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Still only 22, this singer already has worked with Tinchy, Dappy and Davinche. No wonder she’s been dubbed first lady of R&G Hometown: Kentish Town. The lineup: Nyomi Gray (vocals, songs). The background: The company that Ny keeps could be the clincher for you. You’re either going to be enticed by the fact that she’s good friends with N-Dubz, sang on their album and recently supported them on tour … or you’re not. Then again, you might be more heartened to learn that she’s worked with producer Davinche , collaborated with Professor Green, Tinchy Stryder and the Streets, sang backing vocals with Plan B and was the featured guest on Ironik’s top 5 hit Stay With Me. The latter collaboration was in 2008 and she’s still only 22. Plus she managed to fit in a stint as Wiley’s live-in girlfriend. She’s super-connected: she’s even got Giggs rapping on her debut single Be With You, while Kirk Norcross the club manager from the Only Way Is Essex is in the video. Makes sense. The music she makes is – and we’re not being snobby here because you should see where we live – utterly suited to London’s commuter-belt discos, to Biba’s in Bromley, Oceana in Watford and Liquid in Romford. It is “classy” and “upmarket” soul, with a veneer of chav sophistication but just enough echoes of grime and dubstep that it could be marketed to that crowd as well. No wonder RWD magazine crowned her first lady of R&G – she does garage-y ballads and commercial urban pop with singing as heavy on the melismas as you’d expect from a girl reared on Mariah and Aretha, and lyrics about fighting and surviving that should speak to the Cheryl Cole demographic. She’s an interesting character, is Ny. A strict vegetarian, she was home-schooled by her mum until the age of 10 and wrote poetry growing up. Apparently, these days she does a “great deal of philanthropy and mentoring work, particularly with disadvantaged children”. In a way, she’s more interesting than her music, which is fairly generic, albeit slickly produced and accomplished. Or at least it is now. From what we’ve heard of her two mixtapes, there are schizoid impulses afoot. In fact, on the cover of Splitz Endz Vol 2, there’s a photo of her on one side wearing a ballgown, and on the other she’s head to toe in budget sportswear: half smooth soulstress, half Lady Sov. One of the tracks, What I See, even features the melody from the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army, played on what sounds like a synth-kazoo. We’re guessing she’s going to focus on urban chart fodder, though. Which even at its most shiny, you can tell is Not American, lending it a homespun charm. Think Rihanna being piped over the PA at Lidl’s. The buzz: “Fiercely independent and incredibly driven” – famemagazine.co.uk . The truth: She’s got the formula, she’s got the formula. Most likely to: Date Mark Wright. Least likely to: Date Joey Essex. What to buy: Be With You featuring Giggs is released on 22 May. File next to: Yasmin, Jodie Connor, Cheryl Cole, Alexandra Burke. Links: facebook.com . Friday’s new band: Bleeding Knees Club. Pop and rock R&B Grime Urban music Paul Lester guardian.co.uk