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| Lady Sovereign |
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Louise Amanda Harman (born December 19, 1985), known as Lady Sovereign, is an English MC.
Biography
Early life
Lady Sovereign was raised in northwest London's Chalkhill Estate, a public housing project where she says her upbringing could get dangerous or depressing. She was influenced by her mother's Salt-N-Pepa albums and words, and began writing her own raps at the age of 14.
She began uploading some of her songs and a picture to various music Web sites. Then she dropped out of school and landed a job acting in an educational film about the life of an up-and-coming MC who also dropped out of Preston Manor High School at 16.
She convinced some producers that she could construct a soundtrack for a film, the demos for which landed in the hands of record producer Medasyn. He partnered Sovereign with Frost P, Zuz Rock, and Shystie for a male vs. female MC freestyle battle, titled "The Battle". It was released in 2003 on Casual Records. Every artist that was featured on "The Battle" has gone on to be signed by a record label.
Harman's moniker refers to a large sovereign ring that she used to wear.
Career
"The Battle" began a string of singles that would push Sovereign into the spotlight. While "A Little Bit of Shhh!," "Random," "9 to 5," were selling well, free Internet-only freestyles like "Tango" and "Cheeky" were becoming just as popular. She began 2005 by appearing on the grime compilation Run the Road - both as a solo artist and with The Streets - then collected some singles and released the Vertically Challenged EP on Chocolate Industries.
She capped off the year by meeting with the American hip-hop star and CEO of the labels Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella Records, Jay-Z. With Usher and L.A. Reid seated next to him, Jay-Z asked for one on-the-spot freestyle from Sovereign before offering her a contract with Def Jam. With the single "Hoodie", Lady Sovereign released her full-length debut, Public Warning, on Def Jam in 2006. Lady Sovereign is the first non-American female to ever be signed to Def Jam.
When The Ordinary Boys released the single "Boys Will Be Boys", Lady Sovereign came back with a reply remix, featuring the music and chorus of the original, but with mostly her own vocals to the tune of "girls will be girls". In May 2006, she was featured on the Ordinary Boys single, "Nine2Five", a remixed version of her own "9 to 5", credited as "The Ordinary Boys vs Lady Sovereign." "Nine2Five" entered at #38 in the UK top 40 singles on downloads only, and jumped to #6 upon availability as a CD and 7" vinyl single during the week commencing May 22, 2006. This was her highest chart position to date.
Lady Sovereign served as the host and spokesperson for Adult Swim and Chocolate Industries' Chocolate Swim.
On October 31, 2006, her debut album, Public Warning, was released, featuring "Random," "9 to 5," "Hoodie" and single, "Love Me or Hate Me," which was also released on the same day.
On August 1, 2006, Lady Sovereign's single "Love Me or Hate Me", a collaboration with American producer Dr. Luke, was aired on the radio for the first time in North America on Flow 93.5 in Canada.
She began an American tour on October 23, 2006 and soon appeared live on CBS-TV's Late Show with David Letterman.
In late 2006, "Love Me or Hate Me" was played in a Verizon Wireless advertisement for the LG Chocolate. It also appears on the Need for Speed: Carbon soundtrack, and is also the theme music for the show, The Bad Girls Club. "9 to 5" also appears on The Bad Girls Club, as well as being among the dozens of songs on the soundtrack of the Xbox360's version of EA Sports' FIFA World Cup 2006 video game and on the Ugly Betty soundtrack. Also "Random" appears on the Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix soundtrack. On October 17, 2006 "Love Me or Hate Me" became the first video by a British artist to reach #1 on the U.S. (and original) version of MTV's Total Request Live. "Love Me Or Hate Me" was released in the UK on 29 January, 2007, with the album following on 5 February, 2007.
She has recorded a track for The O.C.'s new album, Music From The O.C. Mix 6 "Covering Our Tracks", where she sings The Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant".
She opened for Gwen Stefani in her 2007 The Sweet Escape Tour.
Unlike many British artists who sing or rap with American accents (this is no longer the case for the majority of British rappers), Sovereign raps with a thick working-class London accent. She often makes fun of her peers for trying to sound American in their work.
While performing at Studio B in Brooklyn, New York, Lady Sovereign told the crowd she was experiencing money problems and battling depression before exiting the stage. However, in a later performance at Avalon in Los Angeles, she completed her set without incident. She later said that it was simply a bad day.
"Hoodie" was used for the Mario Party Nintendo DS commercial.
