With a role on the CW Television Network series “Hart of Dixie” and a new country music album in release, actress and singer Claudia Lee has always seemed more “down home” than hip. That could be about to change, thanks to her latest single, “3 Leaf Clover,” a country-rap hybrid that blends urban with rural in a way that just might have fans from down on the farm to the big city cranking up their car stereos and hitting the dance floor.
With spoken lyrics that morph into playful twang, the cutting-edge song is a no-nonsense lesson in love, sung from the perspective of a young woman who demands to be treated with respect: “You better read my lips, I won’t say this twice / You need to step it up, you need to play it nice / I’m not gonna waste a minute of my life / On someone who can blend in with a pack of fools / Just a hammer hanging in the box of tools.”
“When my producer, Max Di Carlo, introduced this song to me, I fell in love with it,” Lee said. “It’s cool the way it starts out as a rap song and becomes country, then goes back to rap.”
Although unusual, it is not unheard of for country music artists to dabble in hip-hop. Perhaps the best known artists in that genre, the multi-platinum-selling Nappy Roots, have been doing it since 1995. Neal McCoy, Bellamy Brothers, Mikel Knight and others have also experimented with rap. Recently, Taylor Swift recorded “Both of Us,” a duet with rapper B.o.B., although she leaves the actual rapping to him.
At age 15, Claudia Lee is likely one of, if not the youngest country artist to incorporate rap into her music. Although “3 Leaf Clover” was just recently released to radio stations as a single, some were already playing it.
“After I played it about the fourth or fifth time, I started getting requests,” said John Mansell, program director and air personality at WSLV Radio in Ardmore, Tennessee. “What was amazing was the demographics on the requests were 12 to 22. You’ve got elementary kids all the way up to college kids listening to it.”
“3 Leaf Clover” is one of 12 songs on Lee’s debut album, “Here Right Now,” which also features the singles “Hollywood Sunset” and “It Gets Better.” Claudia Lee’s music is available at iTunes and Amazon. “3 Leaf Clover” can be heard at https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaLeeLive/app_195720580528281
Claudia Lee is represented by the Paradigm Talent Agency, Beverly Strong Management and Joanne Horowitz Management in Beverly Hills, and in Nashville by GrassRoots Promotion.
Information about Claudia Lee is available at www.ClaudiaLeeLive.com or on her fan page at FanAccess.com.
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