CocknBullKid

CocknBullKid is the performance name of Anita Blay, a singer and songwriter from Hackney, London, who is born in 1985 and has Ghanaian parentage. She also appears as thecocknbullkid and TheCocknBullKid in different periods of her work.

Style and musical approach

Her music sits in pop and indie pop, with a darker edge than straightforward mainstream pop. She draws on a wide range of influences, including Morrissey, Madonna, M.I.A. and Little Richard, and describes pop as something that should include both sweetness and darker, more tortured elements. Her songs combine pop melody with themes and imagery linked to sex, death, ugliness, wit and depravity, set in everyday situations.

Career and releases

Blay spends several years developing this sound before an official change of name to CocknBullKid. During that period, she releases material under the earlier name. The name change is marked by the single One Eye Closed, released on Moshi Moshi, with Joe Cross and Jason Beck, the Canadian musician also known as Gonzales and Chilly Gonzales.

Her debut album, Adulthood, follows in 2011. Her second single, Hold On To Your Misery, again involves Chilly Gonzales as co-writer.

Live work and collaborations

Before signing, she plays major UK festivals in 2008 and headlines the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury. She also appears live on Later... with Jools Holland while still unsigned, then performs with a three-piece band. After that, she supports Santogold and tours with CSS, Metronomy and Late of the Pier.