Mark Twain once observed that the United States and England were two countries separated by a common language. Need proof? Just ask the UK rappers (e.g. Dizzee Rascal, the Streets) who haven't been able to translate serious buzz into equally major sales. It's a script that 19-year-old Lady Sovereign, rap's latest red-hot Brit, wants to flip. The self-described "biggest midget in the game" (she's 5'1 "), whose rapid-fire rhymes are delivered in an accent thick enough to warrant subtitles, has something her native brothers lack-a deal with Def Jam.

Even a girl from North West London's gritty Chalkhill estate knows that when Jay-Z personally calls your manager and you're hanging at the 40/40 Club (although Sov giggles, "It was only during the day and for a meeting"), you've arrived. For the down-to-earth Sov, who first put pen to paper at 14, signing with Team Carter is "a dream that I never thought about, you know wot I mean? I'm still trying to take it all in. One minute I was writing lyrics in my bedroom, and the next minute I'm fuckin' sitting here in America."

A leading player of the grime (a techno-tinged hybrid of hip hop, garage and reggae) scene and a standout on 2005's acclaimed Vice Records compilation Run the Road, Lady Sovereign is poised to conquer America with her EP Vertically Challenged, released on U.S.-based Chocolate Industries, and her 2006-slated debut LP, courtesy of Def Jam. While she might not be a hip-hop A-lister, Sov's got big-name support. Beastie Boy Ad-Rock has contributed a remix to her EP, and Sov's in the studio with Young Guru and producers from her idol Missy Elliott's camp. Still, working with these high-priced knob twirlers doesn’t mean that this fair lady is planning on switching up her sound to suit us Yanks. "I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing. Maybe the production side might change a little bit, but I'm looking forward to that. It's weird," Sov laughs, "cause some of these producers, I'd heard their music and didn't know their names. And now? I'm working with them. It's like, shit. It's wicked."