Katy B has been instrumental in bringing the sound of London’s nightclub underground to a global audience. Since breaking out with her subsonic Benga collaboration “Katy On a Mission” in 2010, the versatile singer has harnessed the potent bass of genres like UK funky, dubstep, grime and house to make some of dance music’s hottest heaters. Born in May 1989 and raised in South London, Kathleen Brien was just a teen when she started hitting up famed clubs like Plastic People and SeOne, immersing herself in the city’s thriving bass-music and UK funky scene with the help of supportive parents and a doctored passport. “Anyone who was there, in the rave, they understood the vibes. It was just vibes upon vibes upon vibes,” she recalled to Apple Music. After sending demos to Rinse FM, she teamed up with the pirate-radio station’s founder, Geeneus, who helped her craft the indelible hooks and savvy production of her 2011 breakout debut, On a Mission. Since then, she’s deftly navigated the line between the underground and the mainstream—exploring icy, Robyn-esque synth-pop on her 2014 hit “Crying for No Reason”, offering a pop interpretation of grime on 2016’s “Lose Your Head” and cooing confidently over intricate, tropical rhythms on the 2021 single “Under My Skin”.