Lady Saw turns up for her interview with Splash in a cutesy, little-girl-looking sunflower yellow top, complete with ruffles on the sleeve, form-fitting pants, a sleek bob and an attitude that just charms you into totally forgetting the purpose of her visit - she wasn't here for 'girl talk', she was actually here for work.

So, in between chatting, (a bit of gossip) and quite a few laughs, we did manage to get in some updates on her career, at least enough to write an article. It was really quite funny, however, to hear how she woke up one morning to see her Hummer, which is at least four feet off the ground, sunk way below sea level. Her precious dogs, "who eat everything, from shoes to clothes to sheet off the line", walked under and chewed the underside of the vehicle all the way down to inflating panel, releasing all the air and causing the big bad Hummer, with MUMA inscribed on the licence plate, to just get flat. Now it's costing a bundle to repair, but will she get rid of any of her 23 dogs? "I did give them some big lick and them run around the back for the whole day, but no, I love them too much. All when I'm on tour I call home and speak to them. I tell them to put the phone to their ears and ask 'did they feed you' and they answer 'ruff, ruff'," Saw told Splash with a laugh.

Okay, anecdotes asides, Marion 'Lady Saw' Hall is fully focused on her career. No longer signed to VP Records, having delivered her contractual obligations and opting not to sign a new deal, Saw is ready to "get back out with some new stuff now". She is busy working on a new album with a slew of reggae/dancehall's most respected producers. Among them are Sly and Robbie, Jazzy T, Scatta, Baby G, Ward 21 and of course, her personal producer, John John.
"I will also be doing some of the production myself," she disclosed.

Quite pleased with the progress of the project so far, Lady Saw highlighted a few of the tracks on the yet-untitled album. "Belvedere Heights by Ward 21 has a nice groove and it has been selected as one of two songs that we will be shooting a music video for soon. The other song is Baby Take Your Time, produced by Scatta. It is a very sexy song, you are going to love it," she promises.

With bubbly enthusiasm, she gushes about her "big belly song", which was inspired by a friend. "I was with a friend and a guy said to her 'go way, yuh belly big like' and her reply was, 'but a nuh mi belly him a look, a mi .' and it just gave me a vibe," Lady Saw said amidst laughter.

SAW... is preparing for her European tour

Dedicated to all the fluffy women, it boasts - No slim gal no more dan you/Fat it a nuh no crime . - and above all else, it's really funny. Saw has been performing it on stage and the response, she says, "is mad".

"It just mad. When you see the fat woman dem get down, you just have to big them up because this is their song," she declared.

Another project which had been taking a chunk of her time was her autobiography, but that has been put on hold, as this Gemini girl was "getting too emotional". On the surface, it may be a bit difficult to imagine dancehall's hardcore Muma getting all teary-eyed and emotional, but the truth is that Saw is the original softy. "Everybody in my family have me as the idiot," she said as a matter of fact. "I can't say no. All if my nephews want anything, Sister will tell them 'go ask you idiot auntie'," she stated, with a shrug of acceptance.
The book, however, will be finished . one day.

In between getting the album out, she is preparing for her European tour, which kicks off in July. "I love performing in Europe. I tend to do more singing rather than deejaying. There's a song that I did when my mother passed and whenever I sing it, people, black and white come and tell you how the songs has affected them and comforted them.
Sometimes I wonder if it's really me they are talking about," Saw shared, revealing an wonderful ego defeciency.

A friend of US artiste Remy Ma, Saw's interview took place the same day it was announced that Remy was sentenced to eight years in prison for shooting a friend. "I'm sorry for her, and she has a really nice son," Saw commented, even as she got a cell call from a mutual friend in the States about the situation. "Yes, I heard. When I come up we'll go and visit her," she calmed the person.

"It's so important for us to think before we act," she said with a half sigh as she hung up her phone.