Television Appearances
Lady Sovereign has appeared on Soccer AM several times. She has appeared in a feature story on the Cartoon Network and in an educational movie called X-ED which can be viewed on YouTube.
On October 23 2006, Sovereign made an appearance on American talk show Late Night with David Letterman. The lyrics "If you hate me, then f*ck you" were changed to "if you hate me, then I hate you" for the show.
Feud with Jelly Donut
In 2006 a fan named Zach Slow made online plea to raise $10,000 for a "random" night with Lady Sovereign. The effort garnered wide media coverage, and was successful in both raising the required funds and securing the agreement of the artist to attend.
The aftermath was acrimonious, with both sides exchanging insults in the San Francisco Chronicle . A local DJ known as "Jelly Donut", originally involved with the "random night" endeavor, attended a January 7, 2007 show in San Francisco. At the show, he dressed in a large jelly donut costume and organized fans to chant "Battle Jelly Donut" while they attempted to lift him onstage, ostensibly to "duel" Lady Sovereign. After much disruption, Lady Sovereign threw a drink on Jelly Donut, and spat towards his face. Security escorted Jelly Donut out of the concert.
Family
Lady Sovereign was born to Lynette Parsons and Aden Harman. She has two siblings, an older sister (Chloe) and a younger brother (Richie)
Breakdown
In an earlier interview this year with entertainer Mario Lafleur, Lady sovereign expressed her issues with Depression and poverty, which she indicated, may lead to a breakdown, a statement that in fact came to be true. While performing at Studio B in Brooklyn, NY, this week, Lady Sovereign fell apart on stage, confessing how broke and depressed she is. The crowd’s reaction was mixed; it can be heard in the audience, jeers, and support from her fans. The video can be viewed here.
New Album
According to her MySpace bulletin a second album is due for release in Spring 2008. Plans for a tour are also mentioned.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | UK | U.S. | CAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Public Warning | 80 | 48 |
EPs
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Vertically Challenged |
| 2006 | Blah Blah |
| 2007 | Those Were the Days |
Singles
Full singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | U.S. | AUS | IRE | |||
| 2005 | "Random" | 73 | — | — | — | Vertically Challenged EP Public Warning |
| 2005 | "9 to 5" | 33 | — | — | — | Public Warning |
| 2005 | "Hoodie" | 44 | — | — | — | Public Warning |
| 2006 | "Nine2Five" (vs. The Ordinary Boys) | 6 | — | — | 25 | - |
| 2006 | "Love Me or Hate Me" | 26 | 45 | 48 | — | Public Warning |
| 2007 | "Those Were the Days" | 88 | — | — | — | Public Warning |
Promo singles
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2004 | "The Battle" (Featuring Frost P, Shystie & Zuz Rock) |
| 2004 | "Ch Ching (Cheque 1 2)" |
| 2005 | "A Little Bit of Shhh" |
| 2006 | "Blah Blah" (featuring Kalie Burgess) |
Notes and references
- "Lady Sovereign making splash across Atlantic" by Brian Garrity, Reuters UK, October 21, 2006, retrieved October 22, 2006.
- ^ Catriona Mathewson (February 22, 2007). "Sovereign hits her gold mine". News.com.au.
- ^ Jasmine Dotiwala (February 13, 2007). "Jasmine's Juice". The Voice.
- http://www.winamp.com/media/music-artist/691765
- Simon Price (February 11, 2007). "Lady Sovereign, Scala, London". The Independent.
- "Lady Sovereign: Official Site". Def Jam.
- "Lady Sovereign's Warning". Yahoo! Launch. July 17, 2006.
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/playlist.shtml BBC Radio 1 Playlist
- http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;-1;-1;-1&sku=401163
- "Homegirl From London". Newsweek. 2006-10-30.
- "Lady Sovereign freaks out @ Studio B (video)". Brooklynvegan. 2007-05-22.
- "Lady Sov at Avalon". LAist. 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
- http://www.helpmegetrandomwithladysovereign.com/
- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/29/PKGMQKFJDC1.DTL
- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/19/PKGMQKFLP11.DTL
- http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/39176929
- http://www.myspace.com/ladysovereign
External links
- Lady Sovereign's Official Site @ Def Jam Records Page
- Official promo website
- Template:MySpace
- Lady Sovereign discography at Discogs
- Lady Sovereign discography at MusicBrainz
- Lady Sovereign at IMDb