To commemorate Black History Month and the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop, our second Instagram live in the Making History IG Live series featured independent musical artist, Lady London. If you missed the live, today is your lucky day as we have a full recap below.
Lady London grew up in the Bronx, New York and East Orange, New Jersey where hip-hop was a curated integral part of her music career. She focused her studies on the greats, such as Jay Z, Lauryn Hill, Big L, and Slick Rick, to name a few. She studied the art form of hip-hop so she could fully embody its essence and tap into her scholarly nature, which has always brought her joy. Lady London went to Howard University for undergrad and University of Southern California (USC) for her Maters of Science from Keck School of Medicine. While she was in school, she would compete in poetry competitions and sell out shows across Washington D.C. A few months later she taught herself how to rap and began growing her online following by the thousands via freestyling on social media for about 6-9 months. One of her poetry videos on Instagram went viral, earning over 8 million views.
When asked about musical embodiments that shaped her career, Lady London states that The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and Jay-Z’s debut studio album, Reasonable Doubt, were and still are instrumental in shaping her songwriting. Making history and making an impact by bringing something new to the world of hip-hop while speaking to the current climate of the world is always her goal. She wants her music to be something that lives on through multiple generations, but what is most important to her is that people remember her for the type of person that she is. She wants everyone to embrace their individuality, especially young girls who are coming up in the music industry. As a piece of advice, she states, “It is okay that not everyone gets it and understands you, as long as you understand you.” She describes herself with the following words, “relentless, refreshing, versatile, boss, slightly disrespectful, and polished.”
Among the list of things that keep her grounded are her faith and her “village.” She told interviewer, Rea Davis, “I never want to look around when I make it and be like these weren’t the people I was supposed to make it with.” When asked about self-care and the pandemic, she shares that her biggest form of self-care is to disappear and disconnect for a while. The pandemic helped her learn a lot about herself and her introverted tendencies. She brings up her astrological sign and calls herself a “lil hermit crab”, and if you know anything about astrology you know that Cancers love to retreat into their reserved nature. Maybe this is also why she claims she prefers to be alone during her creative process and do it all herself. Her day-to-day routine is never the same, but as a creature of routine she loves to speak to the same people every day and always starts it all off with a smoothie.
Lady London has faced challenges along the way just like the rest of us, and in a very relatable moment she dives into the memory that there were times she wanted to quit and struggled with severe writer’s block. She also shares the piece of advice that once you hit a writing flow, “if you don’t use it, you lose it.” With Hip-Hop turning 50 this year, Davis asked her to share her thoughts on the industry and how far it has come. She is proud of the hip-hop industry and how it came up as an underdog and continues to be topping charts everywhere. She wants to continue to keep the essence of hip hop and what it means to the community, specifically, black and brown people progressing. She wants to leave a legacy as a boss woman in the industry who is also known as a well-rounded individual. Her advice to her younger self would be to stand up and believe in yourself. She goes on to say, “you are everything that you think you are, and your dreams are not too big. You can do anything and everything that you put your mind to.” She attributes her success to consistency and persistence. She has found that becoming routine with anything has always proven to be a recipe for achievement.
What is next for Lady London? I think we all can agree that it is of course, major success! When your all-time favorite sneakers include the Jordan 11 Concords, we know you have all the fire in you to be an industry disrupter. Thank you, Lady London, for sharing your light with us, maybe we will catch you collaborating soon with one of your dream features, Jay-Z or H.E.R.
Watch the live interview below:
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Written By Rachael Bernier
