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An Exclusive Interview With Lady Sovereign!

She may be little -- her first album was called Vertically Challenged -- but Louise Harman, a.k.a. Lady Sovereign, is already a huge presence in the UK hip-hop scene. And she's likely to become the first British rapper to make a real impact on American hip-hop. It's not just that she's cuter than The Streets' Mike Skinner, or easier to understand than the cockney, motormouthed Dizzee Rascal. It isn't even because she's got the full weight of Jay-Z's Def Jam Records behind her first proper U.S. release, Public Warning. Ultimately, Lady Sovereign's success hinges on her infectious, party-ready music -- much of which she produces herself -- and her cheeky, nasally flow, equal parts Eminem and Missy Elliott.

We spoke to a sleepy but still-feisty Sov while she was fielding phone calls from her manager's office in London.

AD: You sound tired; have they been working you too hard?

Sov: I've just been doing shows and recording and photo shoots. And been back and forth from America. And as soon as I got back here, I have to go off to Paris. So yeah, I'm a bit tired.

You've been doing this in the UK for awhile now, but this is gonna be your first U.S. release. And it's coming out in the U.S. on Def Jam -- I understand you actually had a personal meeting with Jay-Z, right?

Yeah, he was just interested in it all. He'd heard a bit of the music and was impressed, but he wanted to meet me in the flesh, d'y'know what I mean?

What was he like?

A very down-to-earth guy. Very honest, cool. I mean, I've met him a lot more since, but the first time I met him, I'm not gonna lie -- I was really fucking nervous. But the more I see of him now, the more I understand who he is as a person.

Has doing this given you a chance to meet any other big names or any other personal heroes of yours?

I've met a few people, like just bumping into them -- but I haven't met the people yet who I really want to meet.

Like who, for example?

The two people I'd probably get funny about are Missy Elliott and Andre 3000. I just really love their music.

Let's back up a little bit. Tell us about where you grew up and how you first got interested in rapping.

Well, I grew up on an estate -- you lot call it the projects -- in northwest London. Pretty gritty, but I loved it. I miss it. It ain't there no more, it got knocked down. So it's a bit of a shame that I can't really go back and revisit where I come from. It's kind of upsetting -- that's why I miss it even more. But you know -- shit happens.

What did they knock it down for?

Redevelop it for modern housing. It's all the same to me, it's not there anymore.

Was it a pretty racially mixed neighborhood?

Yeah, it was very mixed up. There weren't just white people there, there weren't just black people, there weren't just Asian people -- it was everyone.

Did you listen to a lot of different kinds of music growing up?

Yeah -- if it wasn't coming from my house, my parents playing it -- or me playing it -- it was the next-door neighbors playing it or someone outside in their car. There was always music in my life. Punk, ska, hip-hop, jungle, drum 'n bass, R&B, grime, garage, funk....

All of which influences your music now in some way.

Yeah, I just love music in general. Music pretty much sums me up. I'm not hip-hop, I'm not grime, I'm not one thing.

When you first started rapping -- you're this little white chick --

[laughs]

Did other kids in your neighborhood encourage you or were they kind of like, "What are you doing?"

At first, I kept it a secret. I was a bit shy about it. But yeah, a lot of people used to laugh about me behind my back or to my face or whatever. But I was never put off by it, d'y'know what I mean? No one's stopped me from doing it.

Can you explain to our non-UK readers -- what's the story with your "Save the Hoodie" campaign?

Over here, they've banned people from wearing hoodies in some shopping malls -- because it apparently hides your face from CCTV cameras -- security cameras. But it actually doesn't -- it covers the back of your head and your ears. But the whole wearing a hoodie thing -- you're quite prone to be labeled as a criminal. But that ain't true -- you can't judge someone by what they're wearing. I just don't get it -- hoodies have been around for years and only just now people are complaining about them.

So you decided to do this campaign to get people to protest the ban. How's the petition coming along?

I'm not sure on the figures, but I know it's still up and running and people are signing up for it every day now. I just need to check out how many people have bloody signed it.

The big hit off your first record in the UK was "Random" -- which I love, by the way, because usually hit songs in the States are about specific dance moves, so it's cool to hear a song that just says, "Do something random!"

Yeah -- do whatever you feel like doing. Random just means anything.

When you do that song, do you see the crowd doing anything really random?

They just go mad! You know, I want them to get a bit more random, but they just get mad and loud. But that's enough for me.

Lady Sovereign's new album, Public Warning, is available now in the ARTISTdirect Store!