Urban artist Lady Remedy gets ready for her big debut
Wearing sweet kicks, acid-wash skinnies, sports memorabilia and shades, Lady Remedy walks up to Kasbah Lounge on J Street like she’s done it a million times. Midtown is her neighborhood, Sacramento is her home. And now that this smooth-talking wordsmith/producer has turned her sights to singing and MCing full time, she says she’s ready to go beyond her streets.
Before Lady Remedy, there was Tori Redd. Redd wrote, produced and hung out quietly around the Sacramento hip-hop scene in which she grew up. She loved the music but didn’t really want the attention.
Fast-forward a few years and the spotlight’s just the beginning.
Remedy’s first EP, Freak, with eight songs–including her single “The Way U Do” out now–releases digitally July 26. [Submerge has received word that this release date has been pushed back. Check http://www.ladyremedy.com/ for up-to-date info on the album’s release.] A 13-track mix tape, The Steez-Tape, is already available online and also showcases Remedy’s producing skills. She’ll follow those up with an 18-track reloaded version of her EP, more music videos and at least four other projects, including an all-female MC compilation called Venus x Bars and her label Block Starz Music’s compilation album, of which a few more installments are in the works.
And of course, the touring to promote all this music starts soon, with an official kick-off lined up during San Diego Pride Week, July 21, 2012.
Before recording, Remedy spent the last two years highlighting what she could do on stage, in person. Now she wants to see what the world thinks of her music.
“Since I’ve been performing out as an artist, I haven’t been putting out music, which is good too, but I don’t think people have a complete perception of what I do and who I am so the music is important to me,” she says. “This will show my position as an artist.”
Remedy’s catchy, throwback style falls into the realm of singers like Brandy and Queen Latifah, as well as rappers like the late Notorious B.I.G. and one of Remedy’s influences, Jean Grae. Remedy is hip-hop, but more.
“I am very much an urban music enthusiast,” she says, pulling up to her hookah at Kasbah Wednesday night. “It’s kind of watered down now because everybody feels like in order to be mainstream you can’t really do urban but mainstream is urban to me. It’s kids and people who are living life in the streets, or living life just out in the world; that’s urban. Those who say urban is just hip-hop, that’s not true. It’s real music.”
Remedy is a lyricist first and foremost, but she says she also wants to show her balance of singing and emceeing, and be the best at both.
“I try not to get boxed in but it’s hard,” she says. “People always ask, ‘Do you like to sing more or rap more?’ It’s fun to do both. When I sing it’s like a different part of me. I can be sweet, soft, sensual, whatever. Soulful and very emotional. Same with MCing, I can talk about subjects that can draw emotion, and just be transparent. Emceeing is a little bit more exciting because it’s more in your face, parental advisory, ha ha, but I don’t like people saying I should be doing one more than the other.”
What listeners may not know is that Remedy started out in soul, singing backup or producing and writing. She’s transitioned into a performer easily because of her past experiences with Sacramento-based R&B/soul artists like Marknoxx, her music partner, and brings the neo-soul, new age vibe she started with to her music now.
“I was always working, producing and writing with local artists and working with whoever knew what I did in music,” says Remedy. “The spotlight never appealed to me. I thought, I just want to write songs. But when I stepped out I got a really warm welcome, and it gave me more confidence and made me want to continue on and grow more.”
Working behind the scenes paid off. Local hip-hop musicians Righteous Movement featured Remedy on their tracks and Turf Hop Alliance, a collective started by local MCs Remedy knew well pulled her into the group. Coupled with her musical relationship and vocals with Marknoxx and the Young Legends, Remedy was set.
“So when I started rockin’ I was affiliated with all these artists and so the same audience who saw them saw me,” Remedy says of her first shows. “Being one of the only girls, they were really excited to see another female doing it so it was a good start.”
When Remedy joined Block Starz Music, the label helped her get more viral attention. Block Starz is also releasing her upcoming albums and mix tape, and has included her on available and upcoming compilations and booked her summer tour dates.
Other upcoming projects include a Turf Hop compilation coming out soon for which Remedy shot a video June 24.
