Make no mistake about it, Melesha O’Garro is the complete package. It’s very possible that you’ve heard her feature on Tinie Tempah’s mixtape, ‘Sexy Beast Vol. 1’, or on the ‘Female Takeover’ remix of Tinchy Stryder’s ‘Game Over’. If you’ve seen her perform on stage or YouTube, you could remember her for being a consummate rap mimic, especially on her show-stopping take on Chris Brown and Busta Rhymes’ “Look at me Now”, which notched up over 80,000 views in one day on worldstarhiphop.com, and now has in excess of 500,000 YouTube views across the 3 different video versions. Or perhaps you’re aware of her unanimous reputation as ‘The Best Spitter in the UK’, and the industry buzz that’s building round her, with everyone from Mike Skinner to Nicki Minaj and Trey Songz heralding her as the ‘next big thing’, and the MD of Atlantic US flying her over to New York to discuss plans for her forthcoming album. You might think of Lady Leshurr as the quirky artist who rhymed over a reworked Dr Who theme on “Exterminate” from her 0121 AM mixtape, reduced other rappers to bemused laughter on a bonus track on her recent “Friggin’ L” collection, and who demonstrates a classic dry Brummie humour on Twitter and elsewhere. Or perhaps you’ve just been startled that such a cute, petite young woman can be such a dextrous and furiously powerful vocalist or listened closer and heard how hard-hitting her lyrics are beneath the wit and wordplay. Musically, her refusal to be pigeonholed simply reflects her background and life experiences. She grew up in the sprawling West Midlands district of Kingshurst, Solihull, where she still lives now – in contrast to most rappers who feel the need to emphasise ghetto credentials, she refers to this as “really lovely, a good area!” Her parents both came from the Caribbean isle of St Kitts, and from birth she was surrounded by music, but while her mother’s tastes included reggae, her dad tended to pop music, and her older brother to hip hop, so the mix was there from the start. More than anything, though, Lady Leshurr wants to make her mum proud. “She worked 12 hour shifts to make sure we were ok,” she remembers proudly, “and I want to be able to look after her in return… and show her that I’ve got that focus and dedication too.” Good daughter, entrepreneur, fashion designer, role model, joker… and one of the finest voices of her generation: we told you she was the complete package.
