Who’s that girl? One she’s pretty. Two she’s betty boop cute. Three she’s dope but not too dope. Four she embodies the NYC sex in the city rapper that can be a hero to all women searching for empowerment, and individualism. Her style, passion, and a betty boop tone combats Marilyn Monroe’s poses with rhymes and voice. She’s in a musical League of her own if you will, sans the madonna baseball skills. Shoot, she’s even got a cosign from Perez Hilton.
And she’s just graduating college!
I recently played a pre-Austin warm-up gig in Brooklyn and got to see her rock an awesome set with DJ Vinyl Richie and her bassist. It was more than enough to make me think, this girl needs to be on the road now.
Her debut album, Unlimited, is fresh she’ll tell you the rest in this new RubyHornet First Look.
RubyHornet: So your name is Miz metro…tell us the origin of your NY roots?
Miz Metro: I got my name from the door knocker Metro Card earrings I made out of used NYC Metro Cards a couple of years ago. I grew up on the upper east side, and attended LaGuardia H.S of the Performing Arts for drama where I also studied song writing and jazz improvisation. I grew up playing basketball, and was very involved in the youth spoken word scene through Urban Word. Growing up in NYC made me the artist I am today, influenced by a melting pot of culture and sound.
RubyHornet: I noticed you got on the latest Def Jux project, and possibly their final release, with mr Lif. How that come about?
Miz Metro: I met Mr Lif in Austin last year through Fiona Bloom, we kept in touch after the festival and knew we wanted to work with each other. And he made it happen! It was an honor to appear along side him for what could be the final Def Jux release. We will be working together on a song with Keith Shocklee for the Bomb Squad project I’ll be releasing over the summer.
RubyHornet: You seem to cross over in the Hip Hop world, but my vibe is that you belong in a totally different field..where do you think that is?
Miz Metro: I think I’m doing it now, combing music and media as a content platform for myself and other like minded artists. My dream is to travel with my urban gypsy circus as a festival of music and media, taking over towns and cities all across America traveling around in bio-diesel school buses. Expect to see that become a reality within the next 5 years. Once I’m out of school this May the sky is the limit!
RubyHornet: My favorite song is “Who’s That Girl?” Do you think that can be an anthem for anything in particular? I think a coming of age story, more like “Sex and the City” for sure…what are your thoughts?
Miz Metro: “Who’s that Girl” is definitely meant to be an anthem for the fashionistas and my L.E.S fly girls who’s style gets jacked and copied by the rest of the world. I represent the authentic city girls who got their flavor from the streets to the museums. For me it’s a song I would bump getting ready with my girl friends, a feel good pre-game song to get you in the mood to go out and hopefully stay sober enough to not lose your phone.
RubyHornet: When you made Unlimited, what was the recording process?
Miz Metro: Unlimited is the culmination of years of song writing with producer Ray Cervenka. I started writing with him when I was 16. 75% of the album was written while I was in high school, so the real challenge was to adapt the songs to my growing styles, always pushing the arrangements and trying to get the most out of each song. There are many versions of each song that have developed over the years. By the end of it all I realized that I did not write in one distinctive genre, I wrote in whatever genre was appropriate for the song. I look at songs like babies, you can’t force and impose the kid to do what you want it to, you have to nurture it and let it find its own way. I named the album Unlimited because I refused to be confined in one genre, needless to say the majors at first were scared to touch me with a 10 foot pole. That’s okay with me, times are changing and that business structure is no longer the most viable. I am very happy with where everything is going right now with Miz Metro Media. On tour we are performing live, remixing the songs off Unlimited with my DJ Vinyl Richie and midi bassist Sean Lewis, which has been an adventure and very well received, which is exciting.
RubyHornet: Do you win over the boys more than girls during performances or do you not even focus on it…?
Miz Metro: I love boys and admire girls and part of my song writing definitely comes from being a huge flirt. But it’s for the stage, I prefer to keep drama out of my personal life and do my best to try and stay grounded. I love performing because it’s a place where anything goes, any feeling is okay to have- it’s all in the moment, an exorcism at best.
RubyHornet: Fiona Bloom is always plugging you away into great circles. Do you think team work is essential to a long solo career?
Miz Metro: My career has come so far in a short period of time since I stopped being such a control freak and let the amazing people around me help me! Fiona Bloom is a goddess, been with me from the start. Jesse Roman of Step Up World has teamed up with Fiona to co-manage me, and it’s going great. I’m lucky to have family in the music business, my aunt Bernadette watches over me, and is the first one who put me in the studio and taught me about song writing. My lawyer Barry Heyman brings his savvy and expertise in new media music law to the table. Together Matthew Charoff of Miz Metro Media, Crosby of POW & Hip Howl Howl, my 100B family, and the metrolicious Jayd create an army that cannot be stopped. Power is in numbers, having a strong team is the difference in having a real career instead of 15 minutes.
RubyHornet: Crowd interaction seems to be a big part of your performance. With that being said, when will you hit the road? What do you do when the crowd is thinner than the Stephen King movie, and fatter than the Weird Al Yankovic video? Any changes differences?
Miz Metro: Rock hard no matter what. It doesn’t matter if there are 2 or 2,000 people in the audience to me. Every time I step on the stage I feel blessed and I will give whoever is there a performance to connect with. You must always bring your best. Go hard or go home!
RubyHornet: OK….now let’s get to honey and cheerios of the interview..the GOOD STUFF!!
My album is named Unlimited.
My real name is Laura O’Reilly.
If i could own sports team it would be the Knicks because they need help and I would love to save it.
My first kiss was sloppy. My first rap song was by Lil Kim.
The best thing about Pop music is when it’s actually good.
Growing up in the hood I lived in a match box.
Some of my special side activities include curating art shows and making metrocard earrings.
The best thing about my family is that they tell me the truth.
I look forward to touring because I get my ass kicked and get better, and I love when that happens when you take it to the next level .
My boat will be named Free Wifi.
Chicago is cool to me because of the wind and how my hair dances crazy.
RubyHornet: Rappers love plugs and shout outs. Although you are not the typical rapper, how about you give it a whirl on three….ready…1,2, 3 GO!
Miz Metro: What up HIP HOP HOWL! 100 B, Fiona Bloom, Step Up World, Vinyl Richie, Matthew Charof, Kosha Dillz, DigiWaxx, the MTA and Bomb Squad!