“I wasn’t shooting videos before…Lady Remedy, but it’s fun,” she says, noting her brother, Los Angeles-based photographer and creative director Tyren Redd, has shot all of her prior videos. “Especially when you’re getting into singles and songs that mean something and you want to do a whole story and be artistic and creative. It’s cool to put it out and see how people react to it.”
So what’s this 24-year-old music maker doing when she’s not working? For now, she’s getting ready to move to L.A. “to be seen” more and launch her music statewide. Remedy also has multiple other talents, from basketball to graphics, and she weaves the two into her career when possible. The laid-back sneaker-holic also loves to buy more kicks–her single “Sneaker Freak” is the plain truth–and she rides her fixed-gear around Midtown before sitting down to play video games.
Remedy’s relaxed, comfortable attitude reflects in her quick-hitting lyrics that rely on her life experiences and clever pop culture references, but that doesn’t mean she’s not anxious about her big debut.
“The EP release party is July 25 here at Momo Lounge–Oh my gosh,” she stops and laughs. “I’ve never done anything like this. I think every artist is sensitive about their music. They put it out there. Even a mix tape–it’s just a mix tape but it’s the first thing I’m putting out, so it’s like, you know, I just want it to be received well.”
A welcome reception in her hometown might help, partly because, Remedy says, the talent in Sacramento goes largely unnoticed. If artists like her make it big, she’s hoping more attention will come this way.
“I think it’s a good place to say you’re from, especially with the push that a lot of us are giving right now, we’re reaching masses and that’s bringing attention to Sacramento,” she says. “Eventually everyone [from here] working as hard as they are in music, it’ll turn into something and we can say, ‘I’m from Sacramento,’ and people will be looking for talent in Sacramento. For now, it’s not all the way like that but it’s good we’re going out and bringing attention to where we’re from.“
She continues, “I think Sacramento’s dope. People don’t know. Even for the other genres. Alternative bands, rock bands, we got great hip-hop acts, we got amazing singers, there’s so much talent here, people just don’t know.”
With all that’s in store in the coming months, Remedy says she’s excited about reaching out. Some of the shows she has lined up will be in Sacramento, but she is very focused on the whole state.
“But like I said, I’m from here, and it’s important to get the support of Sacramento,” she says. “I’m excited about reaching out. Reaching back actually. My region, my area, my city.”
Lady Remedy will celebrate the release of her new single “Give It To Um” on July 25, 2012 at Momo Lounge. The show gets underway at 10 p.m. and is presented in conjunction with L!FE. She will also have a show at Shenanigans on Aug. 4. To hear Lady Remedy and get the latest info about release dates and the tour, visit http://www.ladyremedy.com/.
Sacramento Electronic Music Festival 2012
Day 1: Thursday, May 3, 2012
Friday, May 4 was the official Northern California monthly installment for the alt-electronica club night Low End Theory in San Francisco, but an unofficial preview tested the booming systems of Harlow’s on Thursday, May 3 for the opening of the Sacramento Electronic Music Festival. Lorn, Dibia$e, Jonwayne and DJ Nobody are proven low end theorists, earning their stripes at the Los Angeles weekly event held at The Airliner. The four beat masters sent heady vibrations through onlookers’ sternums and the venue’s foundation, but like every year at the SEMF, local electronica talent is in grandiose display.
Lorn
It felt as though we were on the move at the third annual SEMF. The round robin of sets in Harlow’s, upstairs at MoMo’s, and DJ sets on the patio had me hesitant to settle in. Decisions had to be made, compromises even, but the careful selection of performers this year almost guaranteed no disappointing sets. Whatever room you occupied was the place to be at the SEMF.
Young Aundee
Jonwayne took the stage for Dibia$e’s set, to streamline raps, while Dibia$e played selector, mutating his beats with glitch takes, warping from track to track without throwing off his rapping amigo in flip-flops. The set bled into Jonwayne’s slot, as he returned the mic to the stand, plugged in his beat machine and rattled the walls with menacing cuts that blended Southern trap rap bravado like Rick Ross’ proclaiming, “I’m treated like a king when I’m dining,” with boss level 8-bit beats and the baritone keys of a grand piano.
