Author Topic: Lady Sovereign´s 1st Single Taking Giant Leaps On MTV (Read 167 times)

Damien J. · « **on:** October 19, 2006, 01:40:21 PM »

As momentum builds toward the opening of Lady Sovereign's first major headlining tour of North America on October 23rd in Montreal, and the U.S. release of her debut album Publi Warning on October 31st, the pint-sized 20-year old British export is shaping up as the new artist development story of the year.

Her first U.S. single, "Love Me Or Hate Me," has just taken a 20-point jump on iTunes' overall single chart to #44, and advances to #9 on the Hip-Hop chart. At MTV, where she is a Discover and Download Artist, the video was played a total of 20 times in its first five days on MTV and M2, and goes to #3 on the TRL Countdown. At this rate, the self-proclaimed 'biggest midget in the game' is living up to Rolling Stone's prediction of her as "the next hip-hop superstar."

Set to launch October 23rd at Club Soda in Montreal, Lady Sov's North American tour rolls into New York City a week later for two nights at Bowery Ballroom, October 29-30th, and the Starlight Ballroom in Philadelphia on November 1st. Island Records' Young Love (Dan Keyes), whose self-titled debut album will be released in January, will open the 6-week, 25-city tour, which wraps up December 1st at the Loft in Atlanta. (Please see tour dates below.)

While she's in Gotham, Lady Sovereign will stick around for her debut appearance on CBS's The Late Show with David Letterman, on Thursday night, November 2nd. A week later, on Thursday November 9th, Lady Sov will make her debut appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live. A subsequent appearance on Fox's MAD TV will be announced in the weeks ahead.

With its 808-fueled electro-pop-n-lock beat courtesy of producer Dr. Luke, and its snarling chorus - "If you love me then, Thank You! If you hate me then, F*** YOU!" -Sov's "Love Me Or Hate Me" became the rap/pop phenom of the summer on both sides of the Atlantic. (And check her out trading verses with Missy Elliott on the "Love Me Or Hate Me Remix.") The infectious track is being picked up everywhere - in episodes of ABC-TV's Ugly Betty, Fox's The O.C., and Oxygen's upcoming Bad Girls Club, even on EA's ultra-hot new underground street racing video game, Need for Speed, to be released November 1st.

(Astute Lady Sovereign observers are also catching up to her version of "9 to 5" in the World Cup video game released last spring; "A Little Bit of Shh (Adrock Remix)" in the NBA Live video game released last month; and her cover of the Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" on the upcoming soundtrack CD, The O.C. - Mix 6.)

"Love Me Or Hate Me" is also the lynchpin behind the exciting multi-million dollar music-based national television, radio, print, and online market¡ing campaign for Chocolate, the ultimate mobile phone introduced in the U.S. this summer by Verizon Wireless and LG Elec¡tron¡ics Mobile¡Comm U.S.A. During the campaign, the Verizon Wireless V Cast Music online store will have exclusive rights to sell "Love Me Or Hate Me" digitally. The track will also be featured on users' phone decks where they can hear the song and see Lady Sovereign's image. The campaign, which runs through the end of November, is the first strategic partner¡ship between Verizon Wireless, LG Mobile Phones, and the Island Def Jam Music Group's Def Jam Recordings, a division of Universal Music.

(Verizon is also running a 2-minute spot on Channel One featuring "9 to 5" as the music bed, heard by 40 million students in schools during home room and recess. And Lady Sov has signed on for a major national campaign with Swatch watches, including in-store appearances and autographing in eight markets across the country.)

Lady Sovereign, a five-foot one-inch dynamo, was personally signed by Def Jam Presi¡dent and CEO Shawn (Jay-Z) Carter, who called her a "pure entertainer" after witnessing a throwdown of her spunky verses at an audition in his boardroom. Since then, her flow has been character¡ized as "barb-infested" by Rolling Stone, "arresting and electrifying" by Elle, and "terrifying and thrilling" by Fader. In addition to these, Sov has been featured in Vibe, Spin, The Guardian's Magazine, Interview, Blender, Blackbook, Jane, The Source, Pitchfork, GQ, i-D, and this week's New York Daily News. Watch for upcoming features in the New York Times, People, Newsweek, and the Wall Street Journal.

Jay-Z added the diminutive star to Def Jam's expanding new roster alongside Ne-Yo, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, and Rihanna. Lady Sov was then hooked up with Dr. Luke, the New York City producer/songwriter who injected the horsepower into hits by everyone from Mos Def, Zach de la Rocha, and P!nk, to Kelly Clarkson's ubiquitous "Since U Been Gone."

A native of North London's notoriously cut-throat Chalkhill Estates, a rough trade housing development just blocks away from the no-man's-land near Wembley Stadium, Lady Sovereign (nee Louise Harmon) was a teen school dropout when she hooked up with the vital East London grime scene. Adopting to the punk rock DIY ethic, her knack for self-promotion soon proved as effective as her mic skills. She posted her rhymes - including "Random" and "Ch-Ching" - on facepix.com (an early version of MySpace) and the Internet carried them around the world.

Lady Sovereign completed a round of successful U.S performances in the late-spring and summer, including the Coachella and Intonation festivals and a national tour in support of The Streets. She returned to headline New York City's Central Park Summerstage in July, followed by the prestigious Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago's Grant Park on August 4th, and Seattle's Bumbershoot festival over the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Across the Internet, Sov's presence continues to grow - with over 13,500 scans detected for "Love Me Or Hate Me" (reflecting a 76% sales increase) in its second week on iTunes. Starting September 17th, another track, "Gatheration," has been featured as part of an iTunes/ Facebook promotion that is reaching 1 million people per week for 10 weeks. Sov was featured as MSN's "Ones To Watch" and is one of the most increased music searches at Yahoo!. She still personally manages her own page and communi¡cates directly with close to 63,000 friends on MySpace, which has logged over 705,000 profile views, and generated more than 1.9 million plays on "Love Me Or Hate Me." Her MySpace "Secret Show" will premiere in November, date to be announced in the weeks ahead.

Tour Dates:

Oct. 23 Montreal, Que. - Club Soda
Oct. 24 Toronto, Ont. - Opera House
Oct. 26 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
Oct. 28 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
Oct. 29-30 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
Nov. 1 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom
Nov. 3 Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
Nov. 4 Chicago, IL - Metro
Nov. 5 Minneapolis, MN - The Varsity Theater
Nov. 7 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre & Cafe
Nov. 10 Vancouver, B.C. - Commodore Ballroom
Nov. 11 Seattle, WA - Neumo's
Nov. 12 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
Nov. 14 San Francisco, CA - Club Mezzanine
Nov. 15 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
Nov. 18 Las Vegas, NV - Empire Ballroom
Nov. 19 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
Nov. 22 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room & Ballroom
Nov. 23 Austin, TX - The Parish
Nov. 24 Houston, TX - Meridian Red Room
Nov. 26 New Orleans, LA - The Parish
Nov. 27 Tallahassee, FL - Beta Bar
Nov. 28 Miami, FL - Studio A
Nov. 30 St. Petersburg, FL - State Theatre
Dec. 1 Atlanta, GA - The Loft