Caron Liza Geary (born 15 October 1963 in Paddington, London),[1] known by various stage names, is an English female raggamuffin toaster. She was the first white female reggae/dancehall MC.[1][6]
MC Kinky | |
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Birth name | Caron Liza Geary |
Also known as | Feral,[1] Feral is Kinky,[1] Feral a.k.a. MC Kinky,[2] Cantankerous,[1] The Infidel,[1] Special K[3] |
Born | Paddington, London, England | 15 October 1963
Origin | Kilburn, North West London, England[4][5] |
Genres | Ragga, dancehall |
Years active | 1989 | –present
Labels | More Protein |
According to Geary, her first recorded appearance was on a cover of "Kid Ralph", a dancehall track by Little Twitch.[7][8][9] The song talks about a "legendary" homosexual figure in Jamaica's prison system.[10] She has subsequently worked as a solo artist and with other musicians, including Erasure and Boy George, who described her music as "the dirtiest 'slackest' reggae I'd heard since the seventies".[11]
Growing up in Marylebone,[12] Geary lived adjacent to an after-hours party which blasted out reggae music;[12] as a result, Geary was exposed to reggae from a very young age. It is these experiences which inspired her to write the controversial song "Everything Starts with an 'E'" as part of E-Zee Possee, which was banned by the BBC because of its lyrics[citation needed][dubious ] and made No. 69 in the UK Singles Chart in 1989, leaving the chart after only one week;[13] however it was re-released less than a year later in March 1990 and climbed to No. 15 on the UK chart,[13] spending eight weeks in the chart.[13]
Kinky's first solo single, the Apollo 440 produced "Get Over It",[14] reached No. 95 on the UK Singles Chart.[15] Her only solo top 75 hit, coming five years later, was Everybody, released under the name "Kinky", which charted at No. 71 on that chart.[16]
Kinky has been touring underground, occasionally providing vocals for other artists. In 1997, she took a residency in Ibiza as "the Infidel",[12] operating under the name for a week[17] before writing an album called Cantankerous and taking up the name for herself.[12] When a member of staff at Club Motherfucker described her sound as "feral pop",[7] she became "Feral" and finally ended up with "Feral a.k.a. MC Kinky"[2] and "FERALisKINKY"[18]
Descriptions of Geary's sound have varied from a "bass driven, vitriolic sonic hybrid of grimy electronic ragga, manic house and punk rock"[6] to a "white female raggamuffin toaster".[19] Kinky has denounced these descriptions, saying "I can't be bothered with people who spend large amounts of time trying to place people and music into small and narrow categories. I do what comes naturally to me, and it usually has a combination of influences."[19]
Year | Single | UK chart position |
---|---|---|
1991 | "Get Over It"[15] | 95 |
1991 | "Inna We Kingdom"[3] | — |
1992 | "Won Love"[3] | — |
1992 | "Twisting The Mind"[3] | — |
1996 | "Everybody" (as "Kinky")[16] | 71 |
Year | Single | UK chart position |
---|---|---|
1989 | "Everything Starts with an 'E'" (E-Zee Possee ft. MC Kinky)[20] | 69 |
1990 | "Everything Starts with an 'E'" (re-entry) (E-Zee Possee ft. MC Kinky)[20] | 15 |
1990 | "Generations of Love" (Jesus Loves You ft. MC Kinky)[21] | 80 |
1991 | "Generations of Love" (re-entry) (Jesus Loves You ft. MC Kinky)[21] | 35 |
1992 | "Take a Chance on Me" (Erasure ft. Special K)[22] | 1 track from Abba-esque |
1992 | "Flight" (Flight ft. MC Kinky)[23] | — |
1995 | "Yalla Chant" (She A Baad Gal Edit; Natacha Atlas ft. MC Kinky)[24] | — |
2000 | "The Chase" (Giorgio Moroder vs. Jam & Spoon ft. MC Kinky)[25] | — |
2001 | "We Love" (Storm ft. MC Kinky)[26] | — |
2006 | "Wind It Up" (Abashment Electro House Mix; Gwen Stefani ft. MC Kinky)[25] | — |
2013 | "Raging in the Dancehall" (Endymion & The Viper ft. FERAL is KINKY) | — |
2013 | "Heavy Medication Punx Soundcheck" (Endymion Remix ft. FERAL is KINKY) | |
2014 | "Reload" Endymion ft. FERAL is KINKY | |
2013 | "Bring Dat" (Daishi Dance ft. FERAL is KINKY) | — |
2017 | "Militant" Will Sparks & Tyron Hapi (ft. FERAL is KINKY) | — |
Year | Song |
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1989 | "Kipsy" (Boy George ft. MC Kinky)[27] |
1995 | "Son of Bambi (Walk Tuff)" (Towa Tei ft. MC Kinky)[28] |