Uffie

Uffie
Performance in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Anna-Catherine Hartley[1]
Born	December 9, 1987 (1987-12-09) (age 22) Miami, Florida
Genres	Electro hop Synthpop Underground hip hop
Instruments	Vocals, Vocoder
Years active	2005-present
Labels	Arcade Mode (2006]) Ed Banger Records (2006-present)
Associated acts	DJ Feadz Mr. Oizo Justice SebastiAn Mirwais Busy P Steve Aoki
Website	Official Website

Anna-Catherine Hartley, better known by her stage name Uffie, is an American rapper and lyricist currently signed by French music label Ed Banger Records. She incorporates the genres of synthpop, electronica, hip hop, rap and dance into her music and often works with her fellow label-mates, DJ Feadz and Mr. Oizo. Her debut album, Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans will be released in early 2010.^[2]

Biography

Anna-Catherine Hartley was born in Florida but moved to Hong Kong when she was four years old due to her father's work. She lived in Hong Kong for most of her childhood, and was greatly influenced by the city.^[3] Uffie's name comes from the French words Un Oeuf (which means "an egg"), a nickname her father gave her as a child for being so rowdy.^[4] Her family once intended to spend a year sailing but a typhoon struck and the family had to abandon ship in the Philippines. In her teens, Hartley later moved with her mother to Fort Lauderdale and Miami, but at age 15 relocated to Paris with her father, after getting in quite a bit of trouble in the States. Once moving to France, she realized that she greatly preferred the European and French lifestyle over the American, and she has lived there since. Hartley originally studied fashion in Paris and attended the International School of Paris on the famous Rue de Passy, but when a music offer came along, she dropped out of school because it was "a once in a lifetime opportunity" and signed with Ed Banger Records in early 2006.^[3]

Uffie had booked DJ Feadz for a party she was organizing, and the two began a relationship. In a 2008 interview, Uffie explained her relationship status. She and Feadz had broken up earlier that year. Uffie then began dating graffiti artist André Saraiva. Although the two are no longer together, they welcomed their first child to the world in October 2009.

Career

Uffie performing at SONAR, June 2007

Her first single, "Pop the Glock", after getting a limited promo release on Arcade Mode in January 2006, was released on French label Ed Banger Records and the single was also included on Ed Rec Vol. 1, released later that year. Both the single (produced by Feadz) and its B-side "Ready to Uff" (produced by labelmate Mr. Oizo) contained elements of electro and rap. Her music has been described as being "often performed in a wannabe English accent" with "a deliberately staid anti-flow delivery that walks a fine line between electro and nu-skool rap."^[5] The release also featured a remix by SebastiAn.

In February 2007, the song "Dismissed" was included on Ed Rec Vol. 2, an Ed Banger Records label compilation. Two more new tracks from Uffie, "Hot Chick" and "In Charge" were first proliferated through audioblogs in July 2006. Then in November, 2006, they were released together on her EP Hot Chick/In Charge on Ed Banger Records. On June 29, 2007, the EP, Suited and Looted was released through Ed Banger Records. The release included the single "First Love" (produced by Mr. Oizo) and "Brand New Car". Uffie and electronic duo Crystal Castles worked together on the track, Make It Hott, although it was never officially released, it can be found through various audioblogs. Also in 2007, Uffie also collaborated with labelmates Justice for their 2007 debut, †, on a song entitled "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy", which was later released as Uffie's fifth single in 2009.

