Leslie Hall
Encyclopedia
Leslie Merritt Hall is an American
satirical
rap artist
and front-woman for the band Leslie and the LY's
and the operator of a "gem sweater museum".
Leslie first began displaying herself in "strangely glamorous and unflattering ways" while attending Ames High School
in Iowa
. During her senior year
, she entered the homecoming
parade, as part of a prom queen campaign, donning a sparkling pink Goodwill
gown, a neck brace, and a tiara
(won by her mother who was crowned Miss Auburn, Nebraska
in 1970). Her publicity stunt made the front page of the local newspaper the following day. Her campaign was a success, and when springtime came, she was crowned queen. After graduating from high school, Hall moved to Boston, Massachusetts and completed her education at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts
in May 2006. Currently she resides in Ames and lives with her parents.
Hall began collecting gem sweaters in 2000 and has since amassed over 400 different sweaters according to her August 2006 interview with Martin Sargent
. Hall modeled these sweaters on the website gemsweater.com, garnering significant Internet traffic such that she was asked to appear on one of the final episodes of Unscrewed with Martin Sargent
. In her 2004 TechTV
interview, she stated that "about 65% of the comments" from the gemsweater.com message boards were related to a particular outfit of hers that included gold pants. She decided to form a band, Leslie and the LY's, with former classmates, capitalizing on the popularity of her gem-laden sweaters and gold pants. In 2005 her band released their first album, Gold Pants.
In 2006 Hall followed up with a second self-released solo record, Door Man's Daughter, and toured the globe in support of it. She was also featured on a VH1
special called 40 Greatest Internet Superstars. Later in 2006 she appeared with fellow Internet personalities Jay Maynard
, also known as "Tron Guy", and Randy Constan
, a Peter Pan impersonator, to take a stand in the "battle over Internet freedom" in favor of network neutrality
.
In 2007 she teamed up with Dungeon Majesty to create the video "Willow Don't Cry". In April 2007 she appeared on MTV
's Total Request Live
. On September 27, 2007, Leslie appeared on the Nickelodeon
children's show Yo Gabba Gabba!
, to perform in the "Dancey Dance" segment of an episode titled "Scary". Leslie appeared again on October 21, 2008 in the season two episode titled "Differences".
In 2008 she appeared with Tay Zonday
in a commercial for Firefox, singing a song titled "Users Against Boredom", a parody of We Are The World
. Leslie toured in support of her 2008 album, ceWEBrity. She released a music video (and single) called "Zombie Killer" featuring Elvira, Mistress of the Dark on guest vocals, with cameos by Mark Borchardt
and Mike Schank of American Movie
fame.
Leslie's newest songs as of 2009 were "Craft Talk" and "Tight Pants (Body Rolls)". The music video for "Body Rolls" premiered January 17, 2009 at her show in Ames but has since been released along side "Gravel In My Shoe". Her 2010 album, "Back 2 Back Palz", features these two singles, as well as 11 country music inspired songs. It is currently available from Leslie's official website.
In October 2010 she began making guest appearances with the Yo Gabba Gabba! live touring act. She appears in the feature film Hamlet A.D.D.
.
Hall has an older brother who goes by the pseudonym "Arecee" who helps produce some of Leslie's records and does his own hip hop
music.
Other:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
rap artist
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”...
and front-woman for the band Leslie and the LY's
Leslie and the Ly's
Leslie & the LY's is a pop music band from Ames, Iowa that began as an open mike trio in 2004.Leslie & the LY's is made up of front-woman Leslie Hall, also known as Mother Gem, who composes all of the music herself generally using the Apple Computer program GarageBand. Other past and present...
and the operator of a "gem sweater museum".
Leslie first began displaying herself in "strangely glamorous and unflattering ways" while attending Ames High School
Ames High School
Ames High School is the sole high school in Ames, Story County, Iowa.-Academics:January 2008 —Ames High School has been named one of the top high schools in the country by U.S. News and World Report. In its recently released rankings, the magazine awarded Ames High School a silver medal, one of...
in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. During her senior year
Twelfth grade
Twelfth grade or Senior year, or Grade Twelve, are the North American names for the final year of secondary school. In most countries students then graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a thirteenth grade, while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all...
