Uffie 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. 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. 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.
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 and the two were briefly married in August 2008 but were divorced over the summer in 2009. Although the two are no longer together, their first child, a girl named Henrietta, was born in October 2009.
In early 2005 DJ Feadz, who was Uffie's boyfriend at the time convinced her to provide vocals on his track "Uffie & Me" for his EP Forward 4, which was when she began to develop an interest in making music.
Later that year she wrote and recorded Pop the Glock, which was produced by Feadz and began to shop the demo around to various record labels. "Pop the Glock" became her first single and was first given a limited promo release on Arcade Mode in January 2006. Busy P, owner and president of influential French electro record label, Ed Banger Records heard the single and quickly signed Uffie to the label. Pop the Glock and its B-side "Ready to Uff" (produced by labelmate Mr. Oizo) were both given an official release titled, Pop the Glock/Ready to Uff on February 27, 2006 through Ed Banger Records. Both songs 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." The release also featured a remix by SebastiAn. Pop the Glock was also included on Ed Rec Vol. 1, released later that year.
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. 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. 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.
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'. 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'. 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.
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."Pop the Glock" was re-released as an EP on November 30, 2009 as promotion for her upcoming album. The new release includes three remixes from highly acclaimed producers Mirwais, Felix Da Housecat and Ellen Allien. Her latest single, "MC's Can Kiss" (produced by Mr. Oizo) was leaked onto the internet on December 12, 2009 and will be officially released on February 1, 2010.
Source: wikipedia.org