Behind most great success stories are people who have true strength of heart and mind. This is probably the only thing that Ms Dynamite’s story has which is in anyway stereotypical. She started from the bottom rung of the music circuit and has worked her way up using passion fuelled by a desire to be heard and to break conformity.

Dynamite’s very first single ‘Booo!’ catapulted into the spotlight in May 2001, entering the charts at Number 12 following the year-long white label rotation on the underground, it marked the beginning of an extraordinary 18 months for this nascent star. ‘Booo!’ produced by garage don Sticky, wrapped a digital baroque two-step sound around Dynamite’s vivid account of clubland violence, and swiftly established the London MC as one of the hottest young talents to emerge from the capital’s fertile UK garage scene.

Ms Dynamite aka Niomi Daley soon went on to support Eminem on his London dates and perform before Destiny’s Child at Party In The Park later that year. She presented Channel 4’s urban music programme ‘Flava’ too, handling her new role as urban multi-tasking media starlet with natural aplomb, despite no previous experience. Not bad for a girl who only started chatting in front of crowds at raves when she was 18 with her MC friends from pirate station Raw FM & Freek FM, Viper, Melody and Charlie Brown "It was just for a joke, never anything I took seriously".

She was born 21 years ago, the oldest of 10 brothers and sisters, and raised in north London by her primary school teacher mum, whose passion for roots, reggae and soul had a profound effect on Niomi. "I’ve always listened to a lot of reggae, a lot of roots and hip-hop," she says, "and that’s obviously music where there’s a lot of conscious artists with a lot to say and I think they’ve definitely rubbed off on me. My life generally, I’ve been lucky to have a lot of intelligent, loving people around me who will take out five minutes to teach me things about myself without preaching at me, just showing me naturally."

Niomi’s parents split up when she was two years old but even though her dad Eyon didn’t live with them, he continued to remain a big influence and inspiration on her life. Her dad is also a massive fan of hers, regularly making the journey to travel miles from his East Sussex home to be with his daughter. "No matter how big the crowd is" says Niomi. "I always look up and see my dad jumping up and down."

Described by her teachers as talkative and intelligent at school, Niomi excelled in her exams and turned down a place to read social anthropology at Sussex University in order to concentrate on music. It’s a gamble that’s paid off handsomely, following the success of ‘Booo!’, a track licensed from garage DJ Jason Kaye’s Social Circles label to London Records. Because Ms Dynamite – sassy, stylish, smart, attractive, funny and fiercely opinionated – knows she has more to offer her fans than her remarkable music.

"I am not here to be a stereotypical feisty young girl that just wants to get up onstage and chat. I’m actually here with what I believe is something important to say," she declares. "I think growing up as a young black woman in this big world where there’s so much shit going on, I just wanna give my perspective of life. I guess I’m trying to bring positivity to people and even make light of negative things while encouraging people to think. That’s all I’m trying to do is to provoke thought and if that means I have to go and stand at the top of whatever building and scream at the top of my lungs to do so, then I will. I just want people to think more."

Dynamite certainly provoked debate when she appeared on Carlton TV’s London-wide ‘Guns On Our Streets’ discussion late last year:

Throughout much of last year and most of 2002, however, Dynamite has channelled her energies into ‘A Little Deeper’, which has fast accredited itself as the critics choice debut album of the year. Recorded in Miami, New York, Sweden and Jamaica by an array of producers, including Salaam Remi (Nas, Fugees) P Diddy’s beatmaster ‘Punch’, and Bloodshy & Avant (Jennifer Lopez, Christina Milian ‘Am to Pm’. It’s an ambitious and accomplished record that easily justifies the blanket excitement generated by everyone from the NME to The Daily Telegraph, The Face and even J17, who all predicted Dynamite would return with something extremely special this year.

‘A Little Deeper’ is a great modern album, raw and inventive enough to satisfy Dynamite’s hardcore underground following. Moreover, tracks such as melodica-flecked first single ‘It Takes More’, and Dynamite’s interpretation of her life in an urban nursery rhyme ‘Dy-Na-Mi-Tee’ have already proved themselves by crossing over to mainstream radio as well as achieving a No.7 and no.5 singles chart positions respectively. The most impressive fact in this success story is that Dynamite has managed to enjoy this mainstream success while keeping her credibility at a maximum. That’s indeed a rarity for any artist…

For any of those who doubted her appeal before, she recently stamped her mark on the music industry in spectacular style when she firstly took home the most coveted prize of all – The Panasonic Mercury Music Prize for Album of The Year. The Mercury Music panel judges described her as "An urgent and exciting new voice that heralds an important moment in British Music".

Dynamite then went on to scoop three MOBO awards for Best Single, Best Newcomer and UK Act Of The Year. An amazing coup especially as no-one else managed to take home anymore than just the one award that night.

For one who once likened her singing to "a cat being thrown off a building", Dynamite possesses a truly beautiful voice, a honeyed and versatile delivery that contrasts richly with her fearsome chatting and witty MC banter. The album has elements of dancehall, ragga and synthetic soul, and cutting lyrics take for example: "Tell me how many Africans died for the baguettes on your Rolex?" taken from her hit single ‘It Takes More’. It’s clear that, in an age in which commercial rap and garage music is characterised chiefly by macho posturing and excessive materialism, ‘A Little Deeper’ is a work of rare depth and vision.

"I’m myself and that’s it. If I say something someone doesn’t like, that’s just tough. I’m not trying to offend anybody and if I do then that’s their problem." The fact that her album has managed to have entirely the opposite effect is testament to Niomi Daley’s pursuit to delivering a positive and insightful message rather than to pursue fame itself. It is this along with the beautiful arrangements and her amazingly powerful voice that has had people falling head over heals in love with her naturally honest, uncompromising and conscious music. It also goes to show how much she differs from ‘the norm’ to emerge as probably the most exciting artist 2002 has had to offer.