ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Katy B

Working alongside the likes of Benga, Geeneus, Magnetic Man and Zinc, singer/songwriter Katy B is helping to take credible underground UK dance music culture overground.

Now at the tender age of 21, self-described ‘London girl’ Katy B (Kathleen Brien) and her semi-classical singing voice first reached a global audience in 2010. Brien's entry into the international dance music consciousness occurred via the release of a trinity of singles. Firstly, the dubstep/quasi-pop hybrid numbers 'Katy On A Mission' (produced by Benga), 'Perfect Stranger' (produced by dubstep super collective Magnetic Man), then, following these, a highly accessible UK funky song titled 'Light's On'.

'Light's On' saw Brien lyrically sparring with pioneering female UK MC Miss Dynamite over a hypnotic club rhythm, as produced by Geeneus, the mastermind behind hyper-upfront London radio station and record label Rinse FM.

Working with Rinse FM's pool of talented beatmakers and DJs, in what Geeneus describes as a team effort, Brien has just released her debut album On A Mission, a record which sees her lyrically investigating the nature of nightclub culture over a club appropriate mixture of dubstep, UK funky, modern jungle, breakbeat house and beyond. With her vulnerable, yet resilient vocal tones connecting the record song by song, she's crafted a statement of intent that seems to pitch perfectly with Rinse FM's current status as the sound of a stylistically murky underground, bubbling swiftly into the mainstream consciousness.

Katy B - Katy On A Mission

As with many stories like this, the moment in which success is crystalised is often a far cry from early beginnings. Hailing from the Peckham district of South London, Brien grew up in an environment full of music and colour. As she puts it - speaking with a slightly tomboyish English accent - "I love Peckham, there are all these little stores with strange African gospel music blaring out the windows, or a butcher will be playing a funky house CD. There are so many fresh fruit and vegetable markets and random shoe stores, stuff like that. I guess if you were walking down the street you might think it was a different country." Pausing for a moment she continues with an infectious giggle, saying, "In Peckham there are loads and loads of butchers and fishermongers, so it doesn't smell that great. Hold your nose when you're walking down High Street.

During her younger years, Brien divided her time between staying with her parents and her aunt. Her father was a singer, who mostly worked in vocal harmony styles ("He did crooning and Beach Boys type things”). Her mother was a music lover who, even though she didn't play, kept the stereo on loud - and her aunt was a trumpeter and pianist. As a result, Brien who was always into singing and dancing, realised she wanted to learn a musical instrument - piano.

Katy B - Broken Record

Hooked on the likes of Destiny's Child, Boyz II Men and Alicia Keys, at 14, her parents bundled her up and sent her to the Croydon performing arts school BRIT. Responsible for the early development of the likes of Kate Nash, Amy Winehouse, Jamie Woon and Adele, BRIT had a profound effect on Brien. "It made me realise making a living out of music could be a reality and it kind of got me on that road," she admits.

On the side, BRIT led Brien into early associations that saw her recording with fledging grime, house and UK funky producers in their bedrooms, resulting in her contributing vocals to the underground anthem 'Tell Me' in 2008. Produced by DJ NG and also featuring a respected funky MC called Versatile, 'Tell Me' repositioned Brien - then known as Baby Katy - as one to watch. "Grime, house and UK funky were just the sounds that were around me, living in London at the time," she says.

Soon afterwards, Brien began working with Geeneus of Rinse FM and another producer called Zinc. Clueless about the world she was entering, Brien went home, googled Zinc and got quite the shock. "I thought, ‘bloody hell, he is pretty big in the game,’" she admits with a laugh. "You have to understand I was just a 17 year old girl doing her thing. I wasn't really a nerdy person into electronic music."

Thinking back on their early encounters, Geeneus relays his view of things. "I'd spent my life working with MCs, I'd worked with guys like Wiley and Dizzee Rascal, and I really wanted to work with a singer,” he recalls. “I'd been looking for ages and I really liked [Katy’s] voice. To be fair though, her voice is what led me to her, but then I realised that she is quite like us (at Rinse FM). She's down to earth, she's a normal person like we are. I didn't want to be working on a project with someone who had a massive ego. I don't go for that mentality in music."

As such, Brien gelled perfectly with Rinse FM's team effort/community driven ethos, serving as the perfect voice to connect a series of stylistic themes and beatmakers into one unified body of work. "If I could get on the track and sing them myself I would," Geeneus laughs. "But I just can't, so we got her for that. It is a team effort, we all do it together." With 'Katy On A Mission', 'Light's On' and new single 'Broken Record' ("my tune for the ladies," says Brien), having all penetrated the UK singles chart top 10, Geeneus is understandably feeling pretty good about the project progress. "Yeah, it's been pretty cool," he says. "It's done alright innit."

Impressively, Brien also completed a degree in popular music at Goldsmiths, University of London while recording On A Mission, and is taking her now sell-out level show on the road with a 10-piece live band. "My band is just all my friends from BRIT school really - I used to go clubbing with the piano player," she admits.

Hereon in, for Brien, the sky's the limit.