Studio Sessions | Lady London talks her earliest days in the booth, losing Chino XL as well as DJ Clark Kent, and more

The Lady London you first heard in 2018 freestyling in her car about catching her “everywhere from Bronx River to Palm Springs” is not the Lady London working on her debut album in 2025. She’s a lot more famous, can ride almost any beat flawlessly, and has had her resilience tested inside and outside of the booth.

“I lost Clark [Kent] and my uncle [Chino XL] three months apart. The year before, I lost my boyfriend three days before my birthday,” Lady London explained to REVOLT. “So, I think when you look at the whole trajectory of what I dealt with in 18 months, in addition to not feeling valued in the industry as much as I feel I should have been, it can hurt.”

In this installment of “Studio Sessions,” the lyrical empress explains how recording has gone from feeling like therapy to being a job, the unseen work she put in to improve as an MC, and hints at an upcoming collaboration with one of the biggest artists in the world. Check out the exclusive chat below!

What is your earliest experience in the studio?

I’d say my earliest memory was with my uncle recording in the studio when I was probably about 5 years old. He was recording his first album. That was pretty cool. For myself, I didn't go to the studio ‘til 2018, and I could not rap at all (laughs). I had the words, but I was not catching the beat, and I knew it. I was playing it back, like, “Oh God!” I spent about three months trying to really teach myself pockets and cadences and multisyllabic structure. That cultivated a whole new experience for me.

What did those three months look like? Were you listening to how other artists rapped?

Yes, I'm a scholar before everything. So, I think anything that you sit down and learn, or take the time to really unpack, can be beneficial for you. So, I studied all of my favorite rappers whose cadences I loved -- like JAY-Z, Jadakiss, Styles P, and Lauryn Hill -- to figure out what they were doing. I wanted to see what their cheat code was. I studied them for a while, and then I was like, “I got it. I'm gonna go back in.” It's been progress ever since then. It's so crazy how I used to record then versus how I record now.

What's the difference between how you used to record compared to now?

I would try to do everything in one take. I really wasn't catching the beat, so I invented certain things to help me stay on beat, like tapping my foot and things like that just to stay in those pockets. Sometimes, I like to record with the metronome. Now, I record myself. I learned how to engineer myself throughout the process because, at the time, I couldn't really afford an engineer when I first started to record. I’d book the room, but I wouldn't have money to book the engineer. So, whenever I got an engineer, I would be over their shoulder like, “What’s that? What are you doing with that?”

Now, I’ll go in, bring the mic out, sit it right next to me, hit spacebar to record, delete, and then go again.

I saw a video of you in the studio with Omeretta the Great for your song “Kall Me.” What’s a typical session like for Lady London?

It's very private. I don't really like a lot of people in the room when I record, unless it's on its way to being absolutely finished or almost complete, and I want to hear other people's opinions. I cannot have anybody in there that doesn't do music or is involved in this project directly to be in my ear. When we did “Kall Me,” it was beautiful. I always wanted to recreate the experience of how older artists used to be in the studio. They weren’t sending tracks. I want to catch a vibe. I wanted to know what you may want to change because it’s equally my record as it is your record. Omeretta came to the studio, wrote in like two seconds, got in the booth, and killed it.

You come from a lineage of spitters. Are you competitive when you’re working on a song, or are you just focused on making the best music?

No, I gotta go bite their heads off every time, especially if I'm collaborating with a male rapper. I'm always in a headspace where I have to have the best verse. But it’s also about sonics, as well. We want to make sure that the record is complementary to each other and that we’re on the same topic across the board. So that's really what it is.

Speaking of your lineage, Hip Hop lost two legends when Chino XL and Clark Kent passed away three months apart. You lost an uncle in Chino and a mentor in DJ Clark Kent. What are some of the studio moments you had with them?

I used to run everything by Clark. If I did a song that I wasn't confident sending to nobody else, I would send it to him because he’d be honest about it. From top to bottom, he would give a true critique. Coming from a place of not only a Hip Hop icon and somebody who sonically just understands how music goes, but as somebody who also just wanted to see the evolution of me and my artistry.

