The “Queen of Grime” teams up with Captain Morgan to deliver a banger with a message.
“It’s aways been a drink that I’ve liked” laughs Lady Leshurr. “I think it has a great message. I don’t think it’s ever been done before; It’s fresh and definitely connecting to different audiences.”
Partnering up with Diageo’s responsible drinking campaign, Captain Morgan has teamed up with the grime star to make a video to promote this important message and raise awareness with her latest track “#LiveLikeACaptain”. I was interested in discussing her thoughts and ideas behind the video based on a night out. “It’s just basically trying to get the message across to people who go out and drink more than they should, and just letting them know how to drink responsibly and that it’s ok to do that and have a good night.” She tells me. “It’s important to be able to remember it, and just be safe.” Leshurr agrees that the video is clever and connects to the audience well, “I really liked the concept of the video and the way it rewinds to see what could have happened”.
Having such a massive response on Youtube with her “Queen’s Speech” episodes reaching a whopping 6.4M views on “Ep.6”, Lady Leshurr is a very active contributor to her online music platform. Boasting such a vast fanbase and huge online profile, Leshurr stands as an important figure, with people addressing her as “Queen Of Grime”. When I asked her about how important it is to her as an artist to speak out and use her platform to inspire others, she’s extremely honest and humble. “To me, it’s very imperative.” She says after a pensive pause. “Especially for me, if I strongly believe in certain things I strongly speak out all the time. I think it’s very important for the people listening to your music. You don’t necessarily have to be a role model and it’s something that I never thought I’d be but you’re words are so powerful.” This proves how social media can have such a huge affect on how accessible music can be to the younger generation. “It’s so easy to become somebody now,” comments Leshurr. “You just need to put out a few videos, things go viral these days and I think it’s much easier to be seen and noticed. It seems healthy so it’s only going to get better.” When relating back to the campaign we discuss the significance of blending music and visual arts together. “It’s just like watching a short movie and it’s very relatable. It’s good to be able to connect to the common man.”
The singer has released many videos over her nine years active as an artist, and has named artists such as Nicki Minaj, Missy Elliott, and Lil Wayne as her primary influences. Regarding lyrical inspirations, Lady Leshurr cites everyday life and people in general. Returning back to the idea of social media and online perception, things as simple as the news have got the singer making clever, culturally relevant references in her music.“I usually just get it from everyday life and social media and stuff as that’s where everyone gets the news from nowadays.” She says. “Usually I just write about that as automatically people can connect to it as they know about it or heard about it. I always try to write lyrics that people can relate to.” With writing music being second nature to her, her favourite part of writing her own music is the actual writing process itself. And no wonder due to her influences and inspiration being in her daily routine and regular day. “I like to be on my own trying to write lyrics so I’m in my element and nobody is around me!”
Following the massive response I asked about upcoming music and maybe even an album in the future. “I’m going to be releasing a new project which is going to be a collection of work as people think I’m just a YouTube rapper.” She says. After much success and recognition, why shouldn’t she now take the next step? “I haven’t ever released an album so I think it’s time now. Should be out in the next couple of months.” We can’t wait.