ROCKNESS R O C K N E S S
mission statement
She’s the chart-friendly, female face of dubstep, and she’s bringing everything, including the kitchen sink, to RockNess. Henry Northmore speaks to Katy B
36 THE LIST 26 May–23 June 2011
from America,
‘W hen I was 13, listening to Choice FM, I would listen to a lot of and R&B whenever a British person tried to do it, it didn’t really work, they just sounded like they were trying to copy that whole style. Now the music sounds British, something real rather than an imitation.’
She may only be 21 but Katy B knows her genre, and can see how far the current UK scene has come in the past few years. Where British R&B and urban was once a bad joke, the long gestation of grime and dubstep has now produced a raft of genuine stars who dominate the UK charts. Katy B is unique among them as the only female artist with a track record of consecutive top ten hits, not to mention a number two album, Katy On a Mission, that was only kept off the top spot by Adele’s crushing popularity. Like her chart- mates – Tinchy Stryder, Dizzee Rascal, Tinie Tempah – she treads a fine line between urban integrity and pop gimmickry, but it’s a formula that has brought her legions of fans, few of whom would doubt her credibility.