Zaire Miylaun Stewart (born June 25, 1995), known professionally as Lady London, is an American rapper and songwriter from

The Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

, currently based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Her debut studio album ''S.O.U.L.'' (Signs of Universal Love)—preceded by two

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

s—was released on November 3, 2023.

Early life

London was born in

, to a Jamaican mother and

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The population of Trinidad is notably diverse, with approximately 35% Indo-Trinidadian, 34% ...

father. Raised in her grandmother's house in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 United States ...

, she started composing poems at the age of 11, which she used as "an outlet to speak about eranger and what was bringing erin

hose A hose is a flexible hollow tube or pipe designed to carry fluids from one location to another, often from a faucet or hydrant. Early hoses were made of leather, although modern hoses are typically made of rubber, canvas, and helically wound w ...

spaces". She graduated in 2012 from Mother Seton Regional High School in

Clark, New Jersey Clark is a Township (New Jersey), township in southern Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 15,544, an increase of 788 (+5.3%) from the 2010 U ...

."Seton Class of '12 has 100% college acceptance"
''

Courier News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees *John Curley, former presi ...

'', June 6, 2012. Accessed November 13, 2023, via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

. "Mother Seton Regional High School, Clark, conducted commencement Thursday with the principal, Sister Regina Martin, awarding diplomas to 133 graduates.... Following is the list of graduates, including their hometowns... Zaire Miylaun Stewart, East Orange" London attended

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, where she studied and received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in sports medicine and chemistry before later attending the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

and receiving a master's degree in global medicine with a concentration in international health policy. During that time, her original goal was to become an

orthopedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

surgeon.

Career

In March 2018, London posted a video of her freestyling while sitting in a car via her

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account, which soon went viral and received praise from media outlets. Afterwards, she began recording and posting more freestyles titled "Lady Londays", which helped her gain more traction. On July 30, 2019, she independently released a song titled "Woosah" to digital platforms and started a dance challenge to promote the track. In 2021, she released two official singles: "Money Over" and "Never", which were both accompanied with

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s, to generally favorable reviews from critics. On January 14, 2022, London released her first solo full-length project, a

titled ''Lady Like: The Boss Tape''; the mixtape consists of thirteen tracks, majority of them being freestyles. A few months later, she released a single "What Is It Giving", produced by Kosine, alongside its music video. While speaking on the song, she said: "Creating this record, I wanted a chant... one that felt comfortable enough to repeat, while also being full of caption-worthy rhetoric. The perfect balance." In September 2022, London made her acting debut in the

Sanaa Lathan Sanaa McCoy Lathan (; born September 19, 1971) is an American actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. Her career began after she appeared in the shows ''In the House'', '' Family Matters'', ''NYPD Bl ...

-directed

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film ''On the Come Up'' as the character Ms. Tique. To promote the film, she was featured alongside Jamila C. Gray and

Rapsody Marlanna Evans (born January 21, 1983), better known by her stage name Rapsody, is an American rapper. After signing with music producer 9th Wonder's music label It's a Wonderful World Music Group, she released a series of mixtapes and collab ...

on a song of the same name, which was later featured on the film's soundtrack. On March 23, 2023, she signed a joint

record deal A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with High Standardz and

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

. On April 14, 2023, she was featured on the remix to

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was discovered by record producer Jazze Pha in the early 2000s, and rose to prominence with her debut studio album, ''Goodies ...

's song "

Da Girls "Da Girls" is a song by American singer Ciara. It was released on March 24, 2023, through label Beauty Marks. Background and release In March 2023, Ciara announced that her next single, following "Better Thangs" with Summer Walker, would be "Da ...

" entitled the "Girls Mix" alongside

Lola Brooke Shyniece Deneen Thomas (born February 1, 1994), professionally known as Lola Brooke, is an American Rapping, rapper. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she is best known for her 2021 single "Don't Play with It", which gained popularity on Twitter and ...

. On October 10, 2023, she performed on the

BET Hip Hop Awards The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors. The awards ceremony began in 2006; it was held on November 12, 2006 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta and was first ...

cypher alongside Brooke, Gloss Up and

Bun B Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the Southern rap duo UGK (Underground Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work wi ...

. London's debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

''S.O.U.L.'' (acronym of Signs of Universal Love) was released on November 3, 2023. The album was preceded by the releasing of two singles "Yea Yea" (with

Dreezy Seandrea Sledge (born March 28, 1994), better known by her stage name Dreezy, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. She signed with Interscope Records in 2014 where she released the studio albums '' No Hard Feelings'' (2016) and '' Big ...

) and "Do Something" (featuring

Jeremih Jeremy Phillip Felton (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Jeremih ( ), is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. He embarked on a musical career after meeting record producer Mick Schultz in 2008, and signed a recording contract wi ...

). It features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from Dreezy, Jeremih, B-Boy Stance, Tink, Omeretta the Great,

Capella Grey Curtis Anthony Jackson II (born August 2, 1995), known professionally as Capella Grey, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer from the Bronx, New York. He is the founder of Allepac the Family and released two songwriter mi ...

Brooke Valentine Kanesha Nichole Brookes (born October 5, 1984), better known by her stage name Brooke Valentine, is an American actress, model, singer, songwriter, and television personality. Her single " Girlfight" peaked on U.S. music charts in 2005, paving ...

and

Mila J Jamila Akiko Aba Chilombo (born November 18, 1982), known professionally as Mila J, is an American R&B singer and rapper. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she is the older sister of R&B singer Jhené Aiko and is known for being in Prince's vid ...

Musical style

A defining aspect of her style is her bravado and her “Boss-Lady” persona.

Discography

;Studio albums * ''S.O.U.L.'' (2023) ;Mixtapes * ''I Kant Make This Shit Up'' (2022) * ''Lady Like: The Boss Tape'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:London, Lady 1995 births Living people 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women rappers African-American women rappers African-American rappers African-American poets Def Jam Recordings artists Howard University alumni Musicians from East Orange, New Jersey Rappers from New York (state) Rappers from the Bronx Rappers from New Jersey American rappers of Jamaican descent American rappers of Trinidad and Tobago descent University of Southern California alumni