Dusty Brown
The Low Enders are the genuine article, but I found great pleasure in the discoveries, particularly Satellites. The presence of the wooden Pandora’s Box known as the Monome was a rare sight to behold, since I can only think of two other beat makers (Daedalus and Galapagoose) who are masters of its magical properties. He’s impossible to Google, so I still know jack shit about him. But Satellites’ push-button magic set an introductory tone for the L.A. vibes that followed.
Local performers like Paper Pistols, Doom Bird and Dusty Brown instilled the 916 pride in our festival. My hope is that the out-of-towners lurked around for the Dusty Brown set and that word will spread regarding our secret weapon. Dusty Brown opened with the unveiling of two new songs before delivering cuts from his concise and captivating This City Is Killing Me EP, which is destined to be a local classic. Opening with unfamiliar material reeled me in. It’s a dangerous move, but the group is justified in its confidence in their new music. I’m more than ready for a new Dusty Brown album.
Paper Pistols
With heavy hitting headliners like Mux Mool, Lorn, Shlohmo, Death Grips and dozens of other killer musicians slated to perform at Harlow’s and Momo Lounge on May 3—5, Sacramento Electronic Music Festival will surely not disappoint in the audio and aural categories. Neither will it in the visual sense. After a little digging, Submerge got a better idea of what you can expect to see at SEMF when all those sounds are pulsating at you. One interesting installation piece that we got wind of from festival co-organizer Clay Nutting is being created by local artists Sofia Lacin and Hennessy Christophel, collectively known as L/C Mural and Design. No doubt you’ve seen their impressive murals around town, whether you know it or not. For SEMF, the two are working with another artist, Jonathan Messerschmidt-Rogers, on a large installation for the back patio area at Harlow’s.
“We really wanted to be able to use what we know about making a space cool and use it as a chance to for the first time combine what we usually do, which is outdoor murals or art installations, with something we’ve never done before, which is projection,” Lacin told Submerge. “So we are collaborating with Jonathan and he, Hennessy and I are going to create kind of a moving piece that’s all about connecting people through music.” The approximately 8-foot-by-8-foot piece is made of wood, is a weird “cluster shape” and will feature “projections coming in from all around the space and congregating on our canvas.” Sounds dope. Lacin further explained the duo’s concept: “You always have to have a really strong concept, and so we asked ourselves what is this festival about? What are music festivals?” she said. “We just kind of realized how unique it is to draw all of these people together from different backgrounds, different places, and then they’re all drawn together for their common love of music, so we wanted to make the piece about that.”
On top of that piece from Jonathan and L/C, expect wild multi-angle projections from Creative Projections in Harlow’s main stage area, mind-bending laser shows from Double D Productions and more installation art from local Danny Scheible. “Together they are going to transform it with badass laser shows and visuals,” Nutting told Submerge. “It’s going to be bananas, it will not look like Harlow’s.”
No doubt it’s going to be a wild weekend full of both aural and visual stimulation, so get your three-day pass now at Harlows.com for just $30. Learn more about Lacin and Christophel’s work at http://lcmuralanddesign.com/. Learn more about SEMF at http://sacelectronicmusicfest.com/.
Submerge’s very own Adam Saake and his crew at Sacramento Electronic Music Festival, including Clay Nutting of Concerts for Charity, have really outdone themselves with this year’s lineup. The three-day festival will take place on May 3—5, 2012 at Harlow’s and Momo Lounge, and Submerge is proud to be the media sponsor again this year. If you remember anything about last year’s SEMF at Townhouse, you know it was the hottest ticket in town that weekend (there was a line down the block!), and this year will be no different with heavy hitters like Death Grips, Shlohmo, Mux Mool (pictured), Lorn, DJ Nobody, Salva, Dibiase, B. Bravo and Starship Connection confirmed. Also performing will be Giraffage, Raleigh Moncrief, Dusty Brown, Yalls, Doom Bird, Favors, Little Foxes, James & Evander, Dolor, Adoptahighway, Chachi Jones and more. It really is an incredible mix of national and local talent and you can get your three-day pass for a steal, just $30, at Harlows.com. Individual day tickets are $13 a pop. Learn more about SEMF at http://sacelectronicmusicfest.com/ and keep an eye out for coverage right here.
