About
Lara Lee aka FLOetic Lara blends soulful musical accents and lyrics steeped in honesty, passion, and experience, to replicate the beats of historical storytellers. A poet, singer, and songwriter, FLO has long held her place as an artist to be reckoned with. Her career has afforded her performances via key poetry platforms such as Poetry n Motion, Brixtounge, Soul Food, and Apples and Snakes, plus a host of appearances on BBC Radio and Television, Channel 4, and OBE TV to name but a few.
Lara, the opening act of choice for international neo-soul artist Dwele, has also performed for the revered Erykah Badu and Jaguar Wright coupled with international appearances in New York, Washington DC, and East Africa. Her first project ‘Jus Let It FLO…’ which includes production by the founder of nu-classic British soul, Omar, took her out on a 7-week tour to South East Asia; an inspiring achievement for a woman who had the foresight to realise that poetry and singing were her calling at the tender age of seventeen.
Lara’s work is a conversation with her audience and a window into her soul, as she discusses her personal history, such as her time in the care system and her rebellion
“I’ve had my ups and downs as a young lady.”
This experience including Lara’s expulsion from school influenced her decision to enter youth work.
“Me and my mum have had our struggles, the circumstances meant I had to be independent at a very young age and like many, I faced some adversities. That comes out in my music as well and I want it to, I want people to know where I am coming from.”
Lara, her birth name, meaning ‘music’ and ‘joy’ in Chinese, shows she was ordained to entertain. Lara felt it important to pay homage to her grandmother and her family’s Chinese roots.
“Within Chinese culture we talk a lot about the flow of energy and when I first started, and I was young, I came with a lot of energy. I liked that you can create different moods via shifting energy musically etc. I also felt a strong connection to my African roots, to our story as African or melanated people. There was this storytelling, hip-hop energy around my poetry and I wanted to combine the whole thing with song.”
Hence started her career as FLOetic Lara.
Lara is an artist that refuses to be molded by industry constraints. She acts as a vessel for a message, whatever form that takes creatively. Lara laughs shyly when her ability is referred to as ‘a talent’- a reaction that could stem from her belief that she continues to evolve as an artist.
“A talent just sounds strange to an extent, I don’t know why! I think that it’s a gift and a blessing. I have started to realise that this gift you have to work on constantly. I mean dancers train their bodies constantly to make sure they’re at the top end of their field.”
With the release of her last project ‘For Lovers Of…’, Lara was given the opportunity to record at the famous Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica, founded by the legendary, Bob Marley.
“Jamaica has had a massive influence on music throughout the world and is also my father’s home country, so it felt right to go out there and explore myself, my culture, and the next step of my music.”
An initial project to create an E.P. turned into a fully-fledged album with a number of eclectic tracks, a testament to the breadth of Lara’s musical tastes.
Though already established in her career, with achievements including being chosen as a youth ambassador for the UK and shadowing the then US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, plus recently appearing on The Voice UK season 4 where she was coached by Sir Tom Jones and reached the Live q.finals becoming the first person to mix singing and poetry on a Voice stage, Lara promises us, there is more to come.