MOBO Best Unsigned is Phenomenal

She was soon to lead a seven-piece band to Morocco - funded by the British Council - and play to sell-out shows. This success was repeated when headlining at the Jazz Café, and Ronnie Scotts and press describing her as 'a natural-born singer' and 'an obvious gem'.

Fola had been exposed to music from an early age via an extensive record collection at home, and took every opportunity to secretly play as much of the record collection as possible, losing herself in the sounds of jazz, rhythm and blues, funk and motown.

"I would listen very closely to the vocal artistry of singers like Marvin Gaye, James Ingram, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight and Regina Belle and try to learn as much as possible," says Fola. "Then, I'd constantly practise some of the inflections I heard; trying to physically understand how they made certain sounds."

At the time, she was unaware of any of her family's connection to music. Until after the passing of both parents, she found that her mother was known for singing in church and her father used to be part of a band, years before her birth.

Throughout her college years, Fola worked predominantly with a production outfit, which saw her as the lead singer for much of their material, covering genres such as dance, reggae and soul. This ability to vocally adapt to different kinds of music would later help shape Fola's sound.

Her persistence led to her being on stage singing in front of 2,000 people, providing backing vocals for a group called Hoi Polloi. However, along the way Fola became more interested in developing her song-writing as opposed to singing the words of others.

As a non-playing musician, she relied heavily on her ear for melody to write her first few songs, but an introduction to guitarist Alpheous Little led to them forming a writing partnership and acoustic performances at many small events around London, developing a name for themselves..

Fola's first release, Eye on the Prize, featured on Jazz FM Records' Nu Cool compilation. Her talent was given further recognition when she was asked to support the legendary Randy Crawford and The Crusaders on the UK leg of their European tour.

Since then, Fola, who has worked with chart-topping Irish singer-songwriter Don Mescall - who has written for the likes of Ronan Keating, Richie Havens and Leanne Rimes - has been the live singer for Manchester-based dance act Mint Royale, famed for their No. 1 smash hit remix of Singing in the Rain, used for a successful car-advertising campaign and George Sampson's winning dance routine on Britain's Got Talent. She is also the main feature in their video for the song Effect On Me, released as a single two years ago.

Those in broken beat/drum-and-bass circles will soon recognise Fola's vocals and song-writing talents from her work with Shri (half of acclaimed duo Badmarsh & Shri), which appear on his latest album, Seven Steps, and the first single, Just For A Minute, released late 2008 and featured on Radio 1 playlists.

Fola's musical influences are evident in her soon-to-be-released debut single, Phenomenal Woman.

Co-written by Alpheous Little and Fola, this soulful fusion - inspired by the hugely successful poem, Phenomenal, by renowned poet Maya Angelou - is a tribute to everyday women irrespective of skin colour, profession, age or religion.

Phenomenal Woman represents the phenomenal works and powers of those women who, without them, the world would be a place of lost miracles and fallen heroes," says Fola. "I would love the single to become a classic, one that, whenever heard, people shout out 'TUUUUUUNNNNEEE!!!!' in the same way that Omar's iconic hit, There's Nothing Like This, or Anita Baker's song, Sweet Love, is received," she says.

Phenomenal Woman will be out from 30th March. See Fola live on Sunday 15th March at Piya Piya, 1 Oliver's Yard, City Road, London, EC1Y 1HQ; on 22nd March In Celebration of my Sisters at the Hackney Empire, Mare St, London E8; and The Blu Sessions on 29th March at Ziloufs, 270 Upper St, Islington. Info: www.myspace.com/folathemusic.com

By Belinda Raye