SXSW Marks U.S. Debut Performances From Lady Leshurr And Little Roy’s Battle For Seattle Album

This year’s SXSW Bass Culture showcase will mark two important U.S. debuts for British artists – Lady Leshurr and Little Roy. The show, which explores the resurgence of reggae in the British music, will be held on Friday March 16 at 8pm inside The Driskill Hotel’s Victorian Room and includes additional live sets from DJ Kenny Ken, Rasites, Natty and one special guest to be announced.

Reggae legend Little Roy will finally premiere and perform songs live from his buzzworthy Nirvana cover album ‘Battle For Seattle’ in the United States. Released September 2011 through Ark Recordings, Little Roy’s critically acclaimed release is a deftly executed reggae rendition of Kurt Cobain’s classics. This 10-track collection is the brainchild of Prince Fatty aka Mike Pelanconi and the Mutant Hi-Fi aka Nick Coplowe. Little Roy, who now lives in England, was born in Kingston, Jamaica where he cut his first single at the legendary Studio One in 1965. He was the first artist to top the Jamaican chart with an overtly Rasta tune in 1969 with “Bongo Nyah,” and was responsible for other early roots classics like “Prophesy,” “Christopher Columbus,” and “Tribal War,” which was sampled on Nas and Damian Marley’s ‘Distant Relatives’ album.  

Lady Leshurr, arguably one of the most impressive grime MCs emerging from the UK, will take the stage for the very first time in America. Inspired by the likes of Tinie Tempah, Wretch32 and Tinchy Stryder, she has built a reputation as “The Best Spitter in the UK.” The industry buzz is building from the likes of Mike Skinner to Nicki Minaj, who heralded her as the “next big thing.” She began rapping and writing poetry at the age of six, finding inspiration in the power of reggae legend Sister Nancy and later in her brother’s U.S. rap collection. In high school she was honing her skills at parties where she DJed and rapped over drum and bass, garage and grime. Her show-stopping take on Chris Brown and Busta Rhymes’s “Look at me Now” notched up over 80,000 views in one day on worldstarhiphop.com, and now has in excess of 500,000 YouTube views. She has put out a number of mixtapes including ‘Friggin L’ and ‘2000andL,’ which have garnered her praise throughout the blogsphere. Her debut album is due in Spring 2012. She is also developing her own clothing and accessories line and record label.