Lady Sovereign pieces it together

(Credit: Derek Santini)

For the better part of a decade, fans of U.K. hip-hop's “grime” scene have been anticipating (or dreading) the day when one of their heroes would cross over to the American mainstream. After the blokes gave it a go and fell short (the Streets—too brainy; Dizzee Rascal—too Cockney), the first British grime artist to have hits on both sides of the Atlantic turned out to be a diminutive white chick from London named Louise Harman, aka Lady Sovereign.

With her sideways ponytail, baggy tracksuits and brash attitude, “Sov” burst onto the scene in 2006 like a Bizarro World Missy Elliott, rapping about Tony Blair and shepherd’s pie and freestyling her way into a much-touted deal with Def Jam Records. But just when her anthem “Love Me or Hate Me” topped the U.S. club charts and the “TRL” list, it all started to unravel.

Exhausted by a non-stop touring schedule, Sov began “slowly losing my mind, I think.” Shortly after an onstage meltdown at a show in New York, the young rapper took a much-needed break from music and the media spotlight.

Now Sov is back, and this time, she’s doing it on her own terms, releasing her sophomore album, “Jigsaw,” on her own label, Midget Records. It’s a looser, quirkier record than her debut, with a freewheeling tone that should translate into some fun shows on her latest U.S. tour.

When we caught up with Lady Sovereign at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, she was lounging on a hotel smoking patio, looking tired but relaxed. Between drags on a cigarette, she chatted about the new album and its Cure-sampling lead single, “So Human,” her hiatus and return to the studio, and why she won’t let Perez Hilton friend her on Facebook.

Tell me about the new album, “Jigsaw.” I’ve heard that you sing more on this one.
Yeah, there’s that one song where I sing all the way through, which is called “Jigsaw.” And then I sort of dabble in singing on a few other things. I just wanted to give it a go. But the whole album’s not like full singing, I’m still rapping and stuff. There’s just loads of variety to the album, like different styles. I get a bit more personal on this album; it’s less aggressive than the first one.

The single, “So Human,” and video in particular, seem to be poking fun at the media whirlwind you went through with your first album.
Yeah, a little bit. It kinda writes itself, that song. The whole thing’s about being frustrated with certain things and I ain’t some robot, you know what I mean? I do need time off. And if I take that time off, don’t get mad at me, do you know what I mean?

Did you get some time off in-between these two records? Did you get a breather?
Well, I took like a year off. I didn’t do anything last year. Yeah, I finished my album, but for like a good six months, I just didn’t do anything. I just had to walk away from it and just chill the fuck out ‘cause I was just burnt out and I was slowly losing my mind, I think. So, I just had to stop, but it did me good. I feel really good about stuff now.

When did you know that you were ready to get back into it again?
I don’t know, just going back in the studio was just nice. And once I got back into it, it made me feel a lot better, but I can’t really put my finger on a certain time or whatever.

Who did you work with on “Jigsaw”?
I’m working with my producer called Medasyn again. He did most of the album—pretty much all of it. I love working with him; I worked with him on the first album, so there’s just like a comfort thing there.

On the “So Human” single, was it his idea to do the Cure sample?
No, it was my idea. I love the Cure, and that song in particular. Every time I listen to it, I find myself rapping over the intro. So I thought, “Well fuck, I’m going to sample it.”

Did you ever go through a Goth phase? Have a Robert Smith haircut?
No. I have phases, but I don’t necessarily change my image, if you know what I mean. No, I have music phases where I’ll just for like one week listen to one type of music. But I didn’t get any dodgy haircuts.

You’re playing the Perez Hilton party here at South by Southwest. Are you a Perez fan? Do you read his blog?
I’ve gone on there every now and then. He updates that shit so fast, man. Like, the amount of stuff on there is fucking ridiculous. He tried to add me on Facebook and I was just like, “Nope, sorry Perez.” I’ve met him a few times and we’ve hung out or whatever, but I wouldn’t add him to Facebook.

As a fan of yours, does he steer clear of putting any embarrassing Sov pictures up on his site?
Well, I’m not sure, because he puts so much stuff on there, it’s hard to keep up with it. But this is why I’m not adding him to Facebook, because he likes what he does and he will put anything on his site. He’s been pretty nice to me so far, but I know one day he’ll probably draw his token penis on my picture like he does. I’ll have some white stuff coming out of my mouth like he likes to do to everyone. Cracks me up, that.

Are there any particular tracks on this album that you’re especially proud of?
I mean, I’m proud of it all. My favorite song on the album is “So Human,” but then I’m quite proud of “Jigsaw” as well, because that’s the first time I’ve sung. You know, I’ll keep at the whole singin’ thing; I’ll give it a go. But I’m just proud of myself that I actually eventually finished this album because I ended up getting so depressed last time, just kind of like, “Ugh!”