May 11, 2007 @ 6:39 pm

Welcome 2 Detroit

Greta Cabrera

Introducing Motor City's Lady Te: 17, doing big things, and owes it all to mama. Happy Mother's Day.

At 17, Lady Te is a busy woman. Between the Detroit rapper's music career and her spot on the varsity basketball team - not to mention school - she's is a master of balance - and she's more than ready to show us what she's got. Lately she's been compared to another rapping teen, Lil Mama, and the two have a bit in common with their strength, fresh deliveries and topics kids can get with. Te's first album, Terra-fied, features a single about her ponytail and one called "Get Hype" - party tracks for fun times and written from a teen's perspective. But who helped her onto this path? Mom, of course. On the eve of mother's day, VIBE spoke with this teenage sensation about her life and times as a high schooler and burgeoning career lady. When did you start rapping?
I first started when I was nine in the third grade. Me and my friends really liked TLC. We formed a group called BBT: Britney, Brianna, and Terra. Some people wasn't serious, so they went on to do their thing, but I tried to stay focused and I just grew up from there. Are they still doing music?
Brianna runs track and I haven't really talked to Britney. Brianna is doing her thing. How did you get into the whole business?
My mom believed in me, and working for an advertising agency, she knew a producer. Peanut produced my first track. That's how I got into the business and started doing shows and networking. Where was your first performance?
My first performance? I'd probably have to say in the fifth grade. It was a talent show. We did TLC. I was Left Eye. That's my inspiration right there. If it wasn't for TLC, I wouldn't be me right now. Left Eye's my girl. Where do you get your inspiration?
I mean, family members. If I'm sad, if I'm mad. If someone makes me mad, I write it down on a piece of paper and all of the sudden it becomes a song. Or, like, I look at my family members and what they're going through. Like my brother, I write about what he's going through. That's really where I get my inspiration. Or I could be watching TV. It depends. Like today in class, I was kind of sleepy and I had my eyes closed and I just thought of a line right there and I had to write it down. So I can get my inspiration from a lot of things. Do you write your own music?
I write all my songs. Every single song on my album, I wrote. How do you transition from being a high schooler to a rapper? When I don't have the mic in my hand, I'm Terra. When Lady Te gets on the stage, Lady Te is a whole different person. Terra is more shy and she's more calm. Lady Te is just crazy. Lady Te and Terra are like two different people. There's something that just comes over me and all the nervousness just goes away. That's the best thing about being in this business is performing. Which is your favorite song from the album?
Wow. "Get Hype" is one of my favorite songs. The beat just makes you wanna get hype. It comes in so mysterious. And the hook is just so hype. That's the song I listen to right before I get on the stage. I put that on because you gotta get hype and I'm a crazy person, so that has to be one of my favorite songs. Most of the time, I listen to the beat and the beat tells me the story. I listened to the beat and I was thinking, wow, what can I write to this? The beat just made me wanna get hype. Do you have any role models?
My mother. She's a businesswoman and I wanna be like her. She works for an advertising agency as a director of human resources. She knows how to take care of business. She knows when it's time to play and when it's time to take care of business. That's how I wanna be. In the future, I wanna be an entrepreneur and I'll need to have that business side also. How do you feel about the comparisons to Lil Mama?
I mean, it's cool because I knew that would happen. I'm not a hater. It's good for females to step their game up. You see Bow Wow and Lil Romeo and all these fellas out here and it's good to see somebody my age doing hip-hop that's a female. You got Lil Mama, your got Remy Ma, you got Eve and it's good to see more females. Do you think it's hard to get in the industry because you are a female rapper?
Yes, it's very hard. You do shows and the boys take off their shirt and they got the girls screaming for them to take it off. When we go up there, the girls aren't really gonna be crying for you. You still get love, but the boys get a certain type of love. People also don't take females as seriously, especially at my age. Do you feel like you music is geared toward a specific audience age?
On my album I have something for everybody. I've mostly been doing clubs, 21 and up, and they're feeling me. When I go to the clubs I do some of my harder stuff, like 'Meet Me on the Block' and 'I Got your Back.' When I go to the elementary schools, I do some of my softer stuff for the kids like 'G'ed up' and 'Ponytail.' So I think my music relates to everybody.
Are you planning on going to college?
Yes. I want to study graphic arts. I'd like to have an advertisement agency one day. When I get big [in music], I would still love to have my business side as well. When is your next CD coming out?
Probably next summer or next fall. We're still working on ideas for it. You'll hear a more serious side of me. Now that I'm older, you're gonna see me mature. If you wanna hear the CD, go to www.cdbaby.com/ladyte and please buy the album Terafied (?). It's in stores. And you can go to my myspace. It's www.myspace.com/ladyte. Also, to all the people who wanna rap, keep your head up and don't let anyone discourage you. In this business you'll have a lot of backstabbers. Always write and keep God first.

Article tags: Welcome, 2, Detroit 

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