Pitchfork

Biggest midget in the game Lady Sovereign wasn't simply getting random when she broke down onstage only a few songs into her November 15 gig in L.A.

"Bawling hysterically and falling to the ground", according to one bystander, Sov was "practically dragged" offstage and forced to cancel the performance and two subsequent shows in Las Vegas and San Diego, much to the dismay of the emcee and her fans alike.

"I honestly thought I was going to die," Lady Sovereign told Pitchfork last week.

And while Sov isn't all better yet, she was hell-bent on finishing the tour when we spoke to her. "I'm going to power through [the remaining dates], regardless. If I kill myself, then my family's going to have to take all the money that I'd make."

Sov disclosed all: "What happened was, I was sick in San Francisco, and I did one of the most awful shows of my life. And I probably totally fucked up San Francisco, but at least I did the show. So the next show is in L.A....and I get on stage and three or four songs into it, it just felt like someone had got an ice pick and pounded it into my chest and heart. I couldn't breathe, and I really did think that was it. I thought I was going to die.

"I was in so much pain-- and there were all these videos on YouTube of me crying. I'm glad people at the show understood more so than people in San Francisco."

Prior to the awful incident, the tour was off to a fine start. "It was going fucking great!," Sov said. "And I'm upset that things had to come to a halt for a bit. Because hanging around doing nothing for four or five days is hardly exciting for anyone."

All those free moments probably gave Sov ample time to ponder her seemingly impossible feat of conquering TRL recently with her video for "Love Me or Hate Me". As coincidence would have it, however, Sov wasn't feeling so hot when she heard that good news either.

"You're going to think this is pathetic, but at the time I was actually sick! I had some bad water or something, so I was puking my guts out and I hear the news and I'm just like, 'yeaaaah.' And I was really excited, but I couldn't even move. But I was like, 'Wow I knew it, I knew it was going to happen, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!'"

Even less expected? That this guy scored a date with our Lady by raising $10,000 in donations through a website devoted to helping him "Get Random with Lady Sovereign"-- and succeeded. Painting himself as a lovable everyman, Zach Slow of San Francisco established the site back in May, and managed to meet his 10K goal on the eve of Lady Sov's June 9 San Fran gig with the Streets.

Following the show, Sov and Slow did their date thang, which included a limo, booze, blunts, and a yacht. Slow deemed it "one of the most fun nights I've ever had" in his online journal. But Sov didn't agree.

"It could have been better. No one's ever spent-- well, apart from record labels-- ten grand on me. So I don't know, it seems a bit odd because we had this massive yacht that he had hired out, and I didn't understand why I couldn't bring on, say, people from the show, my band...because he had photographers on the fucking yacht. And one of his friends.

"It could have been so much better if it was more of a party."

Sov told the San Francisco Chronicle essentially the same thing (along with the suggestion that Slow got the money from his "rich grandma"), prompting Slow to respond with a letter to the editor.

He wrote: "I've just spent a month working my butt off to go party with a famous rapper. Why would I want a photographer and cameraman in my face during the few measly hours I have with her? Now put yourself in her shoes. You're an up-and-coming rapper who disses fans' grandparents. You're about to release an album and would like to get lots of publicity. So you bring a film crew and a cameraman to shoot the whole thing. It was her management that insisted a crew be there to get some publicity shots -- I was the one fighting that.

In addition to the publicity people they insisted on having, Lady Sovereign also brought a girlfriend and her manager. I don't remember ever saying, 'Hey, it's always been a dream of mine to go out with a famous rapper-- and her people. Everyone donate now, so I can take out a rapper and her people!'"

Bummer, but was the bloke at least a looker? "Well, him and his friend just reminded me of Beavis and Butthead. Literally, they looked like them as well. But no, they were cool people. I've said some things, and I think he got offended by it, but I'm just being honest.

"I didn't have a great time. It was okay, you know?"

Significantly cooler, we reckon, would be a run-in with Missy Elliott, who recently guested on a remix of Sov's "Love Me or Hate Me" at the Lady's behest. "I suggested it. I was like, 'I really want Missy Elliot.' That was the bottom line. And Def Jam are a great label, they got the hookups, and she was feeling it, and she done it, basically. Wicked."

Sov's yet to meet Missy, however. "I really want to though. I really just want to hang out with her. It would be cool. Us midgets of the world."

Lady Sovereign intends to reschedule the three cancelled dates-- L.A., Las Vegas, and San Diego-- and perform as part of MTV's New Year's Eve festivities in NYC's Times Square. Then, finally, it's time for a triumphant return to the studio for Sov, who admits she hasn't recorded anything in some time.

"I'm ashamed," she told Pitchfork. "I haven't had no time [for recording]. Literally, I've had no time. At all. It's just promo, promo, tour, tour, tour, promo, you know? And the days I do get off, I want to have a personal life, but I have shit to write about. So I just want to get back in the studio ASAP."

Not unlike that guy who signed her to Def Jam, Sov doesn't prance around with pen and pad, instead relying on memory when potential lyrics hit her. "I keep it in my head. Not word for word, but a sentence can spark a whole verse."

And what can her subjects expect from Sovereign's next banger? "I just want to do a song where all the basic questions I get asked," she half-jokes, "I would just answer in depth so no one ever has to ask me again. They can just listen to the song and be happy."

Doh. We feel stupid now.

Dates with Sov:

11-27 Tallahassee, FL - Beta Bar *
11-28 Miami, FL - Studio A *
11-30 St. Petersburg, FL - State Theatre *
12-01 Atlanta - The Loft *
12-31 New York, NY - Times Square (MTV New Year's Bash)

* with Young Love