“Lil Mo” Interview.

Interview by Livingstone Red


So who is Lil Mo? Probably R&B's best-kept secret that's what! In the UK even people in the know may not be very aware of who she is. But this girl is already kicking up a storm in the States. Her own career as an artist is taking off but she has already worked with the likes of Missy Elliot, Jah Rule, Next, Teddy Riley and Jay Z, to name but a few. As usual Phatmag has its finger on the pulse and we went along to meet with Lil Mo while she was in London.


The first thing I realised as we enter the room is the reason why she is called Lil Mo, she is indeed very petite, but the best things come in small packages. It's her second time in London, and she tells me that she is enjoying this time better because she's got the chance to shop, shop, shop!
I was expecting a feisty diva who would want to chew me up and spit me out, but she was warm and friendly and told me she didn’t do the superstar diva with attitude thing, "some people get in to superstar mode, they get one hot little something and think it automatically allows them to be three hours late. Not me this is my job and I don't take it lightly". She tells me " some people don't expect artists to be on time, but I like to turn up do my thing and go home, if people disrespect me and keep me waiting I’ll go home." She says she likes her rest and assures me that she isn’t a party animal," I know when to party and when not to".

"she’s my auntie, she’s everything"

 

 "I recorderd four new songs in four days"

But she probably needs her rest time in order to keep up with her
Schedule. "The last two years have been busy, but the last few months have been hectic". Apart from appearing on Missy's "Hot Boyz" and Jah Rule "Put It On Me" she has had to re-record and re-write her album because the original was widely bootlegged. She fills me in " To me all bootlegging is an inside job, someone gets a copy of the album gets excited and leaves it somewhere for someone to pick up, there’s no way to explain it". But even so she remains positive, "It doesn’t take me long to do a song and know what I want, I recorded four new songs in four days. I wanted to change some things anyway when the album got pushed back. We had the chance to change some of the mixes; cause to me the mix depends on how good the song is. So thank you
to the bootleggers, in a way it was a blessing. “Everything happens for a reason".


 

Lil Mo living large at the Royal Garden Hotel "Look at that view"


It turns out that some of the new songs are among the best tracks,
Including "Superwoman II" her first single. She tells me what the song is about, "its just telling the guys that ok I'm independent and can hold my own but beside every good man there's a good superwoman. They don't have to go for these girls that just want their money. Every girl doesn’t want to have their money, or drive their car or want a baby by them and lock them down. That's just for the chicken heads, and out of all those girls there are a few of us left, there are a few good women out there". So she is all for breaking some stereotypes, "some people think that all ya girls are them same, but no we're not, and if I have to go out my way to prove that Ill do that, so I wrote a song about it".

I ask her about her connection with Missy; "Me and her are friends, its
second nature. It's fun, it's work but we are mostly on joke time. Some people have to pay big bucks to work with Missy but I can do it for free. I can call her on the phone and say hey Miss what up! She's my friend, mentor, road dog, she’s my auntie, she’s everything". It also seems that Missy has been able to give her some good advice, and taught her how to be strong with people in the music industry. She tells me a story of how someone she was working with was getting in her way and standing over her when she was trying to record, but she followed Missy's advice and told him to get out the booth. " I don't have to burn a candle or nothing, but in there it's my personal time to do the best I can do. It's my element. I wasn’t in his face when he was doing his thing so why he be getting in mine. He disrespected me and now I don’t write with him to this day, I cut him off."

So little and cute and those trouses are bad

I ask her who has been her favourite collaborator. " I would say the song I done on the Tupac album. And the reason being is that since he is no longer with us, just the fact that I made that album is special. And this is going to be one of his biggest selling albums. It's a double CD and it has done half a million in the first week." She was a writer before she was a singer and tells me she never really wanted to be an artist, "I wanted to be someone who just guest appeared. But I got tricked into it, people saying just try it if you don't like it, but by the time I wanted to turn back they were saying you can't turn back now, too many people want to know." So now this little woman has definitely hit the big time. Maybe she didn’t mean to but I think her stay is going to be longer than fifteen minutes, "ok maybe sixteen minutes" she jokes. " I have my own mind and that helps with longevity", and I have to agree. Whether it is as an artist or as a writer I think we are going to hear a lot more from this girl.
 
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