"She was, like, this really soulful singer. I was backstage listening to her thinking, 'holy shit'. Her voice was gorgeous, and I had to go out there after her. I just get on stage and say 'fuck'." Anna-Catherine Hartley reflects with a refreshingly modest outlook on her Tuesday night performance alongside J*Davey at Los Angeles' Cinespace. Her sense of humility manifests from her inexperience and her simplified immersion into the world of music. Her boyfriend is a talented DJ and producer and the first song she ever wrote and recorded landed her a record contract. While her situation seems best served on a silver platter, Uffie's approach can make anyone a fate-believer.

A self-proclaimed rookie in the industry, Uffie began writing and recording a mere nine months ago, a process that started because of some incessant peer pressure. "I had known him for a while, and we were living together" she says of her boyfriend and confidante DJ Feadz, "he was always telling me to do a track so I finally wrote something and that's where 'Pop The Glock' came from." The track proved successful when after Parisian legend Mr. Oizo had a listen he too was eager to jump on board. "Oizo wanted to do a track after he heard it," the Florida native explained. "He and I did 'Ready to Uff' and it worked out well." Already in a relationship with Feadz, her relationship with Oizo was eventually cemented and she was offered a contract with Ed Banger Records based on the strength of her first recordings . "I was already friends with them," she said of the label, "it was only right that I signed because I trusted them."

Three months after she began writing and recording, Uffie was thrown on her first tour where she experienced her first moments of performing for people outside of her living room recording studio. "It was a lot of learning as I went along," she emphasized. "The last night was with 2 Live Crew and they went on before me and blew out every mic, I had to get up there and scream my way through the set. My voice is horrible when it's loud. It was so fucking embarrassing." After a tour that hardly closed on a high note, Uffie arrived home ready for some much needed rest and encouragement. With Feadz and Oizo behind her she expected some positive reinforcement. "They're really focused on the negative," she explained, "they're obsessed with perfection and I'm not there yet." While perhaps not the greatest motivators in the world, the perfectionism of Uffie's partners helps her remain focused. She realizes her inexperience and understands the constant learning process. "To me they're geniuses," she stated of her producers. "I'm not very professional," she confessed of her last-minute song writing process, "and they can't comprehend why I'm not as obsessed with making music as them. It takes time." Indeed.

While her Miami rap influence is evident through her lyrics and delivery, Uffie credits her sound to the clashing of DJ Feadz, Mr. Oizo, and herself. "It's a completely different commercial scene in Paris" she explains of their electro influence, "and we all have very strong personalities and want to do things our way, so when we record, to me, it doesn't exactly blend together. We're so different, so each of our styles sort of stick out." This fresh approach to an increasingly mundane hip hop genre blends chunky synthed-out electro beats and Uffie's faux-accent Debbie Harry flow. "They warned me before I came on tour," Uffie explained, "that [people] would try to pigeonhole me." These comparisons to other rapping females are inevitable because her style is all but new. It is however, fresh in its simplicity and different in that it stays true to its goal. "I listened to all the classic party stuff all my life," she states of her influences. "I grew up hearing Miami bass and Dirty South so I just want to make party music."

Each of Uffie's tracks are fixed to a pattern of a flirtatious flow coupled with the odd sexed up lyric, yet she insists there's more to her than just that. "People always focus on the dirty lyrics and the fact that I'm young or whatever," she complained, "I never get asked questions about who I really am, like, my personality." This of course sparked some curiosity, but when questioned she digressed: "I'm not really sure I want them to know." As a baby in the industry Uffie's already been taught the importance of her persona; she's aware of her appeal and plans on running with her selling points. The Uffie we hear on records may or may not be a created entity, but she reiterates that the character is indeed her. "It's the part of me that gets drunk and crazy and wants to party." Fair enough.

With an album in the works and the better part of her tour still remaining, it will be interesting to see what comes out of such a young and already flourishing venture. The time and interest spent by Ed Banger on Uffie has been called by some the smartest thing they've done. We'll call it a success should this still be the case in the new year.

<p>Chad Thiessen, 29 Aug 2006<br /> Visit Uffie's <a href="http://www.myspace.com/uffie">myspace</a> page for future tour dates.</p>