Lady Saw presents Marion Hall

Simone Morgan

Friday, February 10, 2012

LADY Saw is working on her ninth studio album which is expected to be released this year. Lady Saw Presents Marion Hall, the name of the album, will be released on her Divas Recording label.

"I'm very excited about this project as this will be a beautiful album. My fans will see both sides of me," Lady Saw said. The 15-track album hears Lady Saw collaborating with Ali Campbell (formerly of UB40) and Beres Hammond.

Known for her outrageous songs and live performances, Lady Saw said the album has different sounds including jazz and country. She said it is her most personal album to date.

"I am grown and it is seen especially in the collaboration with Beres Hammond, entitled She Has Changed. This single tells the story of a young lady who has suffered abuse in her childhood, which leads to her being a confused adult who makes the wrong choices in life," she explained.

In addition to her album, Lady Saw says she is working on an autobiographical screenplay.

"It will feature a young girl depicting my life in the country... from climbing trees to selling brooms in the craft market," she said.

The movie, which she hopes will be out in two years, revived some painful memories.

"My mother and I suffered physical abuse at the hands of my father. It got so bad that my mom had to run away with us to Kingston," she recalled. "It was terrible and all of this will be played out on camera."

Born Marion Hall, the St Mary native emerged on the dancehall scene in the early 1990s and was known for explicit songs such as Stab Up Di Meat and Hardcore. By the mid-1990s, Lady Saw recorded more conscious songs like Condom and No Less Than a Woman.

She also scored a massive hit with punk group No Doubt. Their song, Underneath it All, soared to number three on the Billboard magazine pop chart and also earned her a Grammy Award.