He would say, “I love what you did here. I feel like you could do this differently here.” My uncle was just a Care Bear. He was my biggest supporter, and he thought everything I did was top-tier and stellar. Not having either of them to run something past makes me feel a little lost in a way. But they had an expectation that they set for me, and I feel obligated to fulfill what they saw -- even if I don't see it.

Have you had a chance to record your feelings about losing them?

I did a record when they first passed as my verbal cry out. That was something personal for me. I don't know if it'll ever be something that I release to the public. It was just more like my journal entry, I guess you could say. But I definitely want to do a tribute to them properly on my upcoming album, hopefully.

Have studio sessions been like therapy for you?

Sometimes, but not anymore. It feels a lot like work. It feels a lot like a job these days. So, I've been trying to grasp inspiration, or find my roots again and figure out my “why.” It’s been a while since I’ve felt rooted or grounded.

So, I’ve just been trying to put my feet in grass metaphorically and [go] back to where it all began.

How did the Ciara and Lola Brooke collaboration, “Da Girls,” come about?

Derrick Milano is an incredible person, songwriter and friend. He called me one day and was, like, “I got a record for you. Just say yes.” I asked him, “Who is it? Who are you talking about?” He just told me to trust him. He sent me the record, and Ciara was already on the hook. I called him back, like, “Whoa, whoa!” It didn't say her name; it just said “Da Girls,” and I was like, “What is this? Is this for Ciara?” He said, “Yeah, you gotta do the verse.” I wrote the verse that same day. I went to record it in the next two days or something. When I got in there, he told me, “Lola Brooke is also on it.” But he wouldn’t play me her verse. He was like, “I don't want you to base what you were going to say off what she said. Just do what you were gonna do.”

So, I recorded mine, and they later sent me a mix of everything together. I was like, “Wait, me and Lola are two different vibes.” Lola came in like, “Two steps ahead like Ci,” and I came in like, “This is for the girls on the grind” (laughs). He sent it over to Ciara, and she FaceTime’d me with Russell [Wilson] in the car coming back from a New York show, and Russell was, like, “You quoted a biblical verse in there. It’s so good. I love it. I love it.” I was literally about to cry on the phone. I could not believe it.

Sometimes schedules don’t line up for collaborations. Sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time to get one going. What was one time you got a collaboration by being in the right place at the right time?

I guess this is an exclusive, but Shenseea had popped in a studio session for me two or three days ago, and I was so happy that she made it. It's crazy because she lives in Miami, and I had a record for her to do with me. I was hoping that she would be able to do it. One day, she just came into the studio around midnight. I'm not even a nighttime recorder. I was about to head out, and they told me, “She’s about to come in.” She came in, had all of this food, and she was like, “I'm about to eat, and then I'm gonna go in the booth.” She knocked it out so quick. It was just amazing. We’re gonna give a little island ting. We’re both Island girls. So, it's gonna be cute.

What can we expect from your upcoming album?

We’re in the early stages. It’s my first album, so I'm taking it really seriously. I want to represent all facets of me. So, you can expect what you know of me as an artist. I guess you'll also really get to know me a little bit more, as far as prayer and spirituality -- but also that bravado and confidence I hope to portray. It’s going to have different vibes. There’ll be some turn up stuff, some chill stuff, some rap stuff, some reggae-based stuff.

I've had quite the year. It’s been difficult for me to channel that inner hunger or that inner confidence again. I feel like a lot of it has diminished throughout this year, and I just want to see her awakened again. If I see that cocky girl again... I know the work I gotta put in to get to where she's at again. I lost Clark and my uncle three months apart. The year before, I lost my boyfriend three days before my birthday. So, I think when you look at the whole trajectory of what I dealt with in 18 months, in addition to not feeling valued in the industry as much as I feel I should have been, it can hurt. But, my advantage is understanding my position and my power in this and knowing that there is supernatural increase on the other side of obedience that I just have to abide by to understand. I’ve just been really deep in my word and my prayer. And I know myself. I gotta get to it. I gotta stick to it, so that I can get to the other side.