That's it Kreayshawn officially won me over with this track and video! Can't say I'm the only one given her 400 000 + views. Meet the female version of Based ow whatever you wanna call it.

Ever since we started featuring 19 year old Marz Lovejoy, she has been growing as an emcee: from her first photoshoot with Kasey, to her first performance with Pac Div with whom she's currently on tour. She's blooming under our eyes as an artist and it's wonderful. Here's a new track produced by LA based producer Polyester with whom she's dropping an EP later on. Enjoy, you're about to hear an already very distinctive voice.

Photo: Marz & Mibbs (Pac Div) at The Roxy, by Kasey Stokes

Pac Div LIVE performing "Shine" from their latest mixtape Don't Mention It  at The Roxy Ft. (in her 1st performance eva) Marz Lovejoy. Unfortunately for Marz the mic was kinda off at the beginning of the performance, it still was a cool moment and an opportunity to see her vibe with the boys.

You heard it... Marz features on "Shine" on Pac Div's last project "Don't Mention It" entirely produced by Swiff D. She also graces our website and social network sites thanks to this great picture of her by Kasey. No doubt we'll be featuring her further so in the meantime just wanted to give her a lil shout out...

(Here's also her in a cypher;)

Here at LA Stereo, we like to lend our ears to good music from the far and wide regions of the world, but, we always like to show our local artists love. Meet JimiJames aka Rah Rah Girl, a singer-songwriter born and bred right here in Los Angeles or according to her Myspace page, "Los Jankymess," a play on her latest album So Janky. She describes her sound as Gritti-pop—popular music that is “sexy, funky, edgy, uninhibited.”  I have been listening to her for over a year now, and I can  tell she has so much fun with her music. She can go from sultry to sassy in a millisecond all while keeping her cool.

Visit Myspace.com/RahRahGirl

In this interview I conducted with Nneka, she talks about her journey, how her music fits in America, her spiritual connection with Nas and Damian Marley, the internet and the lingua she uses in her music.
Her album "Concrete Jungle" is out in America, cop it now, this lady is in for the long run.

Shout out to Cary Gallagher for filming the interview.

(photography: StokesUP)
Sirah One thinks girls can't rap. Funny, coming from a girl who raps. However, that statement makes you wonder where are our prevailing lady MCs with lyrical flow? If one tried to figure it all out, it's as useless as a teacher doing roll call in an empty classroom. But here's Sirah, a pint-sized emcee, who's as cute as a Pixar cartoon character, with a booming, New York drawl. She possesses the potential to be the next rap superstar sans the shiny shimmy shorts and stripper heels. Her Latest release, Smile,You Got Teeth is a revelation for many woman in the game: be yourself without succumbing to the pressures of the industry.

ND: Tell me about the slogan on your Myspace page "Girls Can't Rap."
Sirah: First of all, Murs said that to me and I thought it was really funny. I was really young and impressionable and I was like, oh, ok girls can't rap. I ran into him the other day, and I was like yo, do you remember!  And he said, "no, girls can rap, like they get turned out or they get put down." What he was saying  was that it's so much harder so girls can't rap because the industry makes it impossible to do so. But it's funnier because people think that that's what I believe wholly.


ND: You were born and raised in New York before coming to California, tell me how life was like before making the West Coast transition.
Sirah: I grew up partially on Long Island and Queens, which is the same thing. It was a lot different growing up there than it is here. I also lived partially on an indigenous reservation. I had like a really, really speckled childhood. You have to grow up a lot quicker out there than you do here from what I've seen. 


ND:You also grew up in a very musical family.
Sirah: My father toured, but he was also home a lot and we always had musicians coming in and out. He was in numerous bands until he joined From the Hip, a nine piece blues/rock 'n' roll band which toured with the Doobie Brothers. My family still plays music. My aunt sings; my uncle has a Neil Young cover band, it's really dope(laughs). 


ND: Wow, the Doobie Brothers?
Sirah: Yeah, he was touring at the height of his musical career. His band had a lot of success. They did a lot of festivals. He was more of a heroin addict so his career never really got to the place it could.

ND: How did that affect your childhood?
Sirah: It was awful. I took care of my dad for a year and a half. I dropped out of school in the 4th grade to take care of my dad. When he passed away when I was 12 I was completely devastated. I didn't know how to do anything anymore. So I figured out how to do it real quick.



ND: When you dropped out in 4th grade, did you manage to finish school?
Sirah: I was put back into school. They put me back, but I ended up graduating high school at 16. School in New York is so much faster than out here (in California). I remember moving here and going to high school partially and them being like, (does an old lady voice) "this is an exit exam this is all you need to do to get out of high school. And it consists of thirty questions. A lot of people fail."  And I went to take the test and it was like, what is 4+4. And then it was multiple choice, 8, 2, or 4. And I was like what the fuck, what is this?

ND: You are very candid about suffering with drug abuse in your music.
Sirah: Yeah, I used drugs from the age of 10 until 17 like everyday. I didn't think it was a problem. In the beginning I was smoking blunts and drinking 40s. I thought that was normal. I thought that's what people do: they just sit on porches and die or whatever. And it just progressed from there because I was so uncomfortable in my own skin, and didn't know how to do anything else but chill with people who got high and put their names on things. I sought help and it's been fine ever since. Now I volunteer with drug addicted kids. I've been off drugs for 3 1/2 years and I don't smoke and I don't drink.



ND: You grew up on classic rock. Where did hip-hop come in?
Sirah: Puffy's remix to "Every Breath You Take." I didn't know that Police & Sting originally did that song. It was funny because I would be like, "It's kinda hard with you not around…" and when the chorus came on, my dad would be like "every step you take…" I would tell my dad that it's not the song, and he would say "you don't understand, this is music that came from [a classic]."

ND: So you are still learning about hip-hop?
Sirah: I don't know anything, I just remain teachable.  People know a lot more than me. I'm young. I wasn't at the birth of hip-hop in the park smoking a blunt with my boombox. I wasn't. I'm not going to front.

ND: Do you feel like you always have to prove yourself in this industry?
Sirah: I think that I've gotten pass the point of having to prove. When I first started rapping, I used to wear hoodies because naturally I was always really hardcore--kinda gangsta. I lived in East LA and I would take the bus all over. I thought I had to protect myself, because I did, so I would be all covered up. I've really grown into being a women in general, not only in rap. So what I find happening is that when people meet me I'm really nice and really loving and really compassionate and it doesn't make any sense to them. I mean, if you fuck with me or cut me off in traffic that's a whole other look. I'm really nice but don't mistake that me for not trying to bite your fucking ankles right now. I'll do it (laughs).



by Nicole Dawley