Tali AKA Natalia Sheppard is pretty impressive, she paired up with Roni Size to release Lyric on my Lip which smashed the charts in 2002, became the first female MC to release an album in 2004 over 10 years ago. She has won the Best Female DNB MC award a few times (3) and has just released her new album Wolves, which she describes as “electronic soul and gangsta jazz"! Inspired by the raw fundamental beats of 90s Hip-Hop and layered with dreamy contemporary Electronic music, Tali has created an album that she says "Reflects my personality and outlook on life - At times moody, dark and intense, but interspersed with glimmers of hope, love and strength".
A couple of stand out tracks for me are Faster Than
Sound and Forces. Faster Than Sound is a ground-breaking move
into the trip hop genre as an extension from her solid DnB origins. Forces on the other hand, is a cinematic love song the combines
the power of nature, both tracks are awe inspiring and completely destructive.
Wolves is an evolution in Tali’s sound which she wrote, produced and recorded the
album, just adding more talent to an already impressive resume.
One of the most prolific MC's to come out of Drum and Bass in the last ten years, Tali's ability to freestyle and sing soulful, positive and intelligent vocals over the mix, has seen her stay top of her game. She has won numerous awards, released two new albums in the last 12 months ("Dark Days, High Nights" - Audioporn Records) and toured the world extensively as both an MC and live act.
Originally from a Dairy Farm in Taranaki, Tali moved to the UK ten years to follow her dreams of becoming a top international MC.
After signing to the legendary Full Cycle Label owned and run by Roni Size, Tali went onto to release the first ever MC album 'Lyric on my Lip' with a UK top 40 single and worldwide tour and selling over 15,000 albums.