In Spring of 2008 Uffie was Married to the Mob's exclusive model.^[4] Next, Uffie contributed her new song "Robot Oeuf" to Ed Rec Vol. 3, which was released on May 26, 2008. In late 2008, she worked with Mr. Oizo on the track "Steroids", which was released on Mr. Oizo's album Lambs Anger in November of that year. The song was praised by many critics as being much more mature than her previous songs. A remix of "Steroids" was also included in Mr. Oizo's EP Pourriture, released on March 16, 2009 on Ed Banger Records.^[6] It was announced in early 2009, that her track "Robot Oeuf" would be included in the soundtrack to Pedro Almodovar's critically-acclaimed Spanish film Broken Embraces, starring Penelope Cruz.^[7]

Her record label, Ed Banger Records first stated in late 2006 that her debut album would be released 'mid-to-late 2007', then 'sometime in 2008'.^[3] Hectic traveling schedules and news of her pregnancy delayed the release of her debut album. She has stated that her new sound is very different with a much more mature sound. She describes the album as 'schizophrenic' and 'worth the wait'.^[4] On October 3, 2009, Busy P, founder and owner of Ed Banger Records stated that Uffie's album, now titled Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans had just been completed and is due out in early 2010. DJ Feadz, Mr. Oizo, SebastiAn and Mirwais served as producers on the album and Pharell Williams will make a guest appearance on the first single off of the new album. Also on October 3, Uffie's first official music video for Pop the Glock, directed by Nathalie Canguilhem debuted on the internet.^[2] British newspaper Guardian named Uffie as 'The New Band of The Day' on October 8, 2009 announced that Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans would be officially released on February 14, 2010 and that she had covered a version of Siouxsie & the Banshees popular single Hong Kong Garden, which is to be included on the album.^[8]

Albums

• Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans (February 14, 2010)^[8]

EPs

• Pop the Glock (February 27, 2006)
• Hot Chick/In Charge (November 2006)
• Suited and Looted (June 29, 2007)

Singles

• Pop the Glock (2006)
• Ready to Uff (2006)
• Hot Chick (2006)
• F1rst Love (2007)
• Tthhee Ppaarrttyy (with Justice) (2009)
• TBA (feat. Pharrell Williams)^[9]

Compilations

• "Pop the Glock" on Ed Rec, Vol. 1 (December 4, 2006)
• "Dismissed" on Ed Rec, Vol. 2 (March 6, 2007)
• "Hot Chick (Feadz Edit)" on FabricLive.33 (April, 2007)
• "Robot Oeuf" on Ed Rec, Vol. 3 (May 26, 2008)
• "Robot Oeuf" on Broken Embraces Soundtrack (2009)

Guest appearances

• "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy" by Justice, on † (2007)
• "Fais Rentrer Les Euros (Audioporno Remix Feat. Uffie and Feadz)" by M.I.T.C.H. (2007)
• "Body Bass" by Uffie and Curtis Vodka (2008)
• "Make it Hott" by Uffie vs. Crystal Castles (2008)
• "Low Life (LA Riots Remix)" by Scanners (2008)
• "Ttthhheee Pppaaarrrtttyyy" (Live Version) by Justice, on A Cross The Universe (2008)
• "Steroids" by Mr. Oizo on Lambs Anger (2008)
• "Steroids (Remix)" by Mr. Oizo on Pourriture EP (2009)

References

1. ^ "Uffie", Discogs, http://www.discogs.com/artist/Uffie, retrieved 2008-09-22 
2. ^ ^{a b} Busy P Blog (10/03/2009), CoolCats.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Uffie 2007 interview (12/18/2007), Three World.
4. ^ ^{a b c} [http://www.mobliProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 ng.com/blog/1545 UffieProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 009 interview (06/26/2009)], Married to the Mob.
5. ^ FACT: Uffie, FACT Magazine.
6. ^ Mr. Oizo - "Porriture EP" at Discogs, Discogs.
7. ^ Soundtrack Listing, Zona de Compras.
8. ^ ^{a b} Guardian.co.uk (10/08/2009), Guardian.
9. ^ http://www.myspace.com/edbangerrecords

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Uffie

• Uffie at MySpace
• Uffie's discography at Discogs
• Uffie's lyrics
• Uffie remixes
• PIG Magazine Italy photo spread (her first cover) (05/2006)