Poet turned rapper, Lady London, is taking hip hop into unchartered waters.
We're headed towards an interesting 2024.
Put politics, economy and a confounding presidential election aside for a moment. We're going into a new year where Marvel movies are flopping left and right, kids buying mystery sneaker boxes (and taking a giant L), and Kanye has gone way past cuckoo (nothing new here, actually). Determining if 2024 is going to rebound or fall into even more chaos is tougher than the breadsticks at Olive Garden. By the way, the Tour of Italy at Olive Garden is actually not that bad.
But I digress.
When the world has gone mad, it's the creative arts that tends to smooth things over. Finding artists whose work you enjoy, a new sport or hobby to join in on, or discovering some great new musical artist can help cure a weary soul.
Enter Lady London. She's been on the Tri-State scene for a few years now, but has flown a bit under the radar. Recently signing with High Standardz & Def Jam Recordings, the #NewYork rapper joins a promising pool of talent at the label, led by Armani White, Muni Long and more.
What is most fascinating about Lady London is not only her exquisite beauty, but also how she has expertly carved her own lane in the music business by weaving intense and visceral storytelling with hip hop rhythm. The only other musicians who we feel have a familiar style to her would be Scarface, Slick Rick and Eminem – a fantastic and rare group of talent.
While being interviewed on Audacy.com about her Def Jam debut album S.O.U.L., London said: "I love the idea of a narrative in anything, like if you watch most of my music videos they have like some type of narration or some type of sequence to it."
Not only does she tell a complete and fascinating narrative in a few minutes through each song, the musical rhythm itself is fire as well. Whoever produces her music must be Rick Rubin in disguise. Check out one of her singles "Yea Yea" featuring Dreezy and you'll see what we're talking about. We'll wait.
How dope was that? Still not feeling it? Ok, then check out "Lisa's Story" featuring Dub Aura.
The way she can make words and intonation rhyme seamlessly is a skill very few have. Eminem is a master at this. So is E40. But Lady London is like a blues singer wrapped up in a hip hop candy shell, although we're not too surprised by that being that she grew up writing poetry at 11 years old.
Her scintillating wordplay and mastery of the mic has commanded attention from hip hop fans in the Tri-State area, but also around the country. It's only a matter of time before she begins to reach for the mantle other female rappers currently hold, like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.
S.O.U.L. is out now and available for digital download or streaming.