The 21-year-old R'n'B artist on the ballads and blues that influenced her breakthrough album
21-year-old Katy B (Kathleen Brien to her mum) is from Peckham in south London. As a young girl she was an R'n'B fan who played classical piano. Her parents sent her to The Brit School, whose alumni include Adele, Amy Winehouse and Katie Melua. She then went on to study popular music at Goldsmiths' in New Cross, south London. Her breakthrough came in 2006 when, at 17, she hooked up with DJ NG and MC Versatile on "Tell Me", which was a hit on the UK funky house scene. Her debut album, On a Mission ? three years in the making, with collaborators Geeneus and Zinc ? is out now, and her tour of the UK and Europe kicks off on Friday.
THE SONG THAT PROVED MY MUM WAS WORTH LISTENING TO
"Everyday Boy", Joan Armatrading (1995)
My dad was a soul fan and a singer himself, and he loved vocal harmony, stuff like the Beach Boys and Motown like the Four Tops, which was a big influence on me. My mum loved Joan Armatrading and used to play her records all the time, and even took me to see her a couple of times when I was really quite young. I didn't really like her music back then because my mum was always playing it, but I've grown to appreciate it more. There's this one song called "Everyday Boy", with a great lyric that says, "You're not the first, and you won't be the last, but you are the one I'll remember".
THE RECORD THAT GOT ME ROUND THE PIANO
"Prelude to a Kiss", Alicia Keys (2007)
I used to play the piano when I was younger, and I loved Alicia Keys. I wanted to be Alicia Keys, she was such an idol to me. I even used to buy the piano scores for her songs from Chappell, on Bond Street, and teach myself to play them. There are so many songs of hers that I love, like "Loving You is Easy", "Prelude to a Kiss" and "Wake Up". It would be a dream to work with her one day.
THE SOUND OF MY TEENAGE REBELLION
"I Luv U", Dizzee Rascal (2003)
When I was growing up in Peckham there used to be these under-18s' and under-21s' nights at a club called Caesar's on the Old Kent Road. I would beg my mum to go, but she would say, "No way, there will be alcohol there." I was about 13 or 14 when "I Luv U" came out; it was huge at that time, and Dizzee was doing a PA at one of the under-16s' club nights. I was absolutely desperate to go, begging and crying, but Mum wouldn't let me. I was really sad, because all my friends went.
THE SONGWRITER'S SONG
"Love Rain", Jill Scott (2001)
At Brit School and then Goldsmiths' we would spend a lot of time analysing music, and picking songs apart. It wasn't enough to say you liked a song; you had to work out why and understand why, and be able to explain why. This changed my opinion of quite a few songs: after I'd analysed and picked them apart and there wasn't much there, I found that I didn't really like them any more. I used to like a lot of R'n'B, but when I analysed most of those songs, and looked at the chord progression or whatever, there wasn't much there. That's when I started getting more into neo-soul, and artists like Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, and the more I listened to them the more I appreciated live performance and musicianship, and the importance of lyrics. I love "Love Rain" and "Golden" by Jill Scott, and her album Who is Jill Scott? And Baduizm by Erykah Badu, and her track "Bump It" from the Worldwide Underground album, because she's thinking about hearing her song played out at a club, loud. I always think about that when I'm writing songs like "Lights On".
THE TUNE THAT MAKES ME CRY
"Brother", Ms Dynamite (2006)
I didn't get a copy of Ms Dynamite's debut album when it came out, as I was only 12. But I heard her songs on the radio at the time, and they really stood out for me. She was so different to other artists in what she had to say with her songs, and she seemed to have a lot of guts. I didn't get a copy of her album until about two years ago. When I bought it I was reading the lyrics on the way home on the bus, before I'd had the chance to play it, and I started crying just reading the lyrics. There's a song called "Brother", which I love. It makes me well up just thinking about it now ? it's really touching, and makes me think of me and my brother. I was made up when she guested on "Lights On" last year.
AND THE TUNE THAT MAKES ME GET UP AND DANCE
"The Cure & the Cause", Fish Go Deep (2006)
"The Cure & the Cause" was a record that changed a lot for me. A lot of DJs in London would play UK garage, then grime, but that was more MC-based. Dubstep was coming out but that was darker, and people were listening to Bashment and stuff, but there wasn't much for people who liked to go out and dance ? for that old garage crowd. But "The Cure & the Cause" had a big effect on that crowd in London, and on the younger generation. You then got a lot of garage and grime producers starting to produce house records that didn't really sound like house, because they had different influences. When I made "Tell Me" I thought I was making a house record, but when I listened back to it it doesn't really sound like house, because you have all these different influences, from R'n'B to soul to soca. Which is where the whole funky thing came from.
Sarah Silverman Larissa Meek Gina Carano Sanaa Lathan Ana Beatriz Barros
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