As a result, Laurel was raised partly by their Jamaican grandmother and grew up around St Raphael's Estate, Kensal Rise and Ladbroke Grove in West London.
Lava quotes that being raised by their grandmother gave them the "Experience of being raised around 1st generation Caribbean Culture" [5] Laurel was always playing in bands growing up, and at age 13 they decided they wanted to be in an all-girl version of The Clash joining a Post-Punk tween trio called "The West Borns" who played local street fair gigs outside the Tabernacle, Notting Hill and on Golborne Road[3] They entered foster care at the age of 14 whilst attending Queens Park Community School.
[6] At age 19, Laurel was invited to Japan by a modelling agency, and decided to stay there until they ran out of money, DJing at local fashion parties and befriending members of the Tokyo underground music scene.
[2][8] The song quickly garnered online support and millions of streams, establishing La Rue as an independent artist within the alternative UK music scene.
[9] In 2020, Lava La Rue announced the release of their third official solo project, Butter-Fly, written in collaboration with Deb Never and Clairo and features production credits from Isom Innis of Foster the People and Vegyn.
[11] On 4 April 2022, Wet Leg released "Ur Mum", accompanied by a music video directed by Lava La Rue, using their alias Lavaland.