With her new Basement Jaxx-produced single, Hoodie, Lady Sovereign stands up for her sartorial rights.

Tired of being told what she should and shouldn't wear to the shopping centre, the 19-year-old princess of grime dishes out some advice of her own - putting those who'd like to ban her favourite item of clothing firmly in their place.

"I'm just looking at your garms - you've been on too many catalogue sprees," she taunts Piers Morgan and home secretary Charles Clarke, before inviting Trinny and Susannah, Cherie Blair and the rest to "fling on an Adidas hoodie and just boogie-woogie with me".

As the upbeat dancefloor vibe for which Basement Jaxx are celebrated locks in with Lady Sovereign's acerbic flow, the result is a killer one-two that'll have anti-sportswear bigots everywhere out for the count.

"I'm all about standing up for the hoodie," laughs Lady Sovereign. "They wanna have a moan about people that wear them, but I wear them all the time - and I don't like the way some other people dress".

In America, she is currently - to borrow a phrase from her last single 9 to 5 - "huge like Katie Price's boobs".

"The first time I played there was in Chicago and I must admit I was surprised," she says. "It was mad fanatics singing along from the first song.

"Then someone saw me at a show in New York and went back to Jay-Z and told him about me. I don't know what was said, but hopefully it was complimentary, because he got in touch with my manager - and the next thing I knew I was going to Def Jam for a meeting."

Initially, the atmosphere was "quite relaxed". "But when Jay-Z said, 'Okay, spit something on the spot,' I was almost shaking," she says. "I just did like three lots of 16 bars - a couple of them were freestyles - - and then all of a sudden the room was silent.

"Then I could see Jay-Z had this really happy grin on his face..."

So, next spring, Island/Def Jam will release her debut album - while this month sees the release of her Vertically Challenged EP, featuring an exclusive remix by The Beastie Boys' Ad Rock. Not bad for someone raised on a musical diet of her mum's Salt 'n' Pepa tapes.

Growing up in North West London's notorious Chalk Hill Estate seems to have prepared Lady Sovereign for life in the hip-hop fast lane.

"It was good - I have no complaints about it," she insists. "I saw the odd bad thing go on - I was a kid and I got up to mischief. But I'm not one of those crying little gangstas who does nothing but moan about how rough their area was. I prefer to talk about the good things - like how carefree and united it was - and if I do talk about the bad things, I'll try and make it funny."

Starts at 8pm. Tickets cost £7.50, call 01273 3254540.