Bridging the divide
Heavy beats. Bass pumping. Danceable rhythms. You may think this describes some cheesy top 100 hit by an artist who will disappear into pop history without making a mark. But you'd be wrong. Katy B (born Kathleen Brien) looks like she's here to stay.
With more than 10 million YouTube hits, almost 10 sold-out shows and residence on the British charts for six weeks, the 22-year-old Brit is bringing the underground house scene into the mainstream. Combining lyrics about life as a carefree youth, partying and falling for the wrong boys with heavy, grimey beats, Katy B offers the best of both worlds in her chart-topping hits.
The 12-track album, On A Mission, is testament to the fact that Katy B really knows her music. She throws in elements from seemingly opposite music genres, and seamlessly combines the two. The singer picks Power on Me as the defining track of the album because of its eclecticism. This catchy track has elements of different genres of music all thrown together, such as drum 'n' bass, house and grime. In fact, she finds it hard to categorise her own album in one specific genre: 'I don't even really know what genre it is! It's dark and atmospheric.'
Katy B had her first big break at 17 when she was discovered by DJ NG and MC Versatile. They then produced Tell Me, a track which became popular in the house music scene. DJ Geeneus, head DJ at radio station Rinse FM, contacted her after hearing the hit. He wanted to use her vocals in a showcase album for station's DJs to add a 'female' element to the DJs' regular 'grimey' beats, and make the album more appealing and diversified.
However, during the recording process, Geeneus noticed that the recordings were starting to sound like a potential debut album for the BRIT School graduate. Throughout the process, Geeneus has probably been one of Katy's biggest supporters He praises her on the 'realness' of the album and for bringing a softer element to an otherwise 'hard' genre of music.
'I watched Katy write this album and know that every track has a meaning to her, and those meanings relate to a lot of people. A lot of people write about being somewhere else. Katy writes about being here, today.'
Britain's Observer newspaper has rated Katy B's debut album its CD of the week and described it as 'the sound of getting messy late at night in the shadow of the capital', while The Times calls it 'the soundtrack of the British urban experience'. This is only the beginning but it's pretty clear that Katy's already been successful in her mission.
