Wee Papa Girl Rappers’ Samantha Lawrence dead at 55
Wee Papa Girl Rappers member Samantha Lawrence has reportedly died at the age of 55. The London artist was half of the British hip-hop duo behind the hit single ‘Wee Rule’ in 1988, which reached number six on the UK Singles Chart.
Lawrence passed away on December 1st following her second cancer diagnosis earlier this year. Her death was announced on December 5th, with her sister and other half of Wee Papa Girl Rappers, Sandra Lawrence, releasing a statement on behalf of her family.
“It is with great sadness that we announce that beloved sister and mother Samantha Lawrence passed away on Sunday,” the statement read, according to the Daily Mail. “Samantha, aka TY Tim, was known for her chart success with Wee Papa Girl Rappers, a hip-hop pop duo that she founded with her older sister Sandra Lawrence, aka Total S.”
Wee Papa Girls Rappers were signed to Jive Records and released two albums on the label, The Beat, the Rhyme, the Noise and Be Aware, in 1988 and 1990. Their second biggest single, ‘Heat It Up’, featuring 2 Men and a Drum Machine, peaked at number 21 in the UK.
Collaborator Dave Pearce paid tribute in an Instagram post, describing them as “trailblazing British female rappers.” He added, “Through her success Sam will have inspired others to follow their dreams, I’m glad I had the chance to remind her of that recently.”
The duo appeared on the BBC documentary series First Ladies of Hip-Hop last year, where Samantha Lawrence broke down the formation of Wee Papa Girls Rappers.
“We were born in Hammersmith, west London, brought up in South Ealing and had our teenage years in Acton,” she explained. “Then I was, you know, influenced by rap music and I thought, ‘Yeah we could, you know, this is something that I wanted to do.’”
She continued, “And then my sister, being only four years younger than me, I said, ‘Come on, we can be bedroom rappers, we can do this’. I loved just rapping with my sister, because she was just amazing, amazing.”
However, Samantha felt like she was always “one behind” her sister in terms of her ability. “I felt I was always one behind, but I gave it my all,” she said. “I liked being the kind of underdog, you know, while my sister was, she just inspired me.”