Born in Hackney, East London, to Ghanian parents, thecocknbullkid (no gaps, all lower case) aka Anita Blay is not the most conventional of pop stars. Fortunately this does little to slow how rapidly she is establishing herself as one of 2009’s brightest pop hopes. She has spent the past 3 years exploring all manner of influences (from Moz to Madonna, M.I.A to Little Richard), forging a wholly distinctive sound, and marked an official career ‘kick off’ with her debut single on Metronomy’s 7” label last year as a collaboration between Anita and Metronomy founding member Joe Mount.

thecocknbullkid’s style, it should be said, resides firmly on the dark side of pop. There’s an almost Trojan quality to it - Anita’s ever-expanding repertoire is a subversive, sometimes sinister, and always sublime mix of sex, death, ugliness, wit and depravity, found amidst The Everyday and pegged onto supremely inventive pop melodies. “I’ve always thought pop should never just be saccharine” she says, “It should be black and tortured too. There’s no point otherwise.”

Having played all the major UK festivals in the summer of 2008 and headlined the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury, thecocknbullkid played live on Later With Jools Holland last October whilst still unsigned. A rare but deserved occurrence. Anita and her three piece band then went on to support Santogold before touring with CSS, Metronomy and Late of the Pier. In December, she went on her first European tour with Vice.

As of now, thecocknbullkid has been busy working up an arsenal of sonic ideas into fully fleshed out tracks. She will be putting out her first EP this fall in North America through IAMSOUND Records, titled Querelle. This four-track release features production from all over the spectrum, ranging from Radioclit (The Very Best, Santigold, Bonde do Role) to Dave McCracken (Beyonce, Ian Brown of The Stone Roses).