Birmingham's Brightest Brings Missy Elliott to the Midlands

While I get crunk like everybody else do when Azealia Banks’ “212″ comes in after a David Guetta/Rihanna remix, I gotta say, if I wanna put my money on a girl who has her head on straight and is gonna get all “Nicki-Minaj-in-2012″ (and they best be bringing their A game, cause Mme. Maraj is a freak), it could just as well be the squeaky-voiced lyrical beastess Lady Leshurr.

Lady Leshurr, or Miz Melesha O’Garro, was born in Birmingham, England, of St. Kitts extraction, and according to her bio starting rapping at age six. She used to freestyle into her parents voicemails. Awwww. Then she went to performing arts school, where she mastered the triple threat of millenial pop stardom – dancing/singing/rapping. Oh, and acting — she’s already had roles in movies.

She’s been making mixtapes from her native Birmingham since she was in junior high, but her name started ringing bells after her freestyle on the UK-based YouTube show SB64.

My personal fave diss line from her 64 bars: “Your mouth open like you’re applyin’ mascara/You’re better off staying where your hairline is – far back.” Oh, no she di’-n’t.

She’s already featured both on Tinie Tempah’s mixtape and a Tinchy Stryder remix, and her first official single, “Lego,” came out in November and cemented her Missy-Elliott-inspired goofy bravado.

She is putting out her debut this year on her own label, Gutterstrut Recordings. And her clothing line, Friggin-L, has already sold out a season. This isn’t hype it’s just real: her flow is machine-gun fluent, and her stance can’t-stop-won’t-stop, like another pint-sized Barbie MC ya mighta heard of.