For a first national tour, Grae is cutting out the cheesy local club scene and going straight for the top notch venues. Among the venerable institutions she’s stopping by are the Knitting Factory (NYC), Metro (Chicago), Graceland (Seattle), Slims (San Francisco), and Roxy (Los Angeles).

Grae recently signed to indie label Babygrande for her second LP. The disc, Veteran’s Day, is expected to drop November 11 – Veterans’ Day itself. Of the album, Grae told allhiphop.com, “It’s definitely at a different level from the last album. We didn’t have any budget at all (with the last album) and we definitely have the finances to back it up and get a better sounding album – to get a better mix.”

Her debut, Attack Of The Attacking Things, has been critically praised for its lyrical content and for Grae’s style. But, due to its super low-budget production, the mix isn’t the best – something Grae admits herself – and it’s been knocked a few points for that.

The daughter of seasoned jazz greats – pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and singer Sathima Bea Benjamin – Grae is no stranger to the music scene. She ditched out of high school early and headed first for the Sam Ash Music institute, where she undertook an engineering course. After a semester at New York University, Grae decided to cut the classroom learning and instead get schooled in the “real world.”

Eventually, she joined the group Natural Resource, where she took on the moniker What? What? When they broke up in 1998, Grae decided to wing it solo, under her own name. And it’s paid off.

She’s worked with The Herbaliser, Mr. Len, and Da Beatminerz; was featured on The Lyricist Lounge’s 1999 tour album; and has received plaudits from the music press as an artist to watch.