Ms. Dynamite

Until fairly recently, Ms. Dynamite - that’s Niomi Arleen MacLean-Daley when she’s at home, in case you were wondering why she goes by a nickname - was in serious danger of becoming a musical footnote in British history, heading towards a spiral that would likely start with ‘where is she now?’ type pieces popping up on the internet and inevitably ends with an appearance on the identity parade on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. She’d won the Mercury Prize for her debut album, A Little Deeper, scooped two BRITs and three MOBO awards, and tasted chart-topping success, but having disappeared soon afterwards, her star had long since been on the wane. That all changed, though, when she made a remarkable comeback to her garage and funky roots by appearing as a guest vocalist on Katy B’s smash hit ‘Lights On’, a critical and commercial success. A second appearance earlier this year, on DJ Fresh vs. Jay Fay’s ‘Dibby Dibby Sound’ suggests that a full-blown comeback album is imminent; she’s been playing live lately, too, packing UK clubs with energetic, DJ-backed shows; expect her to bring a full band on the road once she drops that new album, which should be sooner rather than later.