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{ BIOGRAPHY } |
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 Niomi McLean-Daley, aka
Ms. Dynamite, was born in North London in 1981.
Throughout her years growing up in a music-orientated family of 11 siblings, she
was exposed to an eclectic variety of music genres. Although her parents parted
when she was only 2 years old, Niomi remained close with both parents, despite
the distance between them. Raised primarily by her mother, a young Niomi was exposed to a variety of music styles during her upbringing, including roots, reggae and soul. This mixture of music and culture helped inspire her to get in touch with her inner voice. Her outlet for this voice came in the form of poetry and through scribbling her personal feelings and experiences throughout the pages of her diaries.  Described as an intelligent, outgoing student by her schoolteachers,
Ms.
Dynamite lacked a public outlet for her private writing. This barrier was
overcome, however, once she discovered her calling in the UK garage music scene
at the age of 17. She used this underground music environment to relay her
poetry and prose via microphone over garage beats to small crowds of local
enthusiasts. During her time working at RAW FM radio station in London in 2000, she crossed paths with underground producer Richard Forbes (aka Sticky) while at a London nightclub. The pair decided to collaborate musically in the garage music scene. Her array of heartfelt lyrics mixed with his onslaught of breakneck beats, amounted to a unique blend of dance-flavoured underground music -- an explosive new mix, previously unheard of in the garage scene. With the release of her first single, "Booo!", Ms. Dynamite had officially blown-up all over the underground garage market.  The dynamic popularity and success of
"Booo!", which entered the music charts at
No.12 in May 2001, helped make a name for Ms. Dynamite in the UK underground
scene. Throughout most of 2001 and 2002, Dynamite poured her heart and soul into
developing her debut album, A Little Deeper, a collection of tracks packed with
opinionated verse and passion. The album, which was recorded in New York, Miami, Sweden, and Jamaica, boasts a high-caliber roster of producers including Salaam Remi (of Nas and Fugees fame), legendary Caribbean reggae duo Tony and Dave Kelly, and Punch (P. Diddy's beat-master). This mixture of production styles led to an eccentric R&B album laced with a variety of reggae, hip-hop and dancehall influences.  Upon its release in 2002,
A Little Deeper broke ground for Ms. Dynamite's
explosive introduction into the UK's pop/R&B music market. Her debut's immense
popularity earned the young artist Britain's Mercury Music Prize for Album of
the Year in 2002, along with three MOBO (Music of Black Origin) awards at
Britain's urban music awards. Most recently, she took the prizes for Best
British Urban Artist and Best British Female at the 2003 Brit Awards in
February. Her overwhelming success in the UK has recently enabled Ms. Dynamite to cross over into the U.S. market. In March 2003, A Little Deeper was released on Interscope Records in the U.S. backed by the first single "It Takes More," which has created a buzz on radio and music video charts across the nation.  In addition to promoting
A Little Deeper in the U.S., while awaiting the arrival
of her first child this summer, Ms. Dynamite has been busy working on material
for her follow-up album, tentatively titled A Little Darker. The album will mark
a return to her underground roots with a heavier mixture of more garage, break
beats, hip-hop, and a darker dose of R&B. |
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