The UK Ug rap scene is nothing if not chronically online. fakemink’s production sounds like Fruity Loops on steroids, Feng’s lyrics read like Instagram story posts on creative mode, and the entire movement has been powered by fan pages on Instagram, TikTok and Reddit. So, when I meet up with one of the scene’s only female voices, 22-year-old singer-rapper Ledbyher, and she speaks at length about camping, trains and elephants, I knew that something was up.

“I just love elephants,” she tells me, as if it is the most natural thing in the world. “I made the song ‘Daydreaming Made Me Blue’, which had an elephant bar in it, and then I started having all these full-circle moments. I couldn’t find anywhere to live but Elephant and Castle, and then I ended up on the road where [all-female Victorian crime syndicate] the Forty Elephants lived. They dressed in long skirts and sometimes like a guy...” Ledbyher points at herself. “Weird full circles.” 

It’s strangely fitting. Ledbyher’s physique might be slight, but, in the UK’s underground rap scene at least, she is the elephant in the room. Compared to her intensely digital contemporaries, the Indonesian-born, Norfolk-raised and now London-based artist’s new mixtape, titled – you guessed it – The Elephant, is the sonic equivalent of touching grass. There’s still the tell-tale signs of UK Ug: jerk percussion, heady distortion and that ubiquitous stock record scratch sound, particularly in the project’s first half; but, in soaring melody lines and dream pop-esque guitar riffs (yes, actual live instruments), The Elephant also gestures at the real-world that lies beyond the computer screen.

Speaking to Ledbyher this week, it soon became clear that this unique sound is rooted in a life that has been equally as unlikely. Raised as a child carer to a mother with multiple sclerosis, Ledbyher had to grow up quickly. While her collaborators spent their teens attending functions around London, Ledbyher recalls helping out on a local farm to earn some extra cash. “I did not have a good start in life. I grew up in a very violent place,” she reflects. “When I started running away from home, music was my escape. I found that it could get me out of the house, get me [travelling] across the world, and give me a message. I used to pray four times a day for this.”  

Describing her decision to move to London to pursue this dream as “the most selfish thing she’s ever done”, it’s clear that this early role as the family’s protector still follows Ledbyher today. But it is also these experiences that lend a distinct softness to her artistry. Ledbyher speaks with pride about the fan interactions she watches play out on her own private Discord channel, and, at only 22 years of age, frequently holds herself to account. “Being an artist comes with a responsibility to say something for somebody, I’m figuring that out right now,” she declares, later explaining that she has recently partnered with the India-based Elephant Charity because she “didn’t want to just exploit the animal for monetary benefit”. 

While this unlikely life journey may set her apart from others in the UK underground, Ledbyher is in many ways the exception that proves the rule. More than anything, the scene is defined by its sheltering of disparate Gen Z British perspectives under one roof, and the stark inclusion of Ledbyher – counting everyone from Sinn6r and Sainté to Lancey Foux and Central Cee as supporters – shows just how far this goes. 

“I think there was something in the air around the start of last year that made me fall into this current scene,” she tells me. “I like being alone and I can be a bit of a chameleon, like I wouldn’t talk about my life in Norfolk to people in the green room of a rap show, you know? But London’s such a big city, and there’s so much opportunity for all of us out there that you just have to create a pack and move onward.” Ledbyher might be the elephant in the room, but even elephants need their herd. 

Below, Ledbyher speaks on her musical inspirations, her unlikely entry into music and her relationship with Islam.

It was cool to see rapper Onoe Caponoe show up at your Boiler Room set last week. You two worked together before this whole UK Ug scene popped off, right? 

Ledbyher: Yeah, that was two years ago, and I realised that a lot of people at the show actually didn’t know that song. When people go back and find it, they’re like, ‘This is kind of jerk’. It was the first song that put me onto that drum pattern. 

How did you first end up working with him? 

Ledbyher: When I was 13 to 14, I used to skate to his music. I can’t stress this enough; he is probably the most important person to me in music. When I moved to London, he was the number one person I wanted to collab with. I was at one of his shows in this big puffer jacket, and he said, ‘Shout out the girl in the big jacket!’ Then I went up to him afterwards. 

Were you mainly interested in rap growing up? 

Ledbyher: Yeah, but it was never my main thing; it was just the thing that stuck the longest. I am big on my Spotify research; I have hundreds of playlists, all with specific cover arts and descriptions that I use as research to find different genres. So, I also love rock, techno, a bit of [Irish rock band] The Cranberries… a bit of everything. 

I like to know what came before me. I think the most interesting thing about music is the cause and effect. So, one person can be shunned for doing something and then, say, five years later, someone like the Beatles comes around, and everyone loves it because it’s been simplified. 

Do you think you’re the cause or the effect? 

Ledbyher: I would love to be a cause in the future, but right now, I’m the effect. Lava [La Rue of Nine8 Collective] helped me a lot with my sound. I didn’t know that the British accent was a thing with females. Naturally, I would just sing overly ‘American’. Then, I found Lava, Greentea Peng, IAMDDB and Lily Allen, all these great women using their British accent and it helped me to find my sound. Now, one of the most noticeable things about me is that I’m British.  

You started out as a producer. Are you still producing your own music?

Ledbyher: Yeah, I’m producing less and writing more because that’s what I feel like I need to work on. I was producing for so long and used to only write poems that I’d put to music. Now, I actually have stuff I need to say to the world, so I can leave the production for a bit and focus on what I want to say, how I want to say it and why I’m saying it.

What changed? 

Ledbyher: Growing up, my sister Anjeli was a child star. She was an eight-year-old getting millions of views on YouTube. My mum would set the camera up, and she’d do covers of Sia and Adele. She’s incredible. But, because she was pushed so much as a child, she never had a chance to formulate her own dream. I didn’t want that. I would just produce for her, and she’d sing on it. It was when she went to college that I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I need a mic’. It became a necessity, but as soon as I started, it felt right. 

“Islam gave me a lot of respect for others, and I think it’s where a lot of my morals come from”

You mentioned praying earlier. Are you still religious? 

Ledbyher: No, I don’t pray as much because I’m quite sinful. Music is haram, so as soon as I started making my own music, I realised I couldn’t preach like I was a model Muslim. But I would say that I’m part Muslim. My dad is a white man who converted, and my mum comes from a long line of Muslims. Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population. 

Islam gave me a lot of respect for others, and I think it’s where a lot of my morals come from. My upbringing was very regimented – my dad is in the RAF, and my mum is a devout Muslim. But it was also difficult to talk to them. I’d rebel and then come home and be a completely different person. 

You seem quite level-headed now. Do you think growing up quickly made you fast-track the partying, too? 

Ledbyher: Yeah, I’m actually very tame now. I just do my music and get on with my life.

Do you think you’ll end up in the countryside again one day?

Ledbyher: Definitely. I think I’ll probably go to Wales, the Brecon Beacons. It’s just so beautiful. I go camping there. I bring a big battery pack, a tent and some food and just sit on top of the mountain and write music.  

Ledbyher’s latest mixtape, The Elephant, is out now