Lady May
Encyclopedia
Lady May is an American rapper
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's suburbs.
May was born in the 1980s and grew up listening to Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
and Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. At the age of fifteen, May stopped attending high school and became a hip hop dance
Hip hop dance
Hip-hop dance refers to dance styles primarily performed to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. It includes a wide range of styles notably breaking, locking, and popping which were created in the 1970s by African Americans and made popular by breaking, locking, and...
r in music videos for artists such as LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
and Jodeci
Jodeci
Jodeci is an American band, whose repertoire includes R&B, soul music, and new jack swing. The group consists of two pairs of brothers from Hampton, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina: Cedric & Joel Hailey and Donald & Dalvin DeGrate, all respectively known by their stage names: K-Ci & Jojo,...
, but was left unsatisfied, eventually turning to rap music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
.
She began rapping in the late '90s under her stage name, Mae West; her rapping skills would eventually gain notice from fellow producer/rapper, Deric
Deric Angelettie
Deric Michael Angelettie , otherwise known as D-Dot, Papa Dot and The Madd Rapper, is a rapper, record producer, CEO and entrepreneur. He graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School in 1986. He then attended Howard University from 1986-1989. He dropped out to pursue a music career...
"D-Dot" Angelettie
Deric Angelettie
Deric Michael Angelettie , otherwise known as D-Dot, Papa Dot and The Madd Rapper, is a rapper, record producer, CEO and entrepreneur. He graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School in 1986. He then attended Howard University from 1986-1989. He dropped out to pursue a music career...
, who introduced her via his 2000 solo debut album, Tell 'Em Why U Madd
Tell 'Em Why U Madd
Tell 'Em Why U Madd is the debut album by The Madd Rapper. The Madd Rapper is the alias of then Bad Boy Records in-house producer D-Dot. After appearing on several skits on Bad Boy albums with his Madd Rapper alias, D-Dot released this album as The Madd Rapper...
, on the track "Shysty Broads" alongside with former Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
protégé, Babe Blue. He later renamed her, Lady May, introduced her to Crazy Cat Productions and she eventually landed a contract deal with Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
in 2001.
May released her debut single in 2002, "Round Up
Round Up
----"Round Up" is a song by American rapper Lady May, featuring American R&B singer Blu Cantrell. Released as a single in June 2002, the song was supposed to be the lead single from May's debut album, May Day, but the album has never been released. The single performed moderately in the U.S...
", which featured R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
singer and former label-mate Blu Cantrell
Blu Cantrell
Blu Cantrell is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Biography:Tiffany Cobb was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1976. Her father was a Narragansett Native American and Cape Verdean, and played in the National Basketball Association...
. Her next selected single was to be "Dick & the Doe"; a music video was shot for the single but in the midst of the pushbacks for May Day, which was first scheduled for a release in May 2002, then to July 16, 2002, then finally to August 2002, the single and video as well as the album were altogether shelved after the poor reception gained from "Round Up" - the album eventually leaked onto P2P sites. She was also featured on former label-mate Rob Jackson's 2002 single "Boom Boom Boom", which was slated to appear on his debut album, For the People, but was eventually shelved as well. In 2003, she was featured on Willa Ford
Willa Ford
Amanda Lee Modano , known professionally as Willa Ford and often as Mandy Modano, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model, television personality and film actress. She released her debut album, Willa Was Here, in 2001...
's "A Toast to Men
A Toast to Men
"A Toast to Men " is a single from pop singer Willa Ford. It is the only single to be released from her 2004 second album SexySexObsessive, which was ultimately shelved.-Song:...
", also appearing in its video.
The same year she appeared on DJ Kayslay's Streetsweeper Vol. 1 on the song "Seven Deadly Sins", which also featured Vita, Angie Martinez
Angie Martinez
Angela "Angie" Martinez is an American radio personality and occasional rapper.-Radio career:Angie Martinez got her first break in radio at the age of 16 answering hot lines at the urban radio station WQHT . There she met popular DJ Funkmaster Flex, and began working as his protégé...
, Duchess, Amil
Amil
Amil Whitehead more commonly known by her stage name Amil, is an American female rapper, singer, and songwriter from New York City. She was prominent in the late 1990s as a Jay-Z protégé, most notably on the single "Can I Get A..." from the Rush Hour soundtrack.-Early life:Amil was born September...
, Sonja Blade, and Remy Ma
Remy Ma
Reminisce Smith , better known by her stage name Remy Ma, formerly known as Remy Martin, is a Grammy nominated American rapper and former member of Fat Joe's rap crew, Terror Squad...
.
May contributed on Jennifer Lopez's 2007 Brave
Brave (Jennifer Lopez album)
Brave is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Jennifer Lopez, released on October 4, 2007 by Epic Records. It debuted at number twelve on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 53,000 copies sold in its first week. Though the album was generally praised by fans, it got mixed reviews from most...
album credited as a song-writer on several tracks.
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
U.S. dance sales Hot Dance Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, established in 1985. It measures the sale of commercially released singles that deal with dance music and remixes... |
|||
| 2002 | "Round Up Round Up ----"Round Up" is a song by American rapper Lady May, featuring American R&B singer Blu Cantrell. Released as a single in June 2002, the song was supposed to be the lead single from May's debut album, May Day, but the album has never been released. The single performed moderately in the U.S... " (featuring Blu Cantrell Blu Cantrell Blu Cantrell is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter.-Biography:Tiffany Cobb was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1976. Her father was a Narragansett Native American and Cape Verdean, and played in the National Basketball Association... ) |
93 | — | May Day |
| "Dick & the Doe" | — | — | ||
| 2003 | "A Toast to Men A Toast to Men "A Toast to Men " is a single from pop singer Willa Ford. It is the only single to be released from her 2004 second album SexySexObsessive, which was ultimately shelved.-Song:... " (Willa Ford Willa Ford Amanda Lee Modano , known professionally as Willa Ford and often as Mandy Modano, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model, television personality and film actress. She released her debut album, Willa Was Here, in 2001... featuring Lady May) |
— | 11 | SexySexObsessive |