K. garage sound and Atari -like sound effects.
Lady Sovereign’s rhymes come off very quick-witted with a dash of smart aleck thrown in. She talks about everything from the people who doubted her to life in London.
Of course there are some of those clich√© rhymes about partying and the opposite sex. Most of the tracks on the album like “Ch Ching”, “Random” and “A Little Bit of Shh” have the potential to be that song that could hype the crowd in a club. There is a remix to “A Little Bit of Shh” that was produced by Adrock of the Beastie Boys.
Riko, Frost P., and Shystie are a few U.K. artists are featured on some of the album.
Her upc+oming U.S. album is slated to have production from Timbaland and Missy Elliott.
Overall, Lady Sovereign brings some added fresh air to Hip-Hop with a sound we don’t get to hear that often from the artists here.
Her album is all around a record you can dance to and or just bop your head to the beat.
Grade: A