Naomi Arleen McLean-Daley (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British singer and rapper. She is the recipient of the

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

, two Brit Awards and three

MOBO Awards The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Ba ...

Early years

She was born Naomi Arleen McLean-Daley in Crawley, West Sussex, and raised in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

, to a Jamaican father and a Scottish mother. She is the older sister of the rapper Akala.

Career

2001–2004: ''A Little Deeper''

Ms. Dynamite (originally Lady Dynamite) was first known for her vocals on the

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...

underground track " Booo!", which was regularly played on London

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

stations and was later released as a single. While working at the radio station RAW FM, Ms. Dynamite was discovered by Richard Forbes ("DJ Sticky") at a West End club. Interest grew from all major British labels and eventually she was signed via her management Bigga Beats to Polydor Records, where she met producer Salaam Remi, who cultivated her talent. She released her debut album, '' A Little Deeper'', in 2002, which featured hit songs " It Takes More" and " Dy-Na-Mi-Tee". In 2003, the album was released in the United States to critical acclaim. In 2002, Ms. Dynamite won the prestigious

, for ''A Little Deeper''. She donated the £20,000 prize to the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...

. On 8 March 2003, Ms. Dynamite was the musical guest on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', hosted by Queen Latifah. Also in 2003, Ms. Dynamite signed a deal to promote Pepsi, reported to be worth £1m She performed at the closing ceremony of the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

at the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...

. On 2 July 2005, she performed at the

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...

concert in

Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a , historic Listed building#Heritage protection, Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Parks of London, Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington P ...

. Among the songs performed was " Redemption Song" written by

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

, which she performed alongside her brother, Akala.

2005–2006: ''Judgement Days''

On 11 September 2005, she returned to the limelight (having taken time off to have her son, Shavaar) with a new album titled '' Judgement Days''. Featuring more social commentary, in songs such as the first

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

single, "

Judgement Day The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the ''Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus, Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God in Abrahamic religions, God of a ...

"/"

Father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

" and the

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

critique, "Mr Prime Minister," reviews of the album were not as favourable as those of her debut. However, "Judgement Day" reached No. 25 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2006, she was convicted of assaulting a police officer and was sentenced to 60 hours community service.

2007–present: Hiatus and career wind-down

After a break from music, Ms. Dynamite guest-hosted BBC Radio 1Xtra, and said she would be releasing a third album, ''Democracy'', in 2009, with the first single from the new album being "Bad Gyal". However, this was deferred as she concentrated on other projects and motherhood. Meanwhile, she appeared on '' Hell's Kitchen'' on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

in 2009, finishing fourth, and later as an expert adviser on ''Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment'' on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

. Since then, she has appeared on several collaborations, notably Katy B's second single, " Lights On", which peaked at number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in 2010, and the Magnetic Man track "Fire", which appeared on their debut album. A single, " Neva Soft" (produced by Labrinth), was released in 2011, although a promised associated album did not appear. Since then she has been the featured vocalist on the DJ Fresh Versus Jay Fray track " Dibby Dibby Sound" (February 2013) and a

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

and

Showtek Showtek is a Dutch electronic dance music duo consisting of two brothers from Eindhoven, Wouter Janssen (; born 20 August 1982). and Sjoerd Janssen (; born 6 April 1984). The duo regularly manages to reach the top of multiple music charts and wor ...

song for the former's 2014 album '' Listen'', "No Money No Love" along with Elliphant. In 2020 Ms. Dynamite appeared on a CLIPZ ( Redlight), single "Again" which also featured Ms Banks and JayKae.

Discography

;Studio albums * '' A Little Deeper'' (2002) * '' Judgement Days'' (2005) ;Mixtapes * ''A Little Darker'' (with Akala) (2006)

Soundtracks

* "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee" ('' FIFA 2003'' soundtrack) * "Dy-Na-Mi-Te" ('' Ali G Indahouse'' soundtrack) * "Dy-Na-Mi-Te" ('' My Scene'' Barbie Mix) * "Krazy Krush" ('' Misfits'' Channel 4 soundtrack)

Awards and nominations

Ms. Dynamite was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to music.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dynamite, Miss 1981 births Living people Anglo-Scots 21st-century Black British women singers 21st-century British women singers Black British women rappers British women rappers Brit Award winners British hip-hop singers English people of Jamaican descent English people of Scottish descent British contemporary R&B singers English women singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters People from Crawley Rappers from the London Borough of Camden Singers from the London Borough of Camden UK garage singers BBC Radio 1Xtra presenters Polydor Records artists Relentless Records artists Members of the Order of the British Empire British women radio presenters People from Kentish Town