Ms. Dynamite

Niomi Arleen McLean-Daley MBE (born 26 April 1981), better known as Ms. Dynamite, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. She is the recipient of the Mercury Music Prize, two Brit Awards and three MOBO Awards.

This article is about Ms. Dynamite. For Little Miss Dynamite, see Brenda Lee.

Ms. Dynamite
MBE
Ms. Dynamite in 2010
Background information
Birth nameNiomi Arleen Daley
Born (1981-04-26) 26 April 1981
Crawley, West Sussex, England
OriginKentish Town, London, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2000–present
Labels
Associated acts

Early years

She was born Niomi Arleen Daley and raised in Kentish Town, North London to a Jamaican father and a Scottish mother. She is the older sister of the rapper Akala.[1][2]

Career

2001–2004: A Little Deeper

Ms. Dynamite (originally Lady Dynamite) was first known for her vocals on the UK garage underground track "Booo!", which was regularly played on London pirate radio stations and was later released as a single. While working at the radio station RAW FM,[3] 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, Dynamite won the prestigious Mercury Music Prize,[4] for A Little Deeper. She donated the £20,000 prize to the NSPCC.

On March 8, 2003, Ms. Dynamite was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, hosted by Queen Latifah. [5]

Also in 2003, Ms. Dynamite signed a deal to promote Pepsi, reported to be worth £1m [6]

She performed at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games at the City of Manchester Stadium.[7] On 2 July 2005, she performed at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London. Among the songs performed was "Redemption Song" written by Bob Marley, which she performed alongside her brother, Akala. [8]

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 single, "Judgement Day"/"Father" and the Tony Blair 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.[9]

In 2006, she was convicted of assaulting a police officer and was sentenced to 60 hours community service.[10]

2007–present: Hiatus and career wind-down

After taking a break from the music scene, Dynamite guest-hosted BBC Radio 1Xtra, and stated she would be releasing a third album, Democracy, in 2009, with the first single from the new album being "Bad Gyal".[11] However, this was later pushed back as she concentrated on other projects and motherhood. Meanwhile, she appeared on Hell's Kitchen on ITV1 in 2009,[12] finishing fourth, and later as an expert adviser on Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment on BBC Two.[13]

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 the promised album did not appear. [14] 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 and Showtek song for the former's 2014 album Listen, "No Money No Love" along with Elliphant.

Discography
Main article: Ms. Dynamite discography
Studio albums
Mixtapes
  • A Little Darker (with Akala) (2006)

Soundtracks

Awards and nominations

Ms. Dynamite was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to music.[15]

Year Organisation Award Nominated Work Result
2002 MTV Europe Music Awards Best UK & Ireland Act "Ms. Dynamite" Nominated
Mercury Prize Album of the year "A Little Deeper" Won
MOBO Awards[16] Best single "It Takes More" Won
UK Act of the Year Ms. Dynamite Won
Best Newcomer Ms. Dynamite Won
2003 100 Great Black Britons[17] 100 Great Black Britons (rank 14) Ms. Dynamite Nominated
Brit Awards British Urban Act Ms. Dynamite Won
British Female Solo Artist Ms. Dynamite Won
British Breakthrough Act Ms. Dynamite Nominated
British Album of the Year "A Little Deeper" Nominated
MOBO Awards Best Single "Dy-Na-Mi-Tee" Nominated
Best Newcomer Ms. Dynamite Nominated
UK Act of the year Ms. Dynamite Nominated
Race in Media Awards Media Personality Ms. Dynamite Nominated
2006 Brit Awards British Urban Act Ms. Dynamite Nominated

References
  1. Kate Mossman, "Akala: Dynamite by any other name…", The Observer, 2 June 2013.
  2. Brian Rose, "Fight the Power — Akala and the Power of the Word", London Real Academy, 20 October 2015.
  3. Ms. Dynamite on Raw FM, in 1999,
  4. "Mercury Prize official site". Nationwidemercurys.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
  5. "SNL SEASON 28, EPISODE 14". Nbc.com.
  6. "BBC News: Ms Dynamite in '£1m' Pepsi deal". News.bbc.co.uk.
  7. "Ms Dynamite - It Takes More at the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony.MPG". YouTube. 6 October 2011.
  8. "Live 8 2005 / Ms. Dynamite (ft.Akala)- Redemption Song". YouTube. 10 December 2010.
  9. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London, UK: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 370. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  10. Hall, Tim. "Ms Dynamite spared a prison sentence". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  11. "Allen: 'Ms. Dynamite return is massive'". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 28 September 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  12. "Categories". ITV Player. Archived from the original on 20 December 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  13. "BBC Two - Goldie's Band: By Royal Appointment, Episode 1". BBC. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  14. "Ms Dynamite interview: "I don't want to be put in a box" – Music Interview". Web.archive.org. 22 September 2011.
  15. "Ms Dynamite awarded MBE for services to music". The Irish News. 8 June 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  16. "MOBO Awards 2002". MOBO Awards 2002 - history. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  17. "100 Great Black Britons - Ms Dynamite". 100greatblackbritons.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
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