Lady Sovereign

Lady Sovereign is an up-and-coming British rapper on the British Grime scene. She is one of the few white, female rappers on the scene. She was born Louise Amanda Harmon and grew up in London's infamous Chalkhill Estate (the now demolished public housing project in London). Lady Sovereign says she began rapping "in front of a mirror with a can of hairspray for a mic". Her biggest influence growing up was Ms. Dynamite, one of the first female MC's she heard. She dropped out of school and started going by the moniker, Lady Sovereign, a reference to the large sovereign ring she wears. Her break came when she secured the lead role in a film about a female MC like herself who drops out of school at 16 to follow her music career. Louise convinced the film's producers that she could record the soundtrack for the film and her demos fell into the hands of a record producer who helped her get signed. After several successful EPs, Louise caught the ear of Def Jam Records CEO, Jay-Z, and he set up a meeting with her in which he demanded an on-the-spot freestyle. Louise must have done well because Jay-Z signed her and her first full-length album titled, Public Warning, came out in 2006. She is the first non-American female to sign with Def Jam Records. Her second full-length album titled, Jigsaw, is set to be released April 7th in the U.S. The first single off the album is a cover of The Cure's, Close to Me, called So Human. Lady Sovereign has drawn many comparisons to Eminem for her white MC status as well as her style. My favorite track off of Public Warning is Love Me Or Hate Me and I really like her Cure cover.