UK rapper Lady Leshurr aka Melesha O’Garro has gained popularity and fame ever since her free style rap series Queens Speech hit the floors on Youtube in 2015. Getting 15 million views for her tracks, this 28-year-old has been gaining popularity among multitudes in UK and the US. She was in the city on November 17 for the hip-hop focused campaign FreeFlow. In a candid chat with us she shares her journey so far
She was six-years-old when she started writing and she hasn’t stopped since. What inspired her to become a rapper, singer and producer? Lady Leshurr says, “My inspiration is from rappers like Missy Elliot, Eminem and Lil Wayne.” Getting established in the music industry is not a walk in the park. The 28-year-old adds, “It has not been easy at all. I had to make sacrifices to benefit my career.”
Initially, the amount of shows she had were few. She had to create her own brand and draw attention to her music. She further thinks, “The reason I started getting shows is because I was doing covers and rapping beats of other artists.”
Leshurr has made a name in the male-dominated rap industry. We have seen a lot of foul language used in rap songs but Lady Leshurr feels, “I’m not sure why people feel the need to do that, but I don’t blame them. For me music is about expression, it is an art of expressing yourself. I don’t rap about drugs and drinking as it is not the way I live. I look up to Eminem as he entertained and made people laugh.” Lady Leshurr is not really sure how she got the name “Grime Queen”. She says, “I think it’s an honour to be called a queen in a genre that I like. Touring India and representing this culture is an opportunity not many artists get.” She describes her music as colourful, bubbly, entertaining and humorous. Her fans have received her with much love and she feels, “I try to be an inspiration and care about who is watching me because the younger generation is the future.”
During her spare time, this rapper says, “I’m usually playing games and I love playing FIFA.” Melesha never shared her dreams of becoming a rapper with anyone, but stuck to her guns and on her plans for the future, she says, “Once this is over, I am heading to Australia. I am also releasing a new project on December 26. I am also doing more acting now.”
