5: Ms Dynamite

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Music

5: Ms Dynamite

She may have only released two studio albums but her imprint on British music remains as strong and influential as ever.
Emma Garland
London, GB

Over the past few months, a bunch of Noisey staff, journalists, artists and friends of Noisey who know their music have sat together to bash out a list of the greatest UK MC talent of all time. We're sharing the results of those chats in a top 30 countdown this week, running through the pioneers, grafters and the odd enigma who've pushed the limits of British skills on the mic. We're not just commending great MCs in the traditional sense – lyrical flow, wordplay, freestyle skills – but bigging up those who've created a legacy, stamped in a cultural mark or paved the way for the new breed.

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For many people, Ms Dynamite begins and ends with a sound bite of her own name stretched to five syllables in a loop-de-loop cadence. It may feel bait now but "Dy-na-mi-tee" is a massive part of Niomi McLean-Daley's legacy – after all, it's the lead single from the debut album that earned her both critical acclaim in the UK and US and the 2002 Mercury Prize (for which she became the first black solo female recipient, aged 21). Beyond that, though, Ms Dynamite has carved out an impact by balancing rapid-fire socially conscious bars and soft, soulful R&B in ways that strike frequently untouched nerves. And all with a voice sexier than a silk pyjama set dipped in chocolate.

Whether she was rapping about her upbringing and music as escapism in a distressed denim two-piece on "Dy-na-mi-tee", or channelling a unique combination of Blu Cantrell, Aaliyah and Amy Winehouse on "It Takes More", Ms Dynamite's signature sound tended to lean more towards US-produced acts than anything coming out of the UK at the time. Her delivery and lyrics preaching responsibility and self-love provoked obvious comparisons to Lauryn Hill, but her individuality is contextualised by the UK music scene and the mark she left on it. Despite having the dexterity of an Olympic gymnast when it comes to handling the mic, McLean-Daley's first foray into music began as it has for so many British MCs: naturally and unintentionally.

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Just weeks after hopping on the mic at a friend's party for a laugh, she found herself MCing on pirate radio. "[MC Ms Creation and me] were standing shoulder to shoulder with over 25 men. As girls, no one was gonna give us the mic – but something in me made me push to the front, grab the mic, and just start MCing," she said in an interview last year, "We could all tell we all came from pretty shitty backgrounds. We'd all been written off to some degree by some area of society; we all, to some extent, had been told we weren't gonna amount to much. And actually we went [to radio] and we just all inspired one another. It was like therapy."

Along with Sweet Female Attitude, Kele Le Roc, Romania Johnson and So Solid Crew's Lisa Maffia, Ms Dynamite helped put UK garage on the map – and its sound was distinctly female-fronted. But the more she evolved, Ms Dynamite also blazed a trail to wider fame at a time where female solo artists have rarely managed to break out within their scene, let alone break America, and helped open the door for women to walk through after her. When Katy B launched her own career in 2010, she didn't do so without bringing Ms Dynamite through for "With the Lights On", which can be read as a homage as much as it is a wise link-up. From her vocals on Sticky's pirate radio staple "Booo!" in 2001 to her Ibiza-ready collaboration with Shy FX in 2013, Ms. Dynamite has remained a go-to voice in garage, drum and bass, reggae and soul over the last two decades, even if her involvement in the industry has been sporadic.

As an artist Ms Dynamite was vocal about her experience in a way that manifested itself in positively minded and socially conscious lyrics. She donated her £20,000 Mercury Prize money to NSPCC and she was nominated for six MOBO awards at a time when the only other person to achieve the same was Craig David, whose up-tempo and club-ready singles were more conventionally geared towards commercial success. She may have only released two studio albums, collected her BRIT Awards, and kindly stepped out of the spotlight, but to this day when she's on the mic Ms Dynamite is an artist who represents something beyond herself.

You can find Emma on Twitter.

Check out the top 30 to 11 in our greatest UK MCs countdown here, 10 to 8 here and 7 to 6 here.