NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Midget Records) - 'I feel great now. I feel like I've overcome all my dark times. I get to pick who I want to work with. No one can tell me off or make me do things because I'm the boss. It feels amazing. I've got my own label and everything works my way'.
And what better way to call all the shots on your own terms than to start your own label? Which is where Lady Sovereign's budding empire, Midget Records, comes in.
In partnership with EMI Music Services, Lady Sovereign holds all the creative reigns crucially, her A&R, marketing and promotion, while EMI provides the scale and mighty machinery of a global platform for Midget Records. A dream partnership, the deal puts Sov in the creative driving seat, while giving Midget Records access to worldwide distribution and EMI's team around the world.
Back in the studio and back in control, her forthcoming album 'Jigsaw' is everything we have come to expect from a rapper whose unique flow and gutsy sensibility has already wowed hundreds upon thousands of fans all over the world.
Setting the record straight, 'Jigsaw' tells Sov's rollercoaster story of the last two years with her usual honesty, genre-defying beats and punchy, zest-fresh lyrics. Only, this time around as well as rapping, Sov does something a little bit different; she sings.
'Like my first album, it's not consistent but it works for me. There are genres on there that ain't even genres, I'm unpredictable when it comes to making music, I don't do one genre! I've got a few classic club tracks on there but also songs that show another side, a more developed style of songwriting. It's another chapter to my life. A few of the tracks explain everything that's happened in the last two years, which I didn't get a chance to at the time. I've been listening to a lot of electro, a lot of instrumental music. Working with (long-time producer) Medasyn is an inspiration because we always come up with some weird beats together.'
Talking of one of the tracks she sings on, album title track 'Jigsaw', Lady Sovereign continues; 'I was seeing someone, it was pretty deep. I was loved up. Then it all f***ed up and I just wanted to sing about it really. I'm not the best singer in the world but you listen to it and you definitely feel it, you know. Rapping is second nature to me. I feel different when I sing. I feel lighter, it's fun.'
Nor does Midget Records begin and end with 'Jigsaw'. Far from it. Sov has giant plans for Midget, very giant plans.