Lady Red's 'Hi A Lady'
Revisiting an essential sophomore effort from a New Orleans legend.
If you want to support Micro-Chop you can follow me on Spotify and subscribe to the newsletter and YouTube channel.
Bounce artist Lady Red was just 14 years old when she signed her first record deal. Before that, she was already a fixture at neighborhood events in New Orleans, known for getting on the mic and impressing audiences with her raps. At one such event, the Hi-Powered Records trio EWV caught her set and were so impressed they asked her to audition at the label.
After performing one song in the studio, the label offered her a contract. She was so young at the time that her mother signed for her. You can learn more about her origin story, including the time she opened for Biggie in 1996, through this great 2022 interview with CHUCKMULATV.
According to Lady Red’s CHUCKMULATV interview posted above, some people at Hi-Powered doubted her ability to sell records because she was Hi-Powered’s youngest artist, the only woman on the roster, and had an affinity for making bounce music on a label where bounce wasn’t the predominant sound. Despite this, it didn’t take long for Lady Red to establish herself with “Smokin Dat Weed” from her self-titled debut. The song became a massive regional hit and earned her big reactions at live shows.
30 years later, “Smokin Dat Weed” is still going strong. Despite being long out of print and unavailable on streaming platforms, a 15-year-old YouTube upload of this wild interpolation of James ‘Sugar Boy’ Crawford’s 1953 hit “Jock-A-Mo” (better known as “Iko Iko”) is closing in on a cool 1,500,000 plays three decades since its release.
While “Smokin Dat Weed” is perhaps the crown jewel of Lady Red’s catalog, her sophomore effort Hi A Lady is not to be overlooked. In fact, the lead track “Hi A Lady” gives “Smokin Dat Weed” a run for its money. With a rich, layered backing track, Lady Red drops an infectious chorus and authoritative raps.
Between stellar production and Lady Red’s charisma, confidence, and ability to incorporate singing into her hooks with ease, this entire record is worthwhile. Other standout moments include tracks like “Rowdy (Remix).”
Though the sound quality isn’t amazing, there is a full album upload of Hi A Lady if you’d like to give it a spin.
Let me know what you think in the comments.