HighRise Entertainment (The UK Drill Project) announces Lil.Miss.Lady at Brixton House, Brixton running from 9th – 13th July and 16th – 20th July as the UK tour finale and part of the company’s 10th anniversary celebrations, with tickets on sale now.
The announcement comes off the back of a sold-out World Premiere run at The Pit, Barbican, and two huge sold-out nights at Lowry, Salford, with a stop at Gloucester Guildhall in between, as the immersive exploration of the history of Grime, starring MC Lady Lykez, lifts the lid on what it takes for a female MC to navigate her way through a heavily male-dominated industry in the early 2000s.
There will be a massive afterparty at Brixton House on Friday 11th July headlined by the first female winner of Rap Game UK (2024) Layyah and princess of the underground $tush, both hailing from south London. The afterparty has been curated in partnership with Ruff Sqwad Arts Foundation founded by Grime legends Prince Owusu-Agyekum (aka Rapid) and Ebenezer Ayerh (aka Slix) aiming to create meaningful cultural engagement opportunities for young people, and give them access to mainstream resources, opportunities, and progression pathways, by integrating high quality arts, youth work, industry connections, and enterprise, as well as GIRLSofGRIME, an independent female-led grassroots organisation steering change towards gender balance within the music industry.
Throughout the 2025 national tour, HighRise has worked with some of the UK’s most impressive youth music programmes including Music Works (Gloucester), Ruff Sqwad (London), and Contact Theatre (Manchester) to offer young female artists the opportunity to showcase their skills with music studio sessions, video shoots, industry mentoring and live performances, proving once and for all that young female rappers are a main attraction and more than a feature.
There will be a massive afterparty at Brixton House on Friday 11th July headlined by the first female winner of Rap Game UK (2024) Layyah and princess of the underground $tush, both hailing from south London. The afterparty has been curated in partnership with Ruff Sqwad Arts Foundation founded by Grime legends Prince Owusu-Agyekum (aka Rapid) and Ebenezer Ayerh (aka Slix) aiming to create meaningful cultural engagement opportunities for young people, and give them access to mainstream resources, opportunities, and progression pathways, by integrating high quality arts, youth work, industry connections, and enterprise, as well as GIRLSofGRIME, an independent female-led grassroots organisation steering change towards gender balance within the music industry.
Part rave, part drama, this multi-layered show is a proper gig with a hard-hitting, no holds barred narrative. Telling the story of a Grime crew hellbent on becoming superstars, Lil.Miss.Lady follows their journey through the sounds and visuals of Black-British bass music culture, as they climb from Channel U to number 1 in the charts, and Lil.Miss.Lady hits number 32 in the NME’s coolest acts of 2004
The production wholeheartedly celebrates Grime and its women while shining a big, bold, bass-fuelled light on the problems and inequalities of the music industry. As Lil.Miss.Lady bursts onto the scene, she’s faced with different expectations to the boys, and it becomes pretty obvious, pretty fast, that she’s being exploited. The show is inspired by a series of interviews with key female figures from one of Britain’s biggest and most influential sub-cultures (Lady Stush, Lioness, Queenie, Baby Blue), to ensure that the stories are authentic.
In Lil.Miss.Lady the audience are part of the script; instead of seats there’s a full-blown dancefloor with a bar and RAVERS can get stuck right in, dance, celebrate, and film the show to share with their friends on socials. A series of mini-mixes break up the story, blurring the lines between theatre and gig, as the storyline blasts through the years, from the early stages of Jungle, through UK Garage, Sub-Low, Funky House, Dubstep and Grime. Lil.Miss.Lady features original music from, Best Book / Lyrics winner at the Black British Theatre Awards 2024, Lady Lykez, and Dominic Garfield, mixed by live DJs including DJ Kaylee Kay (Kiss FM, 1Xtra).
Lil.Miss.Lady’s stellar cast includes Fahad Shaft (Silo, The Witcher) who plays Blanka, Joshua Cameron (Supacell) who plays the role of Twist, and Alexander Lobo Moreno (Love, Death & Robots, B@iT) who lends his talents to the character of Hypez. Award-nominated international DJ, presenter and grimologist DJ Kaylee Kay spins the wheels as DJ Harmony, and up-and-coming MC Aliaano Elali brings all of his performance skills to the stage as DJ Rat.
Throughout the past ten years, HighRise Entertainment have been pioneers of creating cross-genre live events that blend theatre and rap music. Pre-drama school, the HighRise creative team were Grime, Hip Hop and Rave artists and promoters, and have combined their experience and expertise to develop a truly honest and authentic concept that sets the pace on the level of innovation that is possible on-stage.
Need to know and related links:
- Access 2 for £20 tickets to see Lil. Miss. Lady at Brixton House
- Massive afterparty for audience members following the show on Friday, 11th July
