The UK has always been a vibrant melting pot of styles fusing different genres and continually coming up with new sounds that the rest of the world takes to. Flavour of the month at the moment seems to be funky which has been slowly creeping in to a lot of DJ’s sets in Australia in recent times, but has been smashing clubs in England in a similar way to how garage did ten years ago. There are a hell of a lot of mc’s vocalling tunes right now, but Lady Chann is someone who sticks out above a lot of the nursery rhyme spitters out there. Not one to stick to genres she’s comfortable spitting on all manner of riddims from bashment to grime to dubstep and all in-between and if you’ve not checked her out then you’ve either not been exposed yet or you’re a donut! She’s currently here in Australia on tour so do your best to catch up with her. I’ll be supporting her at The Espy in Melbourne this coming Friday (23/07/2010) so see ya there!
I remember that tune ‘Somebody’ a few years back that got a lot of love, what’s the deal with Suncycle, are they still about and how many actual members were there?
Yes that was a big track for us, and was my actual debut me as a dancehall artist. That song ‘Somebody’ appeared on our 2004 album entitled ‘I AM SOMEBODY.’ Suncycle as a production company is still about with the CEO/artist/producer Dolamite expanding the business to Jamaica… we as a group are all on solo projects but when we want to, we’ll still do tunes together. In all there were the Skrilla Kids who were the hip hop side to Suncycle. in total we had GAPPY RANX, LANTE, INFRA REDMAN, BONGO KANNY, BOOJI, LANDA BOO,NAF SKRILLA,WEEZY, VILLAIN, SARITA, ARMARNI, CASH… there was alot of us, but it whittled down to myself , Dolamite and Lante.
Do u prefer now doing solo stuff or as a group and what do u se as the major differences, good and bad?
I love doing solo stuff as I don’t have to really compromise with anyone else, and can tell my version of events in a whole song and not just an 8 or 16 bar verse, I can play around and explore and stretch myself as an artist. But being with the boys I always loved it, because we are family and being on the same tunes altogether and going places altogether was a laugh. sometimes its very lonely being a solo artist, especially if you have come from a group. I’m responsible for all my decisions good or bad, and mistakes… if I forget a lyric on stage by myself I have to solve this prob, and cant delegate it to a group member…haha!
Growing up, what sort of artists did you listen to and who do you see as legends of the UK scene?
I listened to everyone from Madonna to Prodigy… I adored The Fugees and would love to work/meet them. We have plenty of legends in the UK such as the great Tubby T (RIP) he was the best at what I’m doing now and scored major record deals too… we have great artists and producers from the drum and bass era who I’ve been lucky to work with such as MC Skibadee… legends like Chukki Starr as reggae artist…. loads to recall.
The UK scene seems quite exciting at the moment with for want of a better word, ‘urban’ artists getting good chart positions, Rinse FM getting a licence and with the Olympics happening next year there’s a buzz about London in particular right now, what are your thoughts on this?
To be apart of the ‘buzz’ is cool, I don’t necessarily feel it, or notice it, or even concentrate on it… but from a fan of music watching other artist kick down the doors, and make a great living from our scene is a very proud moment for me. Rinse have been responsible for airing alot of our tunes, and has a massive following. It’s only right they have a legal license; this pushes the scene forward even more. A big congrats to them.
You’ve worked with Sticky who has produced a lot of classics in the UK scene, who else have you worked with or are looking to in the future?
I’ve been lucky to work with great producers such as Toddla T, Seiji ,MJ Cole,South RakasYesking, Mojam,Saint and Campbell.. will be working with Scream and Benga too so its all good… there are lots of peeps id love to work with… probably Chase and Status and across the pond Timberland would be a definite yes.
If u weren’t doing music what would you be doing for a living?
I’d probably be an IT technician, I did study parts of it! lol! I love computers and gadgets and programs.
What are your plans moving forward?
Well I just released my free mix tape called DUN DEM SEASON VOL 1 and that can be downloaded for free from my MySpace on http://www.myspace.com/ladychann and was mixed by the great South Rakas. what I have in store are a couple more single releases, another mixtape and currently working on my debut solo album, which I’m completely chuffed to be able to do.
If you could work with anyone dead or alive who would that be and why?
This is easy….. Michael Jackson… he was great! no explanation needed!
What are your expectations of Australia and what sort of show can the people expect?
Been to Australia before and totally fell in love with the place… takes ages to get there tho lol! but well worth it… peeps can expect a cheeky, quality show with high energy levels….. so get them Redbulls in and come down to see me!!!! xxxxxx