, she entered the homecoming
Homecoming
Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni of a school. It most commonly refers to a tradition in many universities, colleges and high schools in North America...
parade, as part of a prom queen campaign, donning a sparkling pink Goodwill
Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries International is a not-for-profit organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who have a disability, lack education or job experience, or face employment challenges...
gown, a neck brace, and a tiara
Tiara
A tiara is a form of crown. There are two possible types of crown that this word can refer to.Traditionally, the word "tiara" refers to a high crown, often with the shape of a cylinder narrowed at its top, made of fabric or leather, and richly ornamented. It was used by the kings and emperors of...
(won by her mother who was crowned Miss Auburn, Nebraska
Auburn, Nebraska
Auburn is a city in Nemaha County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,350 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Nemaha County. The City of Auburn is actually an incorporation of two towns. Calvert and Sheridan combined to form Auburn in 1882, in part to have the voting power to...
in 1970). Her publicity stunt made the front page of the local newspaper the following day. Her campaign was a success, and when springtime came, she was crowned queen. After graduating from high school, Hall moved to Boston, Massachusetts and completed her education at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is an undergraduate and graduate college located in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the visual arts. It is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in partnership with Tufts University...
in May 2006. Currently she resides in Ames and lives with her parents.
Hall began collecting gem sweaters in 2000 and has since amassed over 400 different sweaters according to her August 2006 interview with Martin Sargent
Martin Sargent
Martin Paul Sargent is an American television personality and was co-host of the This WEEK in FUN podcast with Sarah Lane...
. Hall modeled these sweaters on the website gemsweater.com, garnering significant Internet traffic such that she was asked to appear on one of the final episodes of Unscrewed with Martin Sargent
Unscrewed with Martin Sargent
Unscrewed with Martin Sargent was a late night American television show focusing on the comedy of technology. It was produced at TechTV and aired from May 26, 2003 to December 2004...
. In her 2004 TechTV
TechTV
TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming...
interview, she stated that "about 65% of the comments" from the gemsweater.com message boards were related to a particular outfit of hers that included gold pants. She decided to form a band, Leslie and the LY's, with former classmates, capitalizing on the popularity of her gem-laden sweaters and gold pants. In 2005 her band released their first album, Gold Pants.
In 2006 Hall followed up with a second self-released solo record, Door Man's Daughter, and toured the globe in support of it. She was also featured on a VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
special called 40 Greatest Internet Superstars. Later in 2006 she appeared with fellow Internet personalities Jay Maynard
Jay Maynard
Jay Maynard is a computer programmer and system administrator and the volunteer project maintainer for Hercules, an emulator of IBM mainframe hardware...
, also known as "Tron Guy", and Randy Constan
Randy Constan
Randy Constan is a Peter Pan impersonator who posted his cosplay pictures on a website in 2001, in what he stated was an attempt to find a girlfriend...
, a Peter Pan impersonator, to take a stand in the "battle over Internet freedom" in favor of network neutrality
Network neutrality
Network neutrality is a principle that advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers or governments on consumers' access to networks that participate in the Internet...
.
In 2007 she teamed up with Dungeon Majesty to create the video "Willow Don't Cry". In April 2007 she appeared on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
. On September 27, 2007, Leslie appeared on the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
children's show Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba! is an American children's television show currently airing on the Nick Jr. cable network in the United States and the Nick Jr. networks in the United Kingdom & Ireland, Italy, France and Australia as well as Treehouse TV network in Canada and RTE2 on RTEjr see Raidió Teilifís...
, to perform in the "Dancey Dance" segment of an episode titled "Scary". Leslie appeared again on October 21, 2008 in the season two episode titled "Differences".
In 2008 she appeared with Tay Zonday
Tay Zonday
Adam Nyerere Bahner , better known by the pseudonym Tay Zonday, is an American musician, YouTube personality and voice actor. He is well known by listeners for his deep baritone voice whilst singing. He garnered mainstream exposure when his song "Chocolate Rain", and accompanying video on YouTube,...
in a commercial for Firefox, singing a song titled "Users Against Boredom", a parody of We Are The World
We Are the World
"We Are the World" is a song and charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Omartian for the album We Are the World...
. Leslie toured in support of her 2008 album, ceWEBrity. She released a music video (and single) called "Zombie Killer" featuring Elvira, Mistress of the Dark on guest vocals, with cameos by Mark Borchardt
Mark Borchardt
Mark Borchardt is an American independent filmmaker. He is best known as the subject of the 1999 film American Movie: The Making of Northwestern, which documented two years he spent writing, shooting and editing his horror short, Coven .-Early life:Borchardt was born and raised in Menomonee Falls,...
and Mike Schank of American Movie
American Movie
American Movie: The Making of Northwestern is a 1999 documentary directed by Chris Smith. The film chronicles the real 1996-1997 making of Coven, an independent horror film directed by an independent filmmaker named Mark Borchardt...
fame.
Leslie's newest songs as of 2009 were "Craft Talk" and "Tight Pants (Body Rolls)". The music video for "Body Rolls" premiered January 17, 2009 at her show in Ames but has since been released along side "Gravel In My Shoe". Her 2010 album, "Back 2 Back Palz", features these two singles, as well as 11 country music inspired songs. It is currently available from Leslie's official website.
In October 2010 she began making guest appearances with the Yo Gabba Gabba! live touring act. She appears in the feature film Hamlet A.D.D.
Hamlet A.D.D.
Hamlet A.D.D., directed by Bobby Ciraldo & Andrew Swant and produced by Special Entertainment, is an upcoming independent feature film and web series which re-imagines Shakespeare’s play as a bizarre and comical tour through the ages....
.
Hall has an older brother who goes by the pseudonym "Arecee" who helps produce some of Leslie's records and does his own hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
music.
Discography
Albums:- Gold Pants (2005)
- includes: Ring A Ding-Ding, Gold Pants, Tune in Tokyo, Danger Puss, Dream a Dream, Danga Stranga, Master of the Mic, Rolling With the Homies, Beware of beats, UFO Jams, Gem Sweater, Rapper's Destiny, Beat Box Radio, Beef Humper's Sweater Girl
- Door Man's Daughter (2006)
- includes: Meet The Keeper Intro, Strike Gold, Zombie Killer, Shazam I'm Glamorous, Gem Sweater Revisited, Can't Stop The Gems (Jams), Take Yo Picture, Shake Your Hips, Hard & Funky, Beat-Dazzler, Holla Back Ames, Mother Gem Lullaby featuring Arecee
- ceWEBrity (2008)
- includes: How We Go Out, Drop A Gem, Blame The Booty, Test 10 Guys, Spider Eyes, Keep It Real, Zombie Killer featuring Elvira, Midwest Diva, Party Dip, Real Gold and Glamorous
- Back 2 Back Palz (2010):
- includes: Craft Talk, Tight Pants / Body Rolls, Crystal Diamond Women Flow, Gravel In My Shoe, Sew What, Cat Dancer, Braid My Hair, Churn The Butter, Rebuilt My House, Dust Lover, Chop Chop Chop, Man-Illa Envelope, Moving Out of Iowa, Blame the Booty Acoustic, Water Water Water-World
Other:
- Gold Pants - Split 45 (2005)
- Gold Pants/Door Man's Daughter - Double Album (2008)
- Zombie Killer - 45 (2008)
External links
- lesliehall.com - official website
- Leslie and the LY's - official website
- gemsweater.com - The World's Largest Gem Sweater Collection & Museum
- Leslie Hall on myspace
- Leslie Hall on Internet Movie Database
- 03/2007 - Leslie on Arte's Trax Music TV Show (in french)
- "Zombie Killer" (feat. Elvira) music video on YouTube