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The Early Years.. Little Lady Crush

Lady Crush’s earliest years were full of constant excitement with visits from famous family and friends and later on the road with her mother while she attended and worked various concerts  and events. Being one of the very few minority female celebrity photographers in the early 70’s, lead mom Joyce’s career to photograph the likes of Richard Pryor, Johnny Mathis, Engelbert Humperdink, her godfather pioneer ventriloquist Aaron Williams and numerous Motown and PIR artists- Lady Crush from birth was her mother’s favorite person to photograph. Fascinated with her darkroom and the development of photos from camera to film to photo was amazing to her and she loved seeing her with her mother’s photography studio and all of the different poses and expressions, and clothing selections of the subjects. it was only natural for Little Lady Crush to become a print, advertising and fashion show model.

Around the age of 10, one weekend while visiting her maternal grandmother, she was taught how to sew her first skirt set when she mistakenly forgot to pack her Sunday outfit for church. She was soon hooked on making new designs and duplicating some of her favorite clothing items, all by drawing and cutting out patterns from newspapers as her grandmom had shown her, and having her mom help her shop for fun looking materials. Lady Crush would later sew on the family sewing machine given to her by her great grandmother, and/or sometimes sew by hand with needle and thread.. After trial and much error, the now preteen was able to make simple tops, dresses and skirts and inject her wardrobe with the varied fabric and color vibrancy that she enjoyed..

It was a property dispute of her great grandmother's that had Lady Crush's mother close her photography studio in Camden, obtain POA, and move to Raleigh, NC with her only child soon following behind. 

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Lady Crush official music begins- The Teenage Years

Having had won a few poetry and oratorical contests for the past few years, and also rhyming back and forth with her cousins in comedic cyphers- it was by chance that Lady Crush heard that a local AM radio station was having a rap contest on air. She rapped one of her newest rhymes she had written and won. The prize was a feature spot on the upcoming Tim Greene vinyl record “Facts of Life”, along with one other teenager, Baby T. Tim Greene was attending Shaw University and had obtained a deal with Sugarscoop through his music program. Once the song was released and after a few live performances, Tim recognized that the crowd, radio and deejays response was most favorable to Lady Crush’s verse and asked her to quickly do a follow up record which would be her solo introduction. Very shortly after, Lady Crush and Tim Greene thought up the idea to use a line from her “Facts of Life” verse as the title and theme.

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Tim Greene “Facts of Life” facts that most don’t know…

• Tim Greene held a contest on the radio for a female rapper to feature on his new record FOL- in which both Baby T and Lady Crush tied so both were allowed to be featured. 

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• Shortly after, Tim Greene asked then 14 year olds Lady Crush and Baby T out for pizza and then asked them to sign a “recording contract”- without parental advisory or consent. He then later circulated information about the meeting, joking that he had signed them for only pizza and a drink. 

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“MC Perpetrators” Creation, the Masters, Tim Greene & Butch Kelly 

 

There was a lot of drama that Lady Crush recalls that she went through as a teenager with Tim Greene and his team. It is discussed in detail in her upcoming book ‘Lady Crush Saga’

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• Lady Crush actually had a slight cold when recording “MC Perpetrators'' and put off recording twice with Tim Greene and DJ Jazz before it cleared up  just enough to lay down her vocals in the studio.

• It would be Lady Crush’s very first ghostwriting song session, as she wrote all of her lyrics and all but a few words of Tim Greene’s feature rap verse on MCP. Tim then gave 2 of his family members a writer's credit, inadvertently diluting her songwriting contribution.

• When the initial press of MCP ran out, more copies were still being requested from record stores and DJs and were also needed for Lady Crush to continue to book shows- Tim Greene and Butch Kelly (KAM Executive Records) refused. 

• A heated argument then ensued between Lady Crush’s momager Joyce and Tim Greene’s team that not only did her daughter not have a valid recording contract for FOL or MCP, since she wrote the lyrics on the record she should be given the masters anyway to do as pleased. A week later Lady Crush was mailed the MCP masters.

• For clarity, there were 2 pressings of MCP - the initial by Tim Greene and Butch Kelly and the second by Lady Crush. 

• Arguably the youngest record distributors in 1985 and even possibly today, Lady Crush then set up the 12” label details to send over with the masters to DRP Dixie Record Pressing (now United Record Pressing) in Nashville for MCP to get its second pressing.  

• In 2005, at its 20th Year Anniversary, MC Perpetrators was entered into Popsike’s ‘Rare and Collectibles’ list being resold at a topping $610 on Ebay. 

 

Lady Crush Saga- Biting Season Begins (2005)

• The term and handle ‘lady crush’ begins to be used online and in social media, not referencing the origin.

• Secondary meaning is created and then derived into girl crush, woman crush, man crush.

• Lady Crush continues on but more behind the scenes by songwriting, producing, designing clothing and styling for herself and noted Reggae, Rap and R&B artists.

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Lady Crush Saga- Trademark and Initial Examiner Dispute (2015)

• Lady Crush's initial trademark was denied due to her name (as described by the USPTO examiner) as being too close to the name of Little Big Town's country hit "Girl Crush".

• Lady Crush was so upset in her coining the name and girl crush being a derivative of it- she responded to the examiner that she needed to do proper research on the name and appealed the decision. 

• After proper investigation, not only was the Lady Crush trademark approved, but her full name was listed on the detail as identifying Lady Crush as her given name.

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Lady Crush- 30th Anniversary (The Rebirth) releases "F**k, and'Fifty Shades of F**k' EP, also features on Banga Boy's “She No Lie, She On Fire” w/Castle. (2015-2018)​

• Lady Crush co-produces and releases her first single in more than 30 years - "F**K", later followed by the 'Fifty Shades of F**k' EP.

• Features on Banga Boy's "She No Lie, She On Fire", and brings family friend Castle along for his first official rap entry.

Lady Crush Saga- First Infringement Takedown (2019)

• While Lady Crush continued to release new music- there was an artist in Germany using her name to reproduce records. 

• Lady Crush's team initiated the trademark infringement takedown and succeeded with removing related music on all platforms.

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Lady Crush Saga-(Takedowns Continue)- 3 Clothing Companies violate Rights to Publicity, Name Dilution. (2020-2022)

• After coining the name and securing her initial trademark, Lady Crush's name continues to be used by 3 separate companies on clothing.

• Legal mediation ensues and continues.

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Lady Crush -Builds out Product Lines for Release and enters Metaverse. (2023-2024)​

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Replicating and attempting to duplicate Lady Crush’s infamous name by many social media users online is one of the biggest forms of flattery, so it was initially appreciated by the artist to have her name recognized globally. As of recent, there have been several corporate businesses intentionally dismissing the coined pseudonym of the hip hop/electro music pioneer for their own profit without proper approval or agreements in place. In 2024 it is now the most responsible move as a businesswoman for Lady Crush to clear the space of ALL non-authorized use of her name- in preparation of the releases of her new product lines, including Lady Crush the Strain™, Little Lady Crush™ and entering the Metaverse with $LADYCRUSH Coin